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Friday, April 6, 2012

Mega City


Bazflyer's are small town folk at heart. We unashamedly acknowledge there is a comfortable and inevitable smug introspective that accompanies such a lifestyle. Small town is good. However, every now and then nothing serves quite like a mega-city experience to put our situation on this planet into proper perspective. On this occasion we have chosen to checkout Seoul in South Korea. This city has a population of more than 20 million and ranks after Toyko as the earth's second most populous city so there's no doubt here on it's mega-city status.

Our travel from Auckland north west around the globe to Seoul took 12 hours in a Korean Airline Boeing 777. There was no hardship in this journey cloistered in the comfort of business class which the Bazflyer's justified as research for BAZ's new crew seats…! When our flight touched down at Incheon International Airport the late afternoon sun displayed as a spectacular orange ball of light hovering above the distant horizon. What a perfect setting for an airport that has rated the bast airport in the world since 2005. Immigration, baggage claim and airport exit was a seamless process and less than 30 minutes after disembarkation were were on a coach traveling into the city centre.   

The Christchurch earthquakes have highlighted how precious some New Zealander's can become over a few 100 year old buildings and a city's rebuild. In this regard Seoul stands as a stark comparison. It has an amazing 2000 year history as a major settlement but that has not prevented it from having the most technologically advanced infrastructure in the world. Our hotel is located in the middle of downtown Seoul. I can't wait to explore…..!
 Early morning downtown Seoul

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