My wife and I have had many guides through ToursByLocals and Viator over the years. Lee is an elite guide. She was wonderful throughout and tailored two days to exactly what was needed. The first day, she did the broad tour of Seoul--with lots of information about history, geography, the Josean Empire, Hanboks, politics, culture, economics, shopping, arts, parks, religion and city avant garde "hot spots." We like to follow an initial broad tour like this with recommendations for intensive follow-up adventures on our own--art and history museums, parks and gardens, winding back streets, etc. She provided a complete list of these solo excursions. Then, a week later, she tailored a follow-up tour with a deeper dive into less obvious Seoul highlights. (Because of time spent driving around Korea and to Busan in between, she also texted some driving tips that were incredibly helpful.) As you can discern from this review, Lee was just terrific. She has lived in the U.S. and Canada and thus has a complete grasp of both Korean and English, and she was incredibly prepared and flexible as to what was needed. She is also a world traveler herself (with a recent hike on the Camino Reale and past adventures on Mount Kilimanjaro and in the Himalayas). She is so bright and world-aware, and there was a wonderful and funny dynamism in our interactions in being able to talk about sibling position, pharmacodynamics, and in being able to look up (on our phones) diverse information from Korean Rom-Coms, K-Pop Music, and investigating the global sculptures of Spanish artist Jauma Plensa (who has a piece by the Lotte Tower), and marvel at the range of work by famed architect Zaha Hadid (who did the amazing Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). The true test of a tour like this is the lingering aftereffect: I am left with a deep respect and fondness for the city of Seoul and the nation of Korea (and the great tour by Lee that produced many fond memories and laughs and about a thousand photographs).
