Relatives came to visit on a day off, and since I couldn’t think of anywhere in particular to take them, we made a quick trip out to the Gyeongin Canal. It was really hot that day.
The view at Gyeyang Station
The easiest way to get to the Gyeongin Canal is to get off at Gyeyang Station in Incheon. Can you see that huge bridge cutting straight across the middle of the rice fields? Since it crosses a canal, they had no choice but to build it high. The channel wasn’t as wide as I expected, though. Of course, for ships to get through, depth matters more than width.
A pavilion, probably
The canal runs a good ten-odd kilometers, and they’ve turned the whole length of it into a park. It’s on a completely different scale from Cheonggyecheon – apart from the Han River, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a park this enormous anywhere in Korea.
The wharf
Being a canal, it has logistics facilities too. It didn’t look like containers were coming through in earnest yet. The sightseeing boats, on the other hand, seemed to be getting plenty of use – thanks to all the TV publicity, I suppose.
The bike path
It runs all the way from Seoul, so I can’t even imagine how long it must be. Cycling club members must be delighted. Watching the endless stream of club riders go past, though, one thing struck me: every single one of them had pro-grade gear. Proper kit, too. Granted, with bike equipment, pro-grade really does make a difference you can feel even as an amateur. But the price of it all has to be about what a decent used car costs… People say Korea is in a slump, but incomes must be pretty substantial.
Under the bridge
They’ve dammed the waterway off. With no flow, the water quality is bound to end up poor.
A view of the Han River
Apartment towers as far as the eye can see.
The wharf and the observation tower
Out at the coastal end there are proper, full-scale facilities.
The view from the observation tower
The “Green Growth” slogan on the wind turbine is a throwback to the Saemaul Movement era. It was too hot to take many photos, but inside the observation tower they have built a whole set of PR displays about the Gyeongin Canal. Look closely and you can even ride boats on what is basically a pond – for family tourists, presumably.
The Cheongna District
A lot of high-rises have gone up while I was away from Korea.
A pier under construction
Construction was in full swing. At this rate the work looks set to be finished within the year.
The Gyeongin Ara Waterway
This is the lock. I’d only ever heard about it, but they really did build it so ships can pass through.
The road to Incheon Airport
It’s right there in front of you.
The observation deck with the glass floor
It was so hot that we hurried straight on to the next sightseeing spot. This place apparently turns up on TV a lot – I think it may well be close to the first of its kind in Korea.
The artificial waterfall
Apparently they only send water down the falls on special occasions. A textbook case of government by showpiece, I would say.
When someone spends money, someone else ends up benefiting. In this case the visible beneficiaries are the cycling clubs of the Seoul/Incheon area and the residents of the neighboring towns. I’m on the benefiting side myself, at least in that it’s close to home – but for anyone with no connection to it who got nothing out of it, the only way to keep the tax money from feeling wasted is to start making good use of the place, even now.