韓國, 안녕 히계세요!
Our last stop before the airport takes us to the duty-free shop. It’s located somewhere in the highway in Incheon leading to the airport. Irene explains how much time we have to buy the stuff we want. There are lots of other tourist buses also parked, with its passengers also going to the duty-free shop. Wilson’s kimchi order from the kimchi factory is also there for pickup. The entrance to the shop itself is on the second floor, so everybody goes up. The door to the shop is closed, but once it opened, it feels a bit comical. People suddenly make their way grabbing all the stuffs they are going to buy. The floor we are in sells foodstufs. Korean crackers, ginseng rice crispy bars, kim(dried seaweed) packets… on the ground floor are the more primo items, souvenirs, hanboks. We bought the ginseng rice crispy bars, caramelized sesami chips, elongated rice cracker wrapped in kim, a souvenir of a Silla-era royalty mini-SD(super-deformed) statuettes. We have them packed in a box and we are now off to the airport.
Our way to the airport is on an afternoon, just in time for the low-tides. You can see the wide expanse of exposed marsh. I wondered what it was like for the US troops to land in Incheon during the Korean War. There’s a feeling of mellon collie as we are nearing the airport. The end of our Korean journey is nearing to an end.
We reach the departure terminal. Irene and Imelda get the boarding pass for us. I must say the departure terminal’s lighting and ambience is a bit darker than the arrival. In contrast, our arrival has brighter lights and impressive amenities. You could say it (departure) has less frills because you are leaving the country. We make a final photo of everybody together for a last shot.
We make our way to immigration. This is where we thank and say goodbye to our gracious and beautiful guide. She will be going back to Seoul via subway from Incheon, back to her husband and son.
So, we will wait for about a couple hours for our returning flight. After that is a quick transfer from NAIA to domestic airport to catch our Cebu Pacific flight which is going to be a long wait. Farewell Korea. Very beautiful country. It’s not perfect but it has a lot of interesting places, interesting history, delicious food. I hope to return there again one day. Hopefully, there are trips where you can go to the southern provinces (Jeolla for one). Many places yet to be visited: Busan, Seoraksan, DMZ, Jeju… Perhaps someday…
