At first thought, I was unhappy about having a 10 hour layover in Seoul, because it was during the day and that meant not having the opportunity of crashing at a hotel.  But it only took about an hour for me to realize how fortunate I was.  After spending the necessary time passing through my checkpoints, I happened upon an information counter advertising “free” tours around Seoul.  Initially thinking this was too good to be true, I promptly dismissed the notion until once again, I happened upon yet another booth, also tempting me with seemingly free tours.  Not wanting to be taken for a sucker, I tried to be one of “those” people and asked a few rapid-fire questions to the guide to see if I could find the catch in their scheme.  I mean, I had oodles of time to kill, and was interested in the 5-hour tour, so I wanted all the dirt up front.  Lo and behold, I found the dirty secret after a short interrogation…the tour cost $13.00 USD.  Ok, Ok, that’s a steal so I immediately signed up!

So where did my $13.00 and 5 hours of my life go?  First, $3 went for the insurance feel.  Next, I was given a winter coat to borrow since it was about 30 degrees outside and I was dressed for going to the equator.  I boarded a nice bus with my fellow group members and headed to the city center.  The first stop was the Gyeongbok palace where we were given a brief history of Korea.  We were then taken a short distance away to the Jogyesa temple where we received a lesson in architecture and the placement of religious items.

Gyeongbok Palace

Jogyesa Temple

My remaining $10 paid for the entrance fees at both locations and the delicious lunch that followed.  I had beef bulgogi…one of my personal favorites anyway; it was really nice to have that particular dish while actually in Korea.

At this point, we were free to go shopping for about an hour after we were done with lunch.  We were strategically placed in the prime gift shop location on Insadong street, so it was easy to quickly find all of my souvenir requirements.

Insadong street

Luckily, everyone had just met up with our bus for our return trip to the airport when it started to rain.  Perfect timing.

The tour was wonderful.  And amazing value for $13!  But that’s not all.  Since I still had time to kill before making my connection, I took some time to wander around the terminal.  In addition to the delicious coffee shops, smoothie places, wifi, free lockers to use for your bags (so you don’t have to carry everything with you), and very helpful info desks, I noticed a spa where weary travelers could get all their knots worked out.  And, there is also a travelers hotel on the top floor where you can actually rest in between flights.

My tour guide did mention that out of the 11 years that the Incheon Airport has been in operation, it has been named the best in the world for eight of those years.  After experiencing it for myself, I totally understand why.