19/10/2022
South Korea is an excellent place to travel that has well-connected airports, superb public transportation, and many other facilities.
1. Currency
South Korea's currency is South Korean Won (KRW). $1 equals to roughly 1400 KRW. If you aren't able to get this currency in your home country, you can get the money exchanged at a Korean airport. I got my USD converted to KRW at the Incheon airport (T1) and got a really good rate from the Woori bank counter. This counter is inside the airport building, near the exit gates.
You simply have to show your passport and give your source currency to get KRW.
2. SIM Card
For SIM card, head to Incheon airport's (T1) exit gate 10 and you'll find an SK Telecom counter. Here, you can get a SIM card with unlimited data for 38,500 KRW for 10 days. There are other plans available, too.
3. RT-PCR Test
If RT-PCR is required when you get there, you can get the test done for 80,000 KRW from outside of the Incheon airport. Just exit the airport and you'll find the lab right across the street.
You'll get the result via email.
4. Get to the Seoul City from the Incheon Airport
You can get the non-stop Arex train from the airport subway station to the Seoul Station. A one-way ticket costs 9,500 KRW.
5. Getting Around Seoul, Busan, and Other Cities
You can get around in cities like Seoul and Busan using public transportation options like buses and subways. Simply get a reloadable card from any ticket machine on a subway station. You can then load it up with various amounts.
There are also lockers available at most subway stations. You can put your luggage there using a code. It's chargeable though and you'll see the price when you use the locker.
You can get a T-Money or a Cashbee reloadable card. Both work in subway and buses.
If you have huge bills like 50,000 KRW, you can get smaller bills from the machines located at subway stations.
For traveling from one city to another, you can use the KTX train. It costs roughly 59,000 KRW and is a superfast train.
6. Maps App
Google Maps works there, but you might want to use the free Naver Maps app as it offers better directions. It's in English so you shouldn't have any issues.
7. Food
If you crave Indian food, there are many Indian restaurants available serving both veg and non-veg food. A thali (platter) will cost anywhere from 11,000 KRW to 25,000 KRW, or even more.
People generally don't speak English, so you might want to use sign language or a translation app.
8. Shopping
For shopping, you have the choice of various big malls as well as other shopping markets. Some subway stations also have underground shopping markets where you can get items for cheap. Simply search on Google and you'll find those options.
And that's all. If you have any non-visa-related queries, please drop them below and I'll be happy to answer them.
