It was the weekend, so I took a drive around Gimpo.

A plane

Not just Gimpo, of course — nowhere around Gimpo Airport gets away from aircraft noise. In Pungmu it’s really bad, and by the time you reach Gurae you barely hear it at all.

Xi apartments

In Gimpo the apartment complexes sit way off in the distance, so life without a car looks impossible.

Xi apartments

This is near Sau, and even here there’s still aircraft noise, but it looks livable enough.

This is Venice..

There are shops of a sort in there.. though I’m not sure how well they’re doing..

A bakery I wandered into

Inside

The interior is no joke.

Thirty years of a master’s jjamppong..

As you head deeper into Gimpo, you start running into places like this — the kind families would drive out to.

A kimchi specialty restaurant

35 years of tradition, three generations of hand-pulled noodles, Ohyeongje Son-Jjajang..

If I’d had the time to spare, the look of it would have pulled me in..

Knowledge-industry centers, I’d guess, judging by the look..

Remnants of the bubble, I suspect.

Gurae

Gurae is the far end of Gimpo — go past here and you’re on Ganghwa Island — and it’s incredibly flashy. I never expected to find a Haeundae Noraejjang out here..

Abanggung Massage..

A bar..

Anyway, once you come this far in, even somewhere still called Gimpo turns into a completely independent living area with nothing to do with Seoul. There’s an industrial complex nearby, so maybe it feeds itself too. It was a fun experience, the kind you’d never get if you only ever stayed in Seoul.

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