The Yellow Sea island of Hong-do

My reason for visiting Mokpo was its closeness to Hong-do Island. The ferry left Yeongsan River Estuary heading west on a two-and-a-half-hour journey. Dadohaehaesang was South Korea’s largest national park. Including land and sea, it’s area was over 2,000 square kilometres. I planned to take the boat tour around the island, but by the time the ferry docked at Hong-do Island pier, I felt squeamish. Not having had a substantial breakfast the seasick feeling persisted. I kept debating the boat tour, which was the reason I’d come to the island, but when another hiker I met on the Power Station Circuit told me it was a two-and-a-half-hour tour, I knew my stomach couldn’t last the distance. 

Incheon and further north

Most visitors to Korea leave Incheon Airport and head straight to Seoul. On one visit I decided to stay in Incheon and see what it had to offer. In the late 1300s, it had been a fishing port during the Joseon Dynasty. Now it was the country’s third largest city. In the late 1800s with the opening of the port, many goods were imported from China, so a Chinatown was born, but when I visited, there wasn’t much to see—mostly Chinese restaurants.