Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Olivencia]

What are the chances of getting picked up?

[thrylos]

On a highway? It's illegal. What's wrong with the public transport and keosok/sinnae bus terminals??? They don't go to enough places?

[DeMayonnaise]

Besides the fact that buses are dirt cheap. Don't be such a tightwad...take a bus.

[8 years down]

0%, unless a foreigner drives by.

[andrewchon]

edit out

[Goon-Yang]

This has got to be a troll, but a terrible job at it. There's no way a teacher can't afford 10,000 won for a trip.

[skookum]

Years ago, when Korea was still a underdeveloped country, I hitched from Pusan - Gwangju - Seoul - Taegu - Gyeongju - back to Pusan. It was no harder than hitching anywhere else, and full of interesting experiences.

In more recent years I only hitched a couple times in Korea, when I found myself way back of beyond, past the ends of the bus lines. That worked too. Buses are cheap and run often (when they don't just find out when they DO run and plan accordingly.) But if someone wants to hitch-hike, I see no obstacle to it. And Korea is a safer place than much of the world, including the homelands of the "native speakers." So good luck if hitching is what you do - let us know how it went after you have a journey or two under your belt here.

[schwa]

My hitchhiking days are well behind me now but if someone were thinking of thumbing around Korea, I'd say go for it. Hard to imagine a safer or more innocent place for it. Koreans for the most part are very hospitable & the intercultural benefits would flow both ways.

[McGenghis]

I've done it in the foothills of the Taebaeksan-maek. I've always gotten rides, but I speak the old Hangukmal so I invariably end up explaining to the driver how the buses only run every 2 hours to the base of the mountain I want to climb.

Some tips: pretend you're a German student. This works better if you speak the old Hangukmal, but I imagine it makes better dinner conversation for the driver if he can say he picked up a genuine Teuton instead of a tired Yeong-eo saem. Of course, explaining to a passing car that you are actually a continental traveler is nigh on impossible so I recommend also hailing cars with the same flat palms you use to beckon a friend. The old thumb routine apparently isn't as international as you might have thought.

Tips for getting rides: don't have a beard. Smile. Look lost. And then, as always, entertain the driver with ribald stories so he knows that he hasn't just entered the annals of dupes who got chopped up by hitchhikers.

Hitch-hiking isn't a mode of transport, it's the beginning of a fine story. Never look at it otherwise.