Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Spending this past year without our own car has meant a lot of public transit rides.  I’ve had to take many more cab rides in Ulsan than I’ve ever taken before.  I try to take the bus as much as possible but sometimes a taxi is either more convenient or guarantees that I’ll arrive on time for an appointment.

I usually have to repeat my destination over and over with different intonation before the driver will actually understand what I am saying.  It was intimidating at first but now it’s almost funny.  (Dongbu Family Apartment… Dongbu Pamily Apart-uh… Dongbu… Dong… boo… apart… uuhhh…. AH, OK OK)  I have luckily never been taken to the wrong place and we only got lost once but that was the driver’s fault.  I am pretty sure that we have never been ripped off so that’s nice.  The taxis will always take the direct route which makes it easy to follow along on the GPS and make sure you’re not being taken for a ride.

Taxis in Ulsan are an experience in themselves.  You never know what you’re going to get.  I’ve had super happy drivers and really grumpy drivers.  I’ve had drivers that want English lessons and drivers that want to give Korean lessons. Sometimes the driver wants to sing throughout the ride other times he just wants silence.  Usually there will be lots of bells and alarms from the GPS other times the driver is just watching TV.

The taxis are usually nice cars and have a lived in feel.  The drivers seem to take pride in their ride and will usually deck it out with all sorts of trinkets and accessories.  Standard paraphernalia includes: bobble heads, steering wheel covers, led lights and all sorts of electronic gadgets.  You will usually not have seat belts in the back.  If I travel alone I always like to sit up front with the belt.

The GPS systems have built-in warnings for all the CCTV speed traps so you can guarantee that you will be flying through city streets until the GPS unit warns the driver and he jams on the brakes to avoid detection then accelerates hard on the other side of the cameras.  It is common to going twice the posted limit and occasionally you will find a driver who pushes it to three times the limit (especially at night).

All in all the taxi rides are good fun and except for some night-time rides I’ve always felt generally safe.  It is always a treat to find a good driver.  When the driver really likes you – sometimes for no clear reason – he may even give you a discount.