My first domestic trip was to Jeju! Jeju is a small island south of the ROK. Koreans eagerly refer to it as the "Hawaii of Korea." While I think this is probably a slight, perhaps large, over exaggeration of Jeju, it is still a very nice place! My friend Misuk booked the tickets for us and off we went. Interestingly, you don't need to worry about liquids when you are flying domestically in Korea.
As we exited the Airport, Misuk began looking for our rental car office. She started to walk towards the parking lot with no offices in site, but little did I know that the small island of Jeju is also home to small "offices," too. Here was our rental car "office:"
And our rental car was also small, a Daewoo Matiz:
Trying to find our hotel in Seogwipo (complete other end of the island) ended up being a small adventure since our GPS led us astray. I still like to think it was a mixture of Misuk and the GPS, but after a frustrated Misuk called the rental car agency, one of the people drove all the way down to meet us and give us a new GPS system. Sometimes, I really can't get over the customer support that Koreans offer, amazing!
Because I'm an idiot and didn't write this entry soon after I traveled, I have forgotten much of the specifics. Honestly, this is probably a good thing for anybody who is reading this. Our hotel was nothing out of the ordinary, but it did have the ondol floors (heated floors), which I love. On the first day, Misuk helped me get a mobile phone. We also got lunch at a noodle place where they served "super spicy noodles." They were awesome, and the owners of the restaurant were somewhat excited to see me that they offered me a special tea and dessert on the house, too nice!
Next we went to one of the many waterfall parks in Jeju. Honestly, if you've ever been to Jeju, you've been to one of these parks.
Over the next few days, we also went to the Lotte Hotel to see it's very well down courtyard. The hotel and courtyard sit right next to the ocean. I didn't take pictures of it, but they also setup an ice skating rink. Next, we went to a famous rock formation, then to a traditional folk village. No exciting pictures to post, so you'll just have to roll with me. In the village we did encounter some fenced ostriches that were super mean and lunged repeatedly at me! I'm telling you, pure evil!
One morning, we decided to hike Mount Halla. We took the shortest trail, and I decided to jog up it. Big mistake! It was chilly and, obviously, colder as you got higher and higher. An immediate headache and a quick decision to turn around after about a half to three quarters up the trail. I did meet some cool Koreans, that were probably wondering to themselves who this foreigner idiot is trying to run up this mountain trail with uneven ground and cold weather. Lunch immediately followed in order to warm up. We had grilled fish that looks a bit scary, but when you realize it's just been butterflied and delicious, it ain't so bad and actually very good:
The following day we did some island island hopping. Turns out there are beautiful islands surrounding the island of Jeju. Don't remember the names but we took a ferry (I must mention that the ferry also had ondol floors) to one of them and immediately took a bus tour of the island. Apparently this driver/tour guide was hilarious, but I didn't understand any of it.
The beaches, especially the water, around this island were beautiful. I can imagine when the season is right and the weather is warmer, these areas must really be amazing!
The last few days in Jeju included seeing a few more parks, a Hummer on the road, rock formations, waterfalls,
and one Buddhist temple that was gladly celebrating the birth of Christ:
Overall, a wonderful diversion from being literally stuck in one country, and I must thank Misuk again for coordinating everything! I would love to return to Jeju, but next time I'll make sure it's a bit warmer!
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