I recently went on a miles run and stayed two days in Incheon/Seoul. I really enjoyed the country, the food, the sites and the people. The weather cooperated and I had two cool but sunny fall days.

On Monday, I went on a self-guided walking tour in Incheon, wandering through the hills of Chinatown, the park dedicated to Gen MacArthur and the International Market. As a solo blonde American gal, I felt very safe everywhere, even though the country really is not set up for tourism. I had an interesting lunch in the shopping district. I have no idea what vegetables I ate, but the dish was very tasty!

On Tuesday, I went to Seoul for a city tour. Incheon is about 45 minutes from Seoul by taxi, but in rush hour traffic, it is definitely a 90+ minute drive. It's surprisingly quiet in both cities - no honking horns or noisy diesel buses - with polite drivers. With only 3 other "tourists" and personal guide, we took as long as we wanted in each of the palaces and shopping areas we visited.

I enjoyed the stark contrast of old culture/history side-by-side with new, high-end, expensive glitz. I found it interesting how attendants at the airport wore white gloves and treated your bags with care. I really enjoyed my short time in South Korea and would like to go back for 5-7 days, to have a more in depth experience. BTW, the trip was CLE-ORD-SEA-NRT-ICN-NRT-HKG-SFO-LAX-CLE for 19,383 miles.