Well the petrol head in me let loose and the first thing I noticed is that there are 3 brands of car on the road here. Daewoo, Kia and Hyundai.
Ok well to be perfectly honest the first thing I noticed upon setting foot out the entrance to Incheon International Airport was an acidic combination of serious humidity, pollution, and cigarette smoke.
It’s sticky here, everyone has a big car, and everyone smokes. The airport does such a fine job of insulating you from these things that it’s little wonder most people in transit probably don’t bother to leave.
Where to start… Well probably the taxi driver who spruiked out the front and I agreed to hop in, despite big signs in the airport saying “Taxi touting is totally illegal. Just say no!”. Weird. Anywho I had no plan to go to Seoul because at 70 minutes or so travel time I figured it was just too far.
I was under the impression that there was a little coastal provence called – like the airport – Incheon and despite the fact that it was still dark (5am) and absolutely monsoonally pissing down (putting Melbourne to shame) I figured that would be a nice nearby spot to have a look around.
Incheon is an island (some of it might be made from reclaimed land) where a couple of years prior to the Japan/Korea World Cup hosting biz they decided to build a shiny new airport. It looks futuristic and cool in that typically Asian way.
Anyway when you have major language barriers between you, I can safely say that “Intaewon” and “Incheon” sound awfully similar. So AUD$80 later I wound up in Seoul. Thankfully during all that faffing around the rain did at least stop. My god the traffic and the way people drive there… shit. This cabbie (nice enough bloke, despite the large fare) was slewing between lanes that were an inch deep in water whilst writing SMS’s and fielding phone calls simultaneously. But he did have enough presence of mind to slow down for the speed camera. He baulked when I explained how much we pay in Melbourne for such infractions ;-)
But these guys aren’t a patch on the motorcyclists. I sometimes feel like a bit of a hard man for braving some of Melbourne’s worst on a bike, but these riders are nothing short of Cynthia Bobbit type crazy. Wearing – at beast – a bicycle helmet, but generally none at all, they scream along amongst all this mayhem with 70kg of poorly secured junk strapped on the back. Just unbelievable. Much like the cars they all ride locally made bikes, Hyosung and Daelim seem to be most common. Yet they stick on Suzuki and various other brand names onto these bikes as though they yearn for some Japanese built machinery. Quite odd.
What is odd, though, is that while all the bikes are very small 150cc or so things, all the cars are large. Hyundai’s everywhere but not a single Excel. My taxi was this super plush jet black Hyundai-something. I can’t understand the mentality of getting around in such beasts with all the traffic problems they have. Must be the American influence I guess; they do drive on the right hand side.
Ok enough about vehicles ;-)
Having not slept in recent memory I did have quite some difficulty trying to wander around hot humid Seoul wearing my bike jacket and assorted carry-on luggage. All I really wanted was a little outdoor cafe or similar so I could sit down, take off the damn jacket, and just watch the people for a while. Such places simply do not exist; at least in the small set of blocked I traversed. So I settled for a “park” bench equivalent. I was being watched as much as I was doing the watching; I did not spot a single caucasian between leaving the airport and getting back here.
It struck me as such a inexorable force of Commerce. Anywhere you physically could set up a stall to sell something, someone does. Anythint and everything on any city street. Interestingly I did not spot a single beggar or apparently homeless person. I wonder if that’s because they’re “taken care of” Brazil style, or they just set up stalls and sell something instead. Maybe that’s their work for the dole equivalent. They do work awfully hard though, the competition must be incredibly fierce in all aspects of business here.
I actually enjoyed the bus back to the airport (a much friendlier AUD$15) a lot more, because I got a chance to do all the gawking tourist-like stuff I had hoped to do on foot. Feels a bit silly to crave that tour-bus kind of approach, but I guess when you’re like me and hope to get a “feel” for a city like Seoul in 4 hours then that’s what it takes. It made me realise just how useful that bike in Europe will be – no mucking around for hours trying to figure out how to get somewhere. Seoul is surround by some very pretty – albeit obscured by smog – mountain ranges which I’d have loved to check out. Reminded me of Adelaide in that regard actually, hills you could almost walk to. I just didn’t nearly have enough time to scope out how to get up there so couldn’t.
So yeah it was a brief stint but very surreal. I’m in dire need of sleep and have no intention of proof-reading this post! Think it’s another 11 hours or so to Zurich, and it will be daylight the whole way. Messy, messy Jules.
Bring it on ;-))) Photos will have to wait… no phone reception here as they don’t use such backward technology as 2GSM. Been 3G for several years apparently.
PS Jules saw a Korean archery centre right alongside (dangerously close in fact) to the major highway. Complete with dudes using metal detectors looking for their arrows.
