I didnt expect to be writing a blog entry for something as mundane as going to the airport but once again they do things differently in Korea and I ended up with a story to tell. For my return trip to Toronto decided to fly from Daegu Airport to Seoul Incheon as it would be the fastest way to finish winter camp on the same day and get to Seoul for my evening Toronto flight. Also I can check my bags at Daegu all the way to Toronto so dont have to worry about them anymore. The flight from Daegu was $80 compared to the high speed train which would have been $40 and I'd have to transfer at seoul station with my luggage to the airport line so a lot of hassle.

Daegu Airport is actually a US army air base so you hear the roar of fighter jets and see more military craft then civilian flights . Daegu passenger terminal is a virtual ghost town. The only two destinations are Seoul Incheon airport, or Jeju island to the south. There are occasional flights to Beijing or Shanghai but thats it. The check in counter was deserted and the security screeners seemed startled to see a passenger, they were chatting away to pass the time. There are only three departure gates, even the lady at the snack store had a neck pillow and was passed out.

However, I found this much more convenient to check my bags and be done in a ghost town rather than drag everything to seoul and deal with the line ups and crowds of seoul incheon airport. About 45 mins before the flight the terminal picked up and all the passengers showed up. Now I know for next time not to come more than an hour before as theres nothing to do and nobody in the terminal before then.

youtube video: Daegu Airport - Ghost Terminal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIiQZh_w3Ok

As the plane taxied on the tarmac its really quite interesting and unlike any other airport I've been in before . Once again, this is a US army airbase. Military flights took precedence and we had to wait even though we were the only passenger flight in the airport. As we drove to the runway it was almost a drive by tour of the airbase. Photography was not allowed but I got a few shots. You see all the hangers designed to hide the interior from satellite photography, and lots of military aircraft, jeeps, and army personell. The runway had scorch marks from the high speed fighter jets.

youtube video: Daegu Airport - Fighter Jets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jnT8pkf2Q

As we took off you could see all the brown buildings in the army complex. Also noticed after in one of my pics I had Bullo Dong Tomb Park which had burial mounds from the old Silla Kingdom. The flight is very short, barely one hour, and as we got north you could see more snow and the ground freezing over. It was quite mild +2 when I left daegu but seoul is much colder . I had a very good view of Incheon and the snake like bridge river crossing which is maybe 30km long.

Now I had about 3 hours to kill before my toronto flight. I thought Incheon airport would be just another boring airport but this is where I was quite surprised. First of all they had an airport museum of korean traditional craftworks. They also had free showers which makes a nice change for long haul flights and long layovers.

Also at different points in the terminal they had Korean Cultural Experience Centres. This is where people can try different korean crafts such as fan making, korean writing, costume dress up experience, or try to play traditional musical instruments. This was something truly unique I had never seen in an airport terminal before and surprised more countries havent picked up on this idea when they are trying to win awards for 'best airport'. If I was on holiday I might have tried out these things but I can do this at any of the folk village I'll be visiting while here .

Here is the website for the airport terminal cultural centres
http://www.chf.or.kr/chf/eng/facilities/Incheon/Incheon.jsp

Now I had another hour to kill and kept seeing signs for a shuttle train to the outer terminal building so decided to check this out. I thought I could ride the train there and back... wrong! There are two trains, one goes to the outer terminal building to take departing passengers. The other line runs in the opposite direction bringing arrival passengers back to the main building. You can not cross between the two trains and they do not carry passengers in reverse.

So I had to tell them at the information desk I was supposed to be at gate 12 in the other building and they asked me what I was doing in this terminal? So they had to escort me back to the arrivals train line. First he swiped me into the back corridors only used by employees. Then we went to the station platform to board the train running in the reverse direction . The return trip trains are used to shuttle employees between the two terminal buildings. So this train only had the airport staff with their security badges.

Then in the other terminal I had to go thru security clearance to get back to my gate. Luckily this was just as my flight to toronto was now ready to board. I had the last two seats in the back and luckily it was empty so I got to lie down and try to sleep for the 12 hour flight. We flew over seoul and I got a very good view of the city and river but because the lights were on in the plane there was too much glare in the windows for a good pic. When we arrived it was -9 in Toronto, a big drop from the +2 I had left in Daegu.

The two week forecast remains the same for toronto but daegu is +3 this weekend and expected to be +10 the day I arrive back! I'll be stuffing my face with food while i'm here and will be off to Busan, Geojedo Island, and Japan on my return in February.