Tulips in construction dust

We loved Air Korea! A smart slick plane, endless media, perfumed towels, a comfy spacious seat and really gracious service: the way air travel used to be. And as we were enroute to Istanbul we were given two hotel rooms and all our meal vouchers for a leisurely overnight stop at Incheon about an hour and a half from Seoul.
The drive from the airport revealed a city in the throes of rapid growing pains: the sky littered with cranes, and the air thick with construction dust. People wore masks to breathe. Massive clusters of new concrete coloured high rises were being pasted to the dusty sky like cutouts in a storybook.






Just ten years ago this part of the country was made Korea’s first free economic zone opening the port and harbour city to modernization and investment.  Samsung lives here, and occupies a large tract of the dry flat land enroute for its mega global enterprises.





If money means music Korea would surely be singing.  It is all a’ happening.   But there are traditional things honoured, too. We had time the following morning to take a leisurely stroll around Incheon’s Chinatown past little shops that haven’t changed for centuries.






Then up we went to the top of Jayu Park with its tiled shrines, well tended tulips and pretty flowering cherry blossoms: a peaceful oasis on a green hill.






After a transfer back to Incheon Airport we checked out the shops and some are among the most glamorous we have seen.  But, in the way of many countries in Asia, they tend to be completely over-serviced. Staff line the counters almost shoulder to shoulder. It is impossible to imagine how many of them actually sell one thing most days. I fear they must be mind-numbingly bored. 






oooOOOooo




Tulips all in a row
Incheon Chinatown 
Blossoms in Jayu Park
Gorgeous glass and display in designer shops

Elegant Dior window
Lovely street lamp in Incheon


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