Weekend trip to Yeongjongdo

Weekends we sometimes take our Kia Xtrek (and a deep breath) before heading out in the Seoul traffic madness. So we did last Sunday. Luckily, even in crowded Korea, nature is never very far away. Indeed there is wilderness, especially around DMZ, where animals and plants live undisturbed by the hordes of Koreans that otherwise fill every mountain trail, beach and Jeju resort. The Koreans are very proud of their densely populated mountainous peninsula, and are restoring wildlife when they can. This week a second couple of tigers, a gift from China, will be let loose in a national park, and wild boars are abundant in the mountains surrounding Seoul. Sometimes, when the food is becoming scarce, the boars wander into the city and scare people.

Not even an hour west of Seoul is the island Yeongjongdo, just outside the port city of Incheon. It is difficult to believe that the small island is home to one of the largest airports in the region. On the beaches, even though it is November, picnics are being cooked up on gas stoves, fishing rods firmly planted in the sand, and couples snapping photos of each other with the grey sea as the perfect backdrop. Roads on the island, outside of the airport road, tend to be rather narrow.

The tide is low, so there are lots of exposed rock. In the woods behind the sand we can see the guard posts – where there is a shore, there is the South Korean military. Wary eyes sweep the shoreline for intruders from the North. Small fishing ports on the island provide a sharp contrast to the large international port of Incheon on the mainland. There is a ferry service from the city to the island that takes cars to Yeongjongdo Wharf on the eastern tip of the island.

Incheon was the landing point for the US troops 1950, considered a turning point (one of many) in the Korean War. The statue of General MacArthur, erected in Freedom Park, has been the centre of intense conflict this year. Angry protesters want to tear it down, and equally upset members of the older generation want to keep it. Police are now guarding the statue around the clock. As a sign of how Koreans are re-evaluating their modern history it is interesting. After some US politicians made complaining noises, the Korean government assured them that the statue will stay.

The fish market on the pier of Yeongjongdo Wharf is a bustling place. We buy fish, mussels, big shrimps, clams from one of the market stalls. There are only women working here, so presumably the men are out fishing. Or maybe just drinking beer and smoking in one of the many small restaurants grouped around the market. The lady we buy from gives us at least a kilo of crabs and different shellfish together with the head of the fish, to cook a nice soup. Everything is alive, and on the way home in the Kia we can hear the crabs moving around in the plastic bags.

The western beaches are sandy with big, beautiful rock formations. Following the coastal road on the northern shore we pass several clusters of small fish restaurants. Outside in the cold weather are Korean parking attendants, almost all of them women, bowing deep and showing that their restaurants are open for business.
But we press on, and find a small fishing harbour, where people sit in a shed and eat their catch of the day. On the other side of the pier are the fishing-boats, lying on the sand and waiting for the tide to come in.