Jeju-do (June 2-6)

Sarah and I spent a long weekend in the beginning of June on Jeju-do, a large Korean island 11 hours (by boat) from Busan. Check out the pictures here.

It was kind of a last minute trip and so we put little planning into the whole thing. We booked the overnight ferry the day we left and surprisingly, there were no private rooms available. We were left with a "sleeping hold" that held 32 people. Having no alternative we took it hoping for the best.

We left around 8 on Friday and the ferry turned out to be pretty memorable. Our room was just that: a big empty room (probably 12 X 25 feet) with only small cushions available to use as pillows. Everyone came in and claimed a spot on the floor. Sarah and I got a corner and held it fiercely against encroachments by our roommates. We had 18 people in our room and we couldn't imagine 32 people crammed inside. While walking to the bathroom I found that one of the rooms had a karaoke machine and inside about twenty people were singing and dancing their hearts out. They saw me watching them and invited me in. I ran back and grabbed Sarah and we joined them. It was mostly old women in the room and they offered us beer and made us dance. It only lasted three songs because a ship employee came around and told them that they had to keep it down. It was cool though and while leaving I was given a shot of soju (Korean rice wine) and a piece of dried squid as a chaser. Honestly, I'm not sure which was worse.

We returned to our rooms and managed to fall asleep around 12 despite the lights being still on and a group of old men drinking, talking and gambling in the opposite corner. The floor was as uncomfortable as you would imagine and the drunk Korean woman passed out next to Sarah kept inching closer until they woke up nose to nose. Getting to Jeju was fun despite the lack of privacy and one of those things that is really funny afterwards.

We arrived around 6 am and after searching around for a bit, checked into a super nice room at the Raddison which was given to us at half price for some reason. After a much needed nap we took an hour long bus ride to the southern part of the island and walked around near the beach and checked out not only a gorgeous waterfall but also a pool that was home to some eel that was named as a Korean Tourist attraction. Everything in Korea is numbered and labeled as some sort of wonder of Korea. Including the eel, which we actually saw and deemed to be unimpressive. We discovered how nice Jeju-do was pretty early. It's sub-tropical so there were palm trees everywhere which was a nice reminder of home.

The next day we attempted to rent scooters so we could drive around the island. When I told the rental guy that I didn't have an international drivers license I had to quickly lie when he asked if I've ever driven a scooter before. "Of course" I said. He told me to drive a scooter around the block to see if I could drive. I could and I did, though rather slowly, but I guess I didn't meet the owners expectations since he said he couldn't rent to me. He wouldn't budge despite showing him my expired California drivers license. We tried renting one scooter with Sarah's license (she drives a motorcycle) but after only a block of riding on the back of a scooter I said it wouldn't work; it freaked me out not to be in control of the bike. So we returned the bike and took a cab to our next destination.

Which was Korean tourist attraction #98: a 8 km long lava tube. A lava tube is a big cave created by, well, lava boring through the earth and it was impressive for the first ten minutes of the 60 minute walk to the end and back. It had a rock inside that was supposed to look like a turtle and (this was written on the advertisement) show "the magnificence of God." It fell short on both counts. We had more fun making fun of the cave than the cave itself provided. Leaving involved a missed bus, what would have been a two hour wait and another cab ride.

We then left to see THE MYSTERIOUS ROAD!!!! which was a tourist trap where things would roll up hill. The "hill" was more like an slight upward tilt, but things did roll against gravity. Amazing? Not really. We would have called the mysterious road a waste of time if not for the Love Park.

The Love Park was a normal park with grass, trees and a nice lake in the middle. And about 2 dozen pornographic statues, suggestive signs and a huge thirty foot penis in the center. It was an erotic park that catered to the many honeymooners who visit Jeju-do. About twenty other people were in the park, wandering around gawking at the statues. Definitely a highlight of the trip that more than made up for the two mile walk we had to make afterwards cause we couldn't find a cab back to the main road.

The next day we traveled back down to the southern coast and hung out on the beach. We found a group of the famous Jeju-do lady divers. It is a family tradition to be a diver on Jeju-do and harvest fish and seaweed to sell at the market. They dive in groups just off the shore and supposedly can stay underwater for up to 2 minutes. One approached us and gave us a sea urchin. Unsure what the hell we were supposed to do with it, we put it back in the ocean after she left.

In the afternoon we went on a harbor cruise. We couldn't understand the tour operator since everything was in Korean so we were left to assume that he was pointing out rocks that were supposed to look like stuff. We did see a bunch of sea caves, an impressive view of the coast and a flying fish. It was fun. Afterwards we went to a nearby temple, which was amazing. Usually you aren't allowed to take pictures inside but we could in this one. It was huge, 4 stories tall and it had three large golden Buddha statues and dragons curling around the central columns. And the hallways and stairwells were decorated with paintings depicting the history of Buddhism. Really cool.

After the temple we wandered around for a bit more and found another waterfall and some hiking trails. We spend a few hours hiking and wading in the pools at the base of the falls. We couldn't stay long, however, since we had to catch an evening flight back to Busan. We got to the airport early and despite worries that the flight would be canceled due to weather, we made it home with no problems.

It was a great trip and it once again demonstrated how well Sarah and I travel together. Both of us are able to shrug off the numerous mishaps that come with wandering around a foreign country. Hopefully, our trip up to Seoul and the islands in the north at the end of July should be just as fun.