Okay, so one day after my last post (this is a record, really) I'm posting about how to get around Korea.
In reality, there are three ways to get around Korea, bus, train and airplane. Unless you are going to Jeju, I don't recommend taking an airplane. Korea is small, so you'd be wasting your money. So let's focus on the bus and train system.
I'm only familiar with the bus system, so they will definitely have more detail, so let's save that for last. Let's start with trains. The fastest way to get around Korea without flying is the train, but you have to think about which train. There are actually 3 systems for trains in Korea, but the most popular one is the KTX system, which is supposed to be on par with Japan's shinkansen (bullet train) . I've ridden the shinkansen but I haven't ridden the KTX (I might when i get ready to leave though) so I can't compare the two, but I can give you an idea about ow fast it is. By car or bus, it takes about 3.5 hours to get from Gwangju, where I live, to Seoul. If there's traffic, it could easily be 4.5 hours. By KTX, it takes 2-3 hours. MUCH shorter. It's also much more comfortable. You can take the KTX to any major city on Korea. The fast from Gwangju to Seoul costs about 45,000\. The slow KTX is about 33,000\. I asked a friend. Like I said, I've never taken the KTX before.
Now if you're on a budget but you still wanna travel, you can use the Bus system. Korea has a bus system that can get you to most places in Korea unless it's really remote. I usually bus to Seoul and I've also taken the Bus to and from Busan as well. The interesting thing about the bus system is that there are two types of buses, regular and Express. please remember is the only difference between these buses is comfort. Express buses have less passengers and more leg room. You can choose between getting an express bus (goseok) or a regular bus by telling the ticket vendor what bus you want. Every city has a bus terminal and for the smaller areas, the provinces and local areas should have their own bus terminals as well. The terminals and larger cities can get you anywhere, while the buses in smaller areas usually only take you to large cities.
The price for the bus depends on where you going and how far it it. It's about 27,000\ from Gwangju to Seoul on the express bus and a little more than that from Gwangju to Busan because it takes longer. But to places close by it will be much cheaper. Remember, South Korea is a really small country. If you're wise about your money, you can travel.
If you want to get around locally,, you may have options depending on where you are. First off, taxis in Korea are pretty cheap. The most I ever had to pay was 20,000\ but it was a group of people and we split it. For that particular Journey the ride from point A to point B was really long. It was in Busan, don't ask. What happens in Busan stays in Busan. But usually, it's not expensive to take a taxi if you want to get places, but only if you do so sparingly. the base rate is around 3,000\. In Gwangju it's 2,800\ but it may change from place to place and it definitely changes after midnight, where it starts higher and goes up faster, but still, whenever I go out to have fun and return around 3am, I've never paid more than 8,000\ for a taxi.
Of course, there's also the local bus system in Korea, which is pretty convenient if you live in a city. In Korea, they have bus cards that you put money on. You can even get a special debit card that doubles as a bus card if you open a bank account. Be sure to ask for that, i didn't but it's quite useful and I was jealous of my co-teachers for a while. There are 3 kinds of bus cards: T-Money, Cashbee, and Hanpay. Hanpay is basically for Jeonnam. It won't work in many other places. T-Money works in most places too, but for some odd reason it doesn't work in Gwangju. Therefore, if you want to ride the bus EVERYWHERE I suggest getting a Cashbee card. There are bus apps that you can use in urban areas that predict when your next bus will come too. I personally your daum maps (다움 지도).
As for re-filling your bus card, you can do that at any chain convenience store, like 7/Eleven, C+U and Ministop. Just show them your card, give them the amount of cash you want to put on your card, and let them do their thing. There will be a display that shows you how much money is on your card. Easy, right? Why don't we have this in America? I want a real card for buses that's normalized all over the country. Lemme send a letter to Bernie and Obama.
Last but not least, if you're lucky, you might get a city with a fantastic subway system like Seoul or Busan. You can use your bus card for the subway, so never fear! Also, there are kiosks to buy tickets and these kiosks have English (and chinese and Japanese). There are apps you can use to help you get places using the subway, but in general, if you're used to a subway system you can use Korea's. There are displays that tell you when the next train is coming and which direction the train is going, and on the train, they will announce the stop in English for you.
If you have any questions please leave a comment below or shoot me a message on twitter (@thatlilady).
My next post will be about finding a place to stay for a temporary visit or a transition before you start your life as a TaLK scholar or EPIK teacher.
Cheers!
