Everything you need to know about visiting Seoul, South Korea.

It had been nearly an year since I had a travel vacation and the traveler in me was getting restless. I chose South Korea this time as a pattern breaker because my travel destinations were always in and around Europe. And finally a week back I made it to Seoul and thought I would share some of my experiences with you so it can be of use if you are planning to visit South Korea sooner or later. I also hope this would tickle the wanderlust in you.

Most of my travel experiences outside India were in the European countries or the west as I mentioned earlier. This was the first time I am visiting a developed oriental Asian country, the Republic of Korea. To my surprise Korea was much more developed than the picture I had in mind. Let me put in some information on different aspects about this polite country or Seoul in particular.

Language

Korean’s in general do not speak much English, that’s a bit of a problem when you order food or asking for directions. They really would like to help you but they are not confident about English. I had to depend a lot on Google translate application on my mobile at times :) Believe me- that helps a lot to read some information boards or even food menu. Its nice to learn some words in Korean like — Anahaseyo.. (Hello) and Kam sha mi da.. (Thank you).

Transportation

Seoul has a well connected Subway system that can take you anywhere in the city and is the fastest mode of commute. You need to have a T-Money card that can be used in Metro, Bus or Taxis. It’s quite convenient once you have loaded it with some money.

But strange thing is — you cannot reload T-Money card paying with your credit card, you need to have money (Korean Won is the currency used). Thats where I got the first surprise. My debit or credit cards or forex cards didn’t work to withdraw money from the ATMs at the airport even though I could pay at the shops. But since I couldn’t take money I couldn’t recharge the T-Money card. I finally figured from the information that I can take a bus to the place I was going to stay and I can pay by card there. That saved my ass. So for you guys — always and always carry some US Dollars/Euros when you travel to Korea because even if your cards do not work at the ATMs you can convert some of your money for the initial get away.

With the T-Money card you can check in and check out at the readers placed in the bus or taxi and of course the Subway entry gates. Cool thing is they don’t charge you when you transfer from a metro to a bus within 30 minutes.

The taxi’s are rather cheap in Korea. It’s fairly available as well, you just need to watch out for the traffic blocks.

Accommodation

I booked an Airbnb house because I like living with the locals in a local house. It wasn’t expensive at all. The good thing about Airbnb is that you get to see the homely kitchen and toilets and that gives an idea about how the locals live. Also a good host is an unlimited source of information about the place you are in.

Food

Being from India, Korean food wasn’t my favourite but hey its all about experiencing right? So I tried Kimchi, the fried chicken with beer, rice bowl, rice cake, Pork barbecue and a few other things which I don’t know the name :D, I just picked seeing the pictures. Fried chicken with beer topped in taste for me. Not to be missed — Eating a live octopus. I couldn’t eat it live this time but I tasted it raw to get the taste. So I have an unfinished business in Korea now :)

Drinks

Soju is the traditional drink of Koreans along with Makgolli (rice wine). Soju is more like an alcoholic shot drink (was not my favourite). I loved Makgolli (Thanks to my friends who took me to the best place in the city). It’s a sweet drink with some alcohol of course. And the most available beer — Cass beer!

Markets and Shopping

There are some really big markets in Seoul. It’s a nice experience to walk around and take a look at the the stuff in there and also do some shopping. Namdaemun Market, Hongdae Market, Gwangjang Market are a few markets I visited.

There is a street that sells cameras and camera accessories in Namdaemun market. Very impressive — a street full of shops next to each other. This can be a paradise for the photography enthusiasts to get new or used items. I spent some time over there and bought a used lens for my camera. The quality was really good for the price I paid.

Gwangjang Market is the traditional one with lot of sea food stalls with many traditional small bites. This is the place where you can try eating a live Octopus. I wanted to try it but ended up eating it raw and now live :)

Myeong-dong shopping street, Ewha Women’s University shopping street are a few shopping places for cosmetics and fashion shopping. You can bargain but I don’t think they appreciate bargaining beyond a limit. They think its bad manners.

People and Culture

Korean people are very polite. I felt like they like to follow a common pattern which most of them follow. They have a thing for black cars — most cars are black in color. I also noticed that most suits are navy blue/dark blue in color. They also use a lot of cars it seemed. There can be some traffic in the streets at times.

Elder senior people, especially at work is well respected. They don’t really speak against them from what I heard. They are also very hard working people and make much more than 8 hours on average a day at work.

Another thing I noticed is that — everything in Korea is kind of cute. They do every product design with some cute elements in it. They are a huge market of mobile phones and mobile phone accessories. The phone accessories are a typical example of the cute Korean preferences.

This is a gist from my short experience of Seoul in a week. I hope this helps my fellow travellers to get a quick idea. It’s a good place to travel and experience. I would recommend it as your next travel location. Have fun!