Incheon South Korea

​The cheapest flight I could find from Okinawa to Milan had an overnight layover in South Korea. I was dreading 2 days of travel but it was actually quite lovely. We all wished we had booked more time there.

We arrived in Incheon in the evening and took a taxi straight to our guesthouse. 

Life was made quite a bit easier by Asiana Airlines. They checked our luggage right through to Milan despite the layover which was lovely. Apparently they had quite a few connecting passengers so we got an email to come in a bit early and they opened just for us so we didn’t have to wait in stressful lines. Also their planes were bang on time and the food was amazing.

Travelling light! Only 4 carry on bags for the 6 of us. 

After dropping our bags we went for an evening walk to find some dinner and settled on a Korean bbq restaurant. We didn’t have a clue what the menu was and we were all pretty tired so we just picked 4 things to share and they were delicious! Only thing we recognized were dumplings. 2 dishes were quite spicy and they were huge. I didn’t think we would even put a dent in the food when it came but we demolished it. I fell into a burning ring of fire. Down down down and the flames went higher. And it burns burns burns. The ring of fire. The ring of fire.

In the morning we all had nice showers and a relaxed breakfast courtesy of Mr Kim. We stayed in a guesthouse with a shared kitchen and living room, but we had 2 of the 3 rooms and we never saw the other guests so we had the run of the place.  

After checkout we had plenty of time to get back to the airport considering we already had our boarding passes so travelling light we walked around downtown Incheon sampling smoothies and coffee drinks and generally cavorting.

Checking out the bbq during the day. 

Asia decorates their buildings much more intensely than Canada. No home owner’s association in this neighborhood.

We happened upon a tasty bakery that felt just like the suburban Tokyo ones and stocked up extra food for the airport and plane.

The trains in Korea were the cleanest and slickest we have seen yet. The airport at Incheon was absolutely huge! Felt like a giant mall with 50 foot ceilings and massive LED displays.

Our flight was right on time and the food was once again delicious.

We flew over Tajikistan and the Caspian Sea, just north of Iran. Good thing there weren’t any airspace closures. It was amazing to watch the mountains and the desert go by, but me and the kid in front of me kept getting in trouble for having the window open. I think the cabin crew wanted their wards to sleep and we were letting in brilliant sunlight and wrecking the vibe. Mikaya became their enforcer even if I cracked the window so they didn’t have to monitor me. A long flight but a good one. Doubly so bc it took us to Milan Italy!!