Korea Diary - 3

Our flight to Sacheon was scheduled for 7:30. We reached Gimpo (the taxi ride cost 1/10 of what we paid for yesterday) at 5:10. There were hardly 10 people at the airport (Gimpo ‘International’ airport is Seoul’s domestic airport and is as big as – if not bigger- than Bengaluru International airport). All the check-in counters were close. We wondered whether we were at the wrong place.

They opened only at 5:30. No queuing up anywhere –at check-in counters or at the security. To our surprise, they found a nail cutter in Vijay’s bag – something that he never knew was there. And so didn’t two other international airport security personnel. There were hardly 2 or 3 people waiting at the gate. And surprisingly, we had a huge 300-odd seat airplane. For the first time in my life, I was the first person on board a flight. There were hardly 20 passengers on the flight.

It was -10C at Sacheon. The airfield was huge, but the aircraft came to a halt next to a tiny building that resembled one of those village railway stations in India. You could see the parking lot from inside the aircraft.

Sunguk was waiting for us. It was a 30 minute drive on the highway. Hills rose up on either side of the road. Afar, you could spot the sea. Throughout the ride, he kept apologizing for not finding a 5-star hotel for us. The hotel turned out to be fantastic, nestled on a small hill, overlooking the beautiful Namildae beach. A tall wind vane towered over it. The lobby was decorated with various models of wooden ships. The room faced the beach. Jagged cliffs jutted out into the sea – the most prominent being the elephant rock, a rock that resembles an elephant’s trunk dipped into the sea. A small soccer field stood on one of the cliffs, with a big house – reminiscent of the Bates Manor from Psycho – overlooking it. In the distance, one can stop a massive power plant; its huge towers spewing forth thick white smoke. Opposite to it a small lighthouse guards the entrance to a fishing harbor.

The room is large, with two beds – one single and one double. There is a huge LCD TV on the wall facing the bed. The room also has a small refrigerator, a computer and even a water dispenser, but no microwave or cooking range (thankfully Vijay had gotten a tiny electric cooker). The lack of drawers is a drawback. But the place has something which you wouldn’t find even in big 5-star hotels – free internet.

So much for apologies…

After a bath, settled down and switched on the TV. To my surprise, they were showing a feature on Kalamandalam and Kathakali (in Korean of course).