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supertopoz
10-25-2005, 04:05 AM
Planes.
In Korea you can catch planes from Seoul Gimpo Airport to all major cities.
This is the most expensive from of travel. And not always the fastest.

Trains. :doh: want to travel at the weekend, book one week in advance.

KTX
very fast, and stops at most major cities from seoul to Busan.
Hint:
If you arrive at a KTX station with out pre booking (pre booking by phone or interenet) and you want to go somewhere, but the information board says no seats aviliable don't believe it. Go to the window and ask for your desternation, and tell the person behind the counter you don't mind changing seat during the journey.
(Trains from Seoul from Busan, might appear to be full, but then every one gets off at Chunan).


Korea Rail. :o
A little cheaper than KTX, but quite a bit slower. But more stops. A good choice for last minute booking. (use the above hint if no seats seem to be availiable).

Subway.

Some larger cities have subway systems.
I have been on the one in Seoul, Busan and Dague.
What a very clean, fast way and cheap way to get around.
All Korean subways are of the best quality, and super cheap.

In seoul you can even go to the mountains be Subway, Insubong and Suningbong.

Bus.
Highway busses.
Fast, comfortable and very cheap. Most cities and towns are served by this form of transport. There is no problem, catching busses into seoul as there are bus lanes that by pass and major traffic ques.

Intercity busses.
The same as highway busses but serve local towns.

country busses.
If you find a village you want to go to by bus then, find a town near it and then take a local bus. Many towns have tourist information about which bus to catch. busses go everywhere in Korea.

City busses.
These are dangerous, hang on tight. But cheap and most likely will get you somewhere. Not sure which bus to take, hop on a few and see where they go. That is how I learnt to get about.

Taxis. :car:
Most taxis are pretty cheap. But, you should know the place you are going. Get some one to write it down. Some taxis have a free interpritation service.
They are great for rainy days when you don't want to walk.

Private cars. :rip:
Don't know much about this. I always go somewhere in a friends car, and it scares the day lights out of me. Especially if the owner has a GPS and Radar system. They got the system because they had a few speeding tickets. Now the GPS means they can go at 200km and know when a camera is coming.
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! scary, put your seat belt on no matter what anyone else thinks.

Bike.
This is my favourite form of transport. Lean, mean, and green. Take a bike open your eyes and go for it. Once out of town, I feel this is the altermate way to explore the quite, hidden delights of korea. Highly recomeneded.

Walking.
Next best to a bike.

Eric
10-25-2005, 10:49 AM
Nice list, supertopoz! :) That just about covers it.

I have one more to add, getting your own car. This, too, is a great way to see korea. Plus used cars in Korea are super cheap. I bought mine for 200,000 Won and I have had it for almost 2 years with no major problems. Insurance is a little pricey but worth it if you're going to be here for a year or longer. Public transport can get your almost everywhere a car can get you, but a car just gets you there faster with more freedom.

Thanks again, supertopoz!

yohja134
06-10-2006, 01:50 PM
so.. where could i buy a bike??
i'm considering shipping costs for bringing it from the USA or buying a new bike in Korea...
-deborah

Eric
06-10-2006, 01:55 PM
what city will you be in?

also, you are allowed 2 pieces of checked baggage. if you just have 1 suitcase, you can ship your bike for free. i did. :)

eric

supertopoz
06-12-2006, 08:53 AM
The thing to think about with bringing a bike, is wheather or not you can maintian it here. If you buy a bike in the city that you live, you can easily take is back to the same store for maintaince.

I have a nightmare with my bike, basically because it has 650mm tires, and I can not seem to get them anywhere. Shimano parts might be an arse to get hold of too. But I have seen a few mail order web sights that have spare parts.

Best thing though is the korean Won is doing really well right now, so you can by them from here and have them sent from your home. Just have the packaging taken off and `gift` writien on the label.

This is a wonderful place to go cycling, bring you tour bike and enjoy weekends away, bring your racer and wizz down the mountains.
There weather is the best to.

Welcom to Korea.

Ricky
06-16-2006, 02:58 PM
I would buy a bike here if I were you. You can get pretty cheap mountain bikes...like "Canadian Tire" styles. But actually they're not bad. Alot of them have Shimano gears. I bought mine for 150,00 won (full price). It has an aluminum frame, single front suspension (don't buy the ones with the spring in the middle. I suspect the take away some of your forward propulsion), and shimano gears. The same kind of bike would probably be double the price in Canada. Also...bikes get stolen here like freakin' crazy. I've been here a year and a half and I'm on bike number 4. Piece of advice. Whe you get a new bike, peel off the stickers and spray paint it ugly. My third bike wasn't exactly stolen...and I had it the longest. I attribute that to the fact that I totally vandalized it with permanent marker and wrote in Korean..."if you steal this bike you will die". I also cursed it with the number four all over it. The number four apparently looks like a chinese symbol for death...
Anyway...if you have a really good bike from home, it'll probably end up getting stolen. I guess it all depends what you want your bike for...serious mountain biking, road biking, or just getting around the city. I've biked Jeju...or at least most of it twice with a cheapy mountain bike. Mind you...the last bike I had up until now was a BMX bike I got from Zellers, for my 10th birthday. So I'm not a bike expert.