Joseph and I spent this Christmas on the island of Jeju and had an adventure. Was it a grand adventure? We shall let you decide, but adventure it was!
Day 1:
We arrive at the Gimpo airport in Seoul. This is a different airport. It isn't much in the way of airports, but it is connected to a Mall. A western type mall.
We had about 4 hours to kill before our flight so we hung around this mall. It was interesting and it wasn't too pricey. A hotdog, hamburger and a cute pair of winter socks later and we headed to check in for our flight.
We arrive in Jeju after a very fun and eventful flight: since it was Christmas Eve the flight attendants put on a show! It was fun and made us wonder if this happened on most flights for Christmas Eve.
The flight was about 50 minutes. Fast!!
We arrive and find our guide waiting at the airport holding a sign with our names written on it. Cool! Never had that happen before! He explained that the Guest House we originally booked was not available so we stayed at his brothers Guest House in our own room (as planned) but in two twin beds, bunk beds no less (not planned). Hmmm...okay. Not a problem. It isn't more money so it's fine but still a bit perturbed about it.
Our host takes us to dinner. A yummy chicken stew. Then we head back to the Guest House and discussed what we wanted to do on our trip. While we discuss this we play with the cutest kitten who lives at the Guest House.
Day 2:
Our wake up call comes at 8am for breakfast at the Guest House (wake up call, really?) and is eggs and toast with jam and a side of yogurt. This is typical breakfast fare at a hostel in Korea (as far as the ones we have been to so far).
We head to the local bus terminal to take a bus to our first location (out of 11 we want to visit while we are here).
If you are visiting Jeju and want to explore on your own, the local bus terminal or taxis are a good bet. However, if you are staying at a hostel, Guest House, B&B or hotel they may also be able to set you up with a guide.
Winter time is not as busy in Jeju as the spring or summer. In fact, it is almost a ghost town. Hardly any traffic and no wait time for anything. Also, prices are cheaper.
Anyway, the information booth in the front of the bus terminal is a great help if you are on your own. We were given the bus number for our location and proceeded to get on the bus only to be told to get off the bus (bus 11) as it wasn't the correct one but go to bus 8. ARG. Okay, whatever, fine. So we go to bus 8. Wrong bus. We get yelled at in Korean and we spoke back to them in Korean explaining the other bus said to come here, blah blah blah. We got kicked off that bus and back to bus 11. We got yelled at again and by then I had had it. I got a little teary and went off the bus and Joseph went to the Information lady and handled things. We get back on bus 11 and head to were we needed to go. YAY!! It's about time. Over an hour later we get off the bus and walk 2km to the Chocolate Factory. It is Christmas Day and it's awesome.
We even take our pictures in front of a Christmas Tree!
Honestly the best Korean chocolate in Korea.
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| our last glimpse of civilization |
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| on our walk to the chocolate museum: a house made from cans |
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| Happy Christmas from the Chocolate Museum! |
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| This reminded me of Tiffany :-) A trolley in front of the museum |
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| Merry Christmas from J & E! |
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| how do we keep finding these reminders of home? Miss you guys! |
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| a pretty view of the natural wooden floor in the museum |
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| we actually bought souvenirs: they taste delicious! |
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| YUMMY! |
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| you know you want some! |
We leave the museum and are standing in front making plans on where to head next and a car pulls up asking where we are headed. We are going in the same direction so they offer to take us. Fantastic!! The bus takes so long to get anywhere so definitely we will go with. It is okay to hitchhike in Korea.
We are pretty well acquainted by the time we reach our destination and we leave them to head to our new place of interest. The prices are too high for entry so we decide to not go this time around. We hop on the next bus and go to Jeongbang Waterfall. The only waterfall in Korea that falls directly into the sea. So pretty!
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| a bridge overlooking the falls flowing into the sea |
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| hey dad! does this remind you of Miami? |
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| women divers selling their wares and soju |
Next we walked to Saeseom, which is Korea's longest pedestrian bridge. It connects Jeju mainland with an islet. It was beautiful and even had a bench that if you sat on it would begin playing music. It was so funny! Many Koreans were taking turns sitting on it and running away and giggling.
We began the long trip back to the main bus terminal and walked to the Ramada near our guest house. We ended our Christmas Day at the Ramada and after a "brief" emergency, enjoyed our last few hours of Christmas Day. We missed our loved ones and made a toast for them. Miss you guys! We love you!
Day 3:
After another lovely wake up call (consisting of a knock on our door with "Joseph and Elizabeth breakfast is ready!" bringing us back to dad waking us up in high school. Oy!)
We decided that the 11 things we wanted to experience on this trip were just not going to happen so we decided to take it easy and we will come back to climb Mt. Halla (the tallest mountain in Korea) and experience the Tea and Tangerine fields.
We took our time headed toward the eastern part of the island to visit the lava cave, affectionately known as Manjanggul Lava Cave. On our 2.5km walk there from the bus stop (again in the middle of nowhere) we happened upon the Gimnyeong Maze Park which is another place we wanted to visit. Both were awesome and so much fun! We laughed our way through both and had a fabulous time ringing the bell at the end of the maze and walking through the 1000 meters of lava goodness.
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| which way do I go |
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| This sign says, "do not kiss here" oops! |
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| which way do I go to get outta here?! |
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| our walking view :-) lovely |
We worked our way back to our neighborhood and had the worst dinner of our entire Korean stay. It was awful. It's okay though, we got them back in our own way. *wink wink*
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| chomp, chomp! |
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| can you see the dragon head? |
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| octopus boats |
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| dragon head with the octopus boats in the background |
Day 4:
We wake up and play with the kitty then take a short walk by the sea before we head towards the airport and back to the mainland.
We will see you again, Jeju for Mt. Halla and the tea and tangerine fields!
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| garden at our guest house |
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Ah, yes. The hand grenades. Well, Joseph and I left Jeju at the last minutes with two HUGE honey bell oranges. They were delicious and too hot to hold in our hands so we had to eat them in a hurry! They were almost as good as Florida oranges. :-p
