South Korea

The people are friendly, especially in the countryside and in national parks. In the big cities people are more distant, probably because they see more westerners there and the rat race is in full swing and people have less time. People are not really surprised at world cyclists, although they do express admiration for cyclists.

Korean is the only official language. In principle, all young people speak some English. Children are taught English from primary school. In practice, however, the knowledge of English is often very disappointing. It is practical to learn the Korean script (Hangul). This is relatively easy and is very useful in cheap restaurants and sometimes also for finding the way and places of interest.

South Korea is a safe country to cycle at. Towards the North Korean border, the security measures can seem intimidating if you are not used to that.

Iteawon is known as a nightlife area where American soldiers often want to make 'mess'. However, steps have been taken to curb this.

The national "dish" of Korea is kimchi and is served with every meal. Actually, kimchi is not so much a dish, but a preservation method. The standard version is with cabbage, but there are several other variants. Wilco: "In the beginning I had to get used to it, but after a few days of getting used to it, it is fine to eat."

The 'standard' dish is bimbimbap. This is a meal with rice, various vegetables, an egg, sometimes meat and a hot sauce. If you manage to make it clear that you want to eat, but it's not clear what they offer/you want, this is usually the dish you get.

Another well-known (and controversial) dish is bosintang (dog soup). Koreans often like to promote this as very healthy. It is available in a limited number of restaurants. If you ask about it, you are remarkably often sent to a restaurant outside the center.

Wilco: "In the countryside I found the kitchen a bit boring, sometimes eating bimbimbap for days in a row, but this also has to do with communication."

Supermarkets

In every village or city you will find a 7-eleven, in the larger cities a Lotte Mart and/or E-mart (mega supermarkets)

Restaurants

There is a wide range of dining options. Cheap restaurants mainly serve noodle and rice dishes and soups for only a few euros.

BBQ/Grill restaurants are slightly more expensive. The meal here mainly consists of meat that you have to prepare yourself and eaten folded in leafy vegetables. These restaurants sometimes want to be difficult when you are alone. Occasionally you will even be refused when you are alone.

Fish is mainly eaten raw and dried. You also regularly get a bowl with dozens of small dried fish as a side dish. In various temples you can eat for free during certain times. You are expected to eat everything you scoop up and wash your belongings yourself.

Western food is mainly limited to the cities and consists mostly of pizza and hamburger chains. Especially in the cheap restaurants they have vegetarian meals. The temple meals are vegetarian by default.

**Drinkable water
**

There are water sources in hotels and restaurants where you can safely tap water. You can also fill your bottles here. Koreans also do this regularly.

Best time to cycle

Spring and autumn are the best time to travel to Korea. Winter can be very cold, summer is hot and humid.

Frank: "We cycled from early September to mid-October. During this period we had two rainy days and temperatures of 18 to 37 degrees."

Spare parts

Koreans use modern Western/Japanese bicycles, especially mountain bikes. Parts are probably available. In every city we found 1 or more bicycle shops that are generally well equipped with modern parts.