Hi all!
How you'll doing?
Well, this is gonna be a looooong email. I've been dreading typing it....
Early Saturday morning, I met the rest of my tour group (40-strong) at Gimpo Airport in Seoul, for my first adventure trip with ADVENTURE KOREA. We flew to Jeju Island, south of the Korean mainland. It's also known as Honeymoon Island here, as it's the most beautiful part of Korea, and thus an attraction for many Korean newlyweds. Well, I loved it so much, that I definitely want to go back. The air is so much cleaner, brisk sea breezes blow off the ocean, just like the good old Cape of Storms. And everything just looks cleaner than on the mainland. And there are mandarin orange orchards growing everywhere! And I was shocked to see palm trees! In Korea!
Anyway, our first stop was a replica museum showing life in Seoul during the 1960s-70s. It shows just how fast Korea has grown in the last 50 years, from being a poor, rural country that couldn't grow enough food to feed its people, to becoming one of the world's leading countries in technology today.
Next was a volcanic crater, which is now overgrown with trees. We were told we would see lava tubes. This turned into the biggest group joke, as there we were, a bunch of tourists pointing their cameras at every possible - and impossible - angle, trying to see the lava tubes! Still a huge mystery, by the way! We then went horseriding, followed by traditional Jeju pork bbq.
Life in rural Korea, just 50 years ago, when Korea was the poorest country in the world.
Next was a volcanic crater, which is now overgrown with trees. We were told we would see lava tubes. This turned into the biggest group joke, as there we were, a bunch of tourists pointing their cameras at every possible - and impossible - angle, trying to see the lava tubes! Still a huge mystery, by the way! We then went horseriding, followed by traditional Jeju pork bbq.
Volcanic crater
It was to be the weekend of My Left Side. I'm still trying to decipher any hidden code re my left side...but surely this is no coincidence. Read on, and you'll see what I mean. In the restaurant, one of the waiters spilled warm - almost hot - stock on my left shoulder as she was moistening our table's bbq cooker. Well, the pork was delicious! My shoulder and feelings? Wounded.....Back on the bus, someone walked past me and the hair on the left side of my head got hooked onto her bag, or something, which resulted in me getting everyone's attention by yelping Ow! Ow! OW!!! Then a ferry to Udo Island - 15min ferry ride on a nice choppy sea to Udo Island, which is supposed to look like a cow lying on its side (mmmmm.....left side?). Another mystery since none of us could see this!
We went up another mountain, which has a cliff called LION ROCK, at least we could see the lion!
Many people were riding horses, and mountain hiking. There were also some free range cows.
View of Jeju Island from Udo Island.
We went up another mountain, which has a cliff called LION ROCK, at least we could see the lion!
Lion Rock on Udo Island
Many people were riding horses, and mountain hiking. There were also some free range cows.
On that note, I'm convinced that the animals in Korea speak a different language! When the dogs bark, they sound like screaming children. The cows sound like donkeys, not like any cows I've ever heard back home! The horses were silent! Also, it seems that the smaller the people, the bigger the bugs! Korea has giant bugs. The earthworms look like baby snakes. The spiders are humungous, as are the ants. Giant cicadas, grasshoppers, dragonflies and some other strange things. Thank Goodness the cockroaches are minimal, I've only encountered 2 medium sized ones in my 7 months here. Hallelujah!
Anyway, we stopped off at a few more beaches, the last one being a coral sand beach, meaning...the sand is not beach sand as we know it, but more like a gravel made of eroded coral, which really hurt your feet, but it's still very pretty.
Back to Jeju Island, to a buffet dinner, then on to check into a VERY nice hotel, the Ocean Grand, right on the beach! A small group of us (8) - (German, Swiss, South African, Canadian, American) went to the local supermarket, bought some lemonade and soju, and went to sit on the beach, and proceeded to get to know each other better, then went to look for a noraebang (karaoke), sang till our voices were gone and our throats were raw. The Swiss, Janine, and I went back to our hotel room, while the others went swimming at 1AM! (It was really nice meeting some foreigners who, for a change were European and NOT English teachers!)
Next morning, we went to see a Chinese Acrobatic and Motorbike show. Oh my word! Again, the Chinese really know how to put on a show! They had the audience in near panic attacks with their death-defying stunts. Amazing amazing stuff! If ever you have the opportunity to watch Chinese acrobats live, grab it with both hands and feet!
Then off to a green tea farm and museum telling the history of tea. Then off to another beach, this one with black sand. The unique thing about Jeju and Udo islands, is that there are lava rocks everywhere. People use them to build low stone walls, as property borders, on sidewalks, etc, etc. Basically, you see black porous volcanic rock everywhere! Of course, they sell pumice stones everywhere too! At this beach, we could walk through man-made cave tunnels that the Japanese had excavated for use by Kamikaze pilots while they hid and plotted attacks on the Americans during the war. We also watched a group of giant jellyfish fighting hard against the strong high tide that was bringing them in to shore.
Next was a visit to the Mysterious Ghost Road. At the point that the road goes uphill, the bus driver switched off the engine and the bus continued to roll....UPHILL! We got out and tested this weird phenomenon for ourselves. We poured water on the road... it ran uphill. We placed a plastic water bottle on the road...it rolled uphill. Freaky Freaky...but true. I saw it with my own eyes. I thought that since it's a volcanic island, it must have something to do with magnetic fields. Apparently, it's all an optical illusion. The road really looks like it goes uphill. I still can't believe that it's actually the other way round. None of us can. You have to go and see it for yourselves. It gives another meaning to SEEING IS BELIEVING....apparently, this is not true.
Kamikaze cave
Next was a visit to the Mysterious Ghost Road. At the point that the road goes uphill, the bus driver switched off the engine and the bus continued to roll....UPHILL! We got out and tested this weird phenomenon for ourselves. We poured water on the road... it ran uphill. We placed a plastic water bottle on the road...it rolled uphill. Freaky Freaky...but true. I saw it with my own eyes. I thought that since it's a volcanic island, it must have something to do with magnetic fields. Apparently, it's all an optical illusion. The road really looks like it goes uphill. I still can't believe that it's actually the other way round. None of us can. You have to go and see it for yourselves. It gives another meaning to SEEING IS BELIEVING....apparently, this is not true.
Water running 'uphill'.
Next was LOVELAND! A theme park dedicated to sex and love! One of the very few places in Korea where you can see sculptures of the human body (and certain anatomical organs) in all its natural glory, more often than not, intertwined with another human body, in numerous, creative positions! I'd have taken pics of everything for you guys to see this marvel for yourselves, but my battery died and refused to switch my camera on! They even had a museum of artifacts, and a display of dioramas - if voyeurism is your thing. From an artistic point of view, it was very well done. There was also a gift shop, where sales staff (and some customers, too!) were way too eager to demonstrate how certain items worked! There was a 21yr old on tour with us, whose parents were also present. The poor kid was quite embarrassed at first! LOL!
Next, a souvenir shop for gifts, where I bought special Jeju orange chocolate, then I bought more Swiss chocolate at the duty-free store at the airport. Seems like all I buy when I go travelling, is chocolate!!!
Anyway, coming back to the mystery of my left side! While we were queuing up to check in, this ajumma (older Korean woman) bashes me on my LEFT arm with her elbow and shoves me aside so she can pass through this long queue of waegooks (foreigners). Now, I'm not exactly small and light. She's not exactly big and heavy. So you can imagine the amount of force she exerted to achieve this! OW!
Arrived at Gimpo Airport 21:30, took the subway across Seoul to catch the final bus to Daegu. Subway took more than an hour. I ran from the subway station to the bus terminus, they wouldn't sell me a ticket. After a long, exhausting day, and getting shoved around by ajummas, it felt like Korea was just being plain old nasty to me. I was sent to the bus, where I stood for 20min waiting to see if there would be a spare seat for me. Unfortunately there wasn't, as I had to stand and watch other people who had tickets get on the bus. The bus left without me and I burst into tears. Stranded in Seoul at 23h00 on a Sunday night, and work the next morning in Gunwi is not a fun prospect! Fortunately, another Korean (a med student, she told me) was in the same predicament. I phoned my co-teacher, crying that I had exhausted all possibilities of trying to get back home so I could be at school the next morning. I had even tried to get a flight to Daegu, but all the counters were already closed at Gimpo Airport when I enquired about that. So she offered to help me. We took a taxi to another part of Seoul, from where we managed to catch a later bus to Daegu. Arrived in Daegu at 03:30, I checked into a motel, and took the first bus to Gunwi at 06:10. Got home and into bed for 30min, then up and showered and off to school! Now how's that for an adventurous weekend?
Oh! And woke up with a pain on the LEFT side of my neck!
Oh well, the mystery of my left side goes unsolved......
This coming weekend, it's me on the long road to Seoul again.....and the DMZ! (DeMilitarised Zone). You know the James Bond movie (Pierce Brosnan) where he gets captured by the North Koreans? And tortured? That's where I'm going! Onto my James Bond adventure!
More on that next week!
I'm trying to upload pics onto facebook, but having problems. I'll send you guys the link once I get it sorted out.
Much love and hugs!
Andrea
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