Had my shoes shined by this very nice Korean gent near my hotel in Seoul. It only cost 1000 Korean Won approximately 1 US dollar. It wasn’t as good as the shoe shine in Istanbul, Turkey, but it cost 5 times less – so it was better value, and of course this gentlemen provides shoe repairs not just shoe shines.
One of the many nice things about Korea is I haven’t felt like I’m being ripped off as a tourist. I’m sure it happens (it happens everywhere), but so far I haven’t experienced it. Whereas I’m sure Turks don’t pay the same price as foreigners for shoe shines.
There is an argument that foreigners should pay more when they travel and I can sort of understand that, but I’m completely ill at ease with haggling and unpriced items when shopping. I definitely spend less because of it and usually only buy exactly what I need – no more than that.
Leave a Reply