Today we’re docked in Incheon, the port city for Seoul, South Korea. Incheon is located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi. About 3 million people live here making it the third largest city after Seoul and Busan. By opening its port to the outside world Incheon has ushered in the modernisation of Korea as an industrial centre. The city was named as Korea’s first free economic zone in 2003 and since then large local companies and global enterprises have invested heavily in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, including Samsung which has its major investment business in Songdo International City. Many fairs, and conferences are held in Incheon yearly and the Asian Games were here in 2014.
Many people went on tours to the DMZ Third Tunnel and City, we didn’t book that due a lot of walking and steps but the other day I asked if there was any chance I could go. The answer was no, all names had been sent in and the tour was closed. Will be interesting to see how the guests enjoyed it. George went on a Grand tour of Seoul and I did a Folk Village and Namdaemun Market tour. Both around 7 1/2 - 8 hours. I really enjoyed the village, it was beautifully set out, lots of families, locals dressed in period costume and looking very glamorous. We missed a horse show as traffic was heavy on the way but did get to see a re-enactment of a traditional Korean wedding. Lunch was delicious, beef and mushroom soup cooked in a steamboat, with spicy condiments. Our guide, Thomas, was quite a character, a highly intelligent guy who spent 3 years in the US army at some point. He had some interesting stories about his childhood but also has a western view. The market was good, too, I think I’ve done enough markets this week and will look forward to South Melbourne market in a couple of weeks!!!
Had dinner with two couples from our pre-cruise days in Beijing. Both the guys are ex navy captains, one English and the other Australian, and both have good stories to tell. The Englishman and his wife now live on the Sunshine Coast QLD. And the Australian captains wife grew up in Hobart. And yes, I pulled another rabbit out of the hat and asked if she’d gone to the Friends School In Hobart and yes, she did, and she knows Andre’s mother!!! What a small world.
Dinner was lovely, the show was excellent, the singer was our cruise director John Bannon! Can’t beat older talent!
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