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If you are a girl, you should be careful hitchiking in South Korea. People may think you are a Russian prostitute (there is apparently a large number of them in the country). You will probably have to explain to your driver why you are standing on the side of the highway, and because of the shortage of English speakers, it may be extremely hard for you to do this.
== Border Crossing ==
The border to [[North Korea]] is closed.
The ferry crossing (from Busan) to [[Japan]] is quite easy, as all the customs and immigration people speak English. Ferries to several places in China leave from Incheon.
* [[Seoul]]* [[Busan]]* [[Daejeon]]* [[Gwangju]]* [[Jinju]]* [[Daegu]]Naver Maps and Daum Maps are the most detailed maps of Korea, but an offline map like Maps.Me can really help out as well.
Compared to some other Asian countries, it is not common for the local people in South Korea to invite travellers to their homes. A tent is useful. Finding a place to sleep just outside of cities can sometimes be difficult, as this is a densely populated country and often the outskirts of one city are simply the beginning of another city. However, there are rural places that are easy to reach from city centres, such as the mountains outside of Seoul. If you don't mind sleeping in the streets, city parks are very good option, being central with clean toilets nearby. The only problem is that Koreans love their early morning sports. In cities you can usually find a Korean sauna (jjimjilbang) with a sleeping room for a few dollars.{{nomadwiki}}
Note from user Alistril: I have waited a long time before contradicting this section in writing but after one month of hitchhiking in Korea I have come to the conclusion that this is a mistake. Koreans, even though they are shy, do invite people to their homes and it is common. Because of their harsh history feel the need to help a stranded traveller, even more so if you have a bit of a story to tell.
== Experiences ==
* [http://marcandoelpolo.com/viajar-a-dedo-corea-del-sur/ Information, tips and personal experiences of hitch-hiking in South Korea. A 980 km journey on 11 vehicles (only in spanish)]
→Resources
South Korea is also the first country the couples from the [[Dutch]]/[[Belgium|Belgian]] tv-show [[Peking Express]] 2012 start hitchhiking in.
== Cities ==
__TOC__
* [[Seoul]]
* [[Busan]]
* [[Daejeon]]
* [[Gwangju]]
* [[Jinju]]
* [[Daegu]]
== Language ==
=== Some important phrases ===
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=== Hitchhiking for females===
If you are a girl, you should be careful hitchiking in South Korea. People may think you are a Russian prostitute (there is apparently a large number of them in the country). You will probably have to explain to your driver why you are standing on the side of the highway, and because of the shortage of English speakers, it may be extremely hard for you to do this.
== Experiences ==
* [http://marcandoelpolo.com/viajar-a-dedo-corea-del-sur/ Information, tips and personal experiences of hitch-hiking in South Korea. A 980 km journey on 11 vehicles (only in spanish)]
experience summer 2018: Apart from Daegu which was impossible to get out of (trying to go to Gyeongju and the tollgate staff kicked me out of the tollgate and threatened to call the cops) all other areas were easy to hitchhike around, waiting time was around 10 minutes on average (solo man) when the spot was good. Most drivers who picked me up spoke a bit of english and were very excited to meet a foreigner.
Most were single men but once a woman stopped as well. Overall easy country to hitchhike through but being white definitely helped. Appearance matters A LOT in Korea. I always had a sign in Hangeul (the staff at petrol stations helped me write it everytime). Koreans are very friendly although many do not understand the concept of hitchhiking and people looking at you will not understand what you are doing. Best advice here is to '''have a sign in hangeul, look clean and make sure the spot is safe for them to pull over.''' '''contrary to what this page says I did not find that Koreans were very risk-taking, I had to change spots a lot because no one would stop if it was bad.'''
== Cities Maps ==Google Map doesn't work much here. Just install KAKO map and to start hitchhiking just point out of city in the map, it gives you the best way to go by bus or metro and then you can enjoy hitchhiking. Toll gates are very good :)
== Sleeping Nomadwiki & Trashwiki ==
{{IsIn|Eastern Asia}}
