March 24th Incheon, South Korea

A dry and sunny day today but cold. We arrived in Incheon at 7am and docked within sight of the town. Our first destination was the Jayu Park because the shops didn't open until 10.30am. The park holds a memorial to 100 years of the American/Korean Treaty, a spectacular modern memorial and a statue of General Douglas Macarthur (son of Arthur Macarthur, who says Americans don't have a sense of humour)! Incheon is the site of the 1950 landings by the UN forces during the Korean War, which enabled the south to turn the conflict their way. The DMZ is only an hour north of Incheon. In the park there was an outdoor exercise area with most of the sorts of equipment you would find in a gym and people actively using them. We met a Korean gentleman who, after enquiring where we came from, proceeded to tell us that the sun never used to set on the British Empire and then proceeded to sing the National Anthem to us while doing shoulder presses! Korea is certainly a more friendly place than some of the Chinese places we have visited, with the exception of Shanghai. After this we walked through Chinatown and looked at a few old buildings, however the most notable thing architecturally about Incheon is the variety of christian churches, some old and some modern, ranging from the Catholic Cathedral to the Anglican Church and including the largest Methodist church, hall and centre we have ever seen. Having walked the streets, we then went underground and walked through the markets which are underneath the streets and stretch for a couple of kms. From some of the stalls we saw it seems that in Korea at least, the seasons fashion statement is matching underwear for men and women! Rush out now to get yours to be ahead of the game! Finally we risked a Korean restuarant on Korean Restaurant St and had dumplings and (very hot) noodles, I was up all night!. To get in and out of Incheon Harbour, the ship has to pass through a sea lock which itself was quite interesting but made more so for us as it was done while snow was falling. This was the first precipitation we have had during the whole trip and it comes down as snow? The snow came down hard enough to lay across the decks of the ship and was the source of great entertainment for many of the Australians and members of the crew, who had never experienced snow before. Looking forward to arriving at Jeju Island tomorrow.