The most civilized airport?

Hello, Wilson.
As you might have guessed, Jean Baptiste and I are back home, and already about to set out on another journey. So I haven't had time to complete all my Vietnam postings -- there's stories yet to tell, and some of those will be dispatched from Colorado. But in the short time I have before I leave again, I wanted to tell you about what must be a contender for the World's most civilized airport. It's in Seoul, Korea.

Imagine, for the moment, that you just got off a red-eye and you have to spend at least 10 hours waiting for the connection flight. Whatcha gonna do?

Well, how about a nap?

Or a free shower?

Or even a free tour, courtesy of the airport?

I've never seen an airport like the Incheon International Airport. They have a gizmo that allows you take a selfie standing in front of a scenic backdrop and e-mail it to your friends. They have a kid's play area, shown in the photo, below:

Although the main floor of the airport looked like a shopping mall, once you get upstairs, you have to work hard not to find a place to take a nap. For example the photos below of the padded chairs and benches right where you walk:

And if you have a hankerin' to get on the Internet, they even provide the machines. Free. (See below)

The place is beautiful! Check out the flowers in the waiting area:

And if you want a bite to eat, and you speak English, they make it kind of easy for you:

I even happened upon a floor show of sorts -- this parade of folks in traditional costumes, who stood for photographs with onlookers:

What I found more interesting than the creature comforts and the parade was the fact that the airport provided free tours. I had 10 hours to kill, and after a nap and a meal I still had time to take in two back-to-back tours: a one-hour tour to the Yonggungsa Temple, and the other a two-hour tour that took me across the Incheon Grand Bridge to the Heungryunsa Temple and the memorial for the historic Inchon landing--General Douglas McArthur's bold risk that reversed the fortunes of North Korea in its 1950 invasion of South Korea.

The very long Incheon Grand Bridge afforded a view of the Yellow Sea and the land over which the U.S. invaders made their risky but effective assault behind enemy lines at a time when only a small portion of the Korean peninsula continued to resist the invasion from the North. Our guide spoke fairly good English as she toured us first to the temple and then to the war memorial.

We couldn't go into this temple or take photos, but trust me, I got a look inside, and the interior was as amazing . . .

. . . as the exterior.

What I've come to understand is that the fat Buddha is happy, because he clearly lives in a time of plenty. and as for those amazing pendulous floppy ear lobes -- they represent good luck, the guide explained.

The guide also explained that we are prohibited from ringing this bell. Given it's size, I don't think you could do that without being noticed. That cylinder hanging from ropes is what strikes it -- I don't think in this case you can call it a clapper -- any of you readers know what it's called?

The figure at the left is a statue at the temple; at the right a statue celebrating the Inchon Landing (spelled "Incheon" in Seoul).

The faces are almost raceless, but I'm guessing that these are American G.I.s depicted here.

Today we call these armored personnel carriers.

There's no mistaking General Douglas McArthur's depiction in this relief mural.

On the one-hour tour to Yonggungsa Temple, visitors wrote messages on tiles that would be placed atop the temple.

There were a lot of tiles waiting to be placed on the roof. My understanding is that, after a period of time, the tiles are broken.

After the tour I was able to re-enter the airport, go through security and have plenty of time to find my way back to the waiting area for my flight home. Whatta layover!

Love,
Robert and Jean Baptiste