As told by Barbara Souders, guest blogger
After realizing that Kylee wasn’t coming home anytime soon, we decided to take
the leap and make plans to go see her in South Korea. So as Kylee wrote in a previous article,
I flew over on July 1. When I arrived in
Seoul it was wonderful to be greeted by her smiling face holding a sign that
said, “Welcome to Korea. I Love You.” It was wonderful to get to hug her and
see her in person! For the first two weeks of July it was just Kylee and I. I
had a wonderful time just hanging out and exploring her city, but we were both
anxiously awaiting for David and Patrick to arrive so we could start our
adventures together as a family!
David
and Patrick arrived the evening of July 18.
Unfortunately they didn’t get the big welcome I did because Kylee was
working, so they got instructions that Kylee had sent them in English and
Korean on how to get from the airport to Kylee’s city of Jecheon about 3 hours
away. So after planes, subways, trains
and taxis they finally made it to Jecheon around 11:00 p.m.! After hugs and travel stories we decided we
were all hungry and headed out for some yummy Korean BBQ. This would be David
and Patrick’s first real Korean meal, chopsticks and all!
Everyone
slept in a little the next morning, which was Saturday, and we headed out early
afternoon to explore Jecheon. We walked downtown to the markets and just
wandered around for a few hours. We didn’t have much time because we had to
repack and get ready to catch a bus for Seoul that evening. We arrived in Seoul that evening, took a
subway and then navigated our way through the streets of Seoul to our hostel
for the night. Bright and early the next morning, dragging our luggage though
the dark streets, we walked from our hostel to the subway station, and caught a
train to the airport. We were flying to Jeju Island, a volcanic
island located off the southern most tip
of the South Korean Peninsula and is a popular tourist spot among Koreans. They
refer to it as the “Hawaii” of Korea. After about an hour flight we arrived. We had come prepared with
International Driver’s Licenses and our first objective was to try and rent a
car because bus transportation on the island was not very dependable and taxis
would get expensive. After trying multiple carriers Kylee finally found one
that specialized in renting to foreigners. We got a really nice Hyundai
equipped with GPS and off we went to try and find our hostel.
Once
on the road David decided we better fill up the tank. Little did we know that
trying to get gas would be an adventure in itself ! After stopping at two
stations and being told “no” we finally were able to get gas on our third try.
We finally figured out that our car ran on propane! That is why the first two
stations could not fill us up. From then on we knew that we had to stop at the
stations that said “LG”. After an
interesting hour drive (Korean’s drive crazy!) we found our hostel. It was nice, we had two sets of bunk beds and
our own bathroom, and our hosts were very nice as well.
Our hostel and rental car
Our first objective was to find something to
eat. We drove around and found a place that looked good. It was a very nice
traditional Korean BBQ restaurant. The
owner was very welcoming and she seated us at a table and we sat on the floor
on matts. Kylee did all of the ordering since she can speak some Korean and she
ordered the Blackened Pig which Jeju Island is famous for. The meal was very tasty and entertaining. We
were the only people in the restaurant and the little Korean lady was obsessed
with trying to help us with everything and watching us eat! We got a big laugh out of it.
Eating blackened pork belly, a Jeju specialty
We also hit up a McDonald's one day because we were over Korean food.
Our
next stop was Manjanggul Cave, one of the finest lava tunnels in the world and
a designated natural monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the island. A
lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the
peak and flows to the surface. This particular tube is about 200,000-300,000
years old. We walked through a nice park
to the entrance of the cave which was a flight of stone steps which took us
approximately two stories underground. It was very much just like a cave except
everything was made of lava. It was a rocky and wet walk to the end of the
tunnel which was about a mile long, and it was also very cold and damp, but it
felt nice considering it was very hot and humid outside.
Lava Tubes
That
evening we drove around once again looking for a place to eat and Kylee spotted
a “fried chicken” restaurant. She had
always raved about Korean fried chicken so we decided to try it out. It was a
quaint little place with husband and wife cooking in a small kitchen. As usual,
Kylee order for us. To be honest, I don’t know what we would have done without
her knowing Korean! The fried chicken was served up with a side of some sort of
pickled radishes and we shared a couple bottles of Coke. The chicken didn’t
disappoint and we headed back to our hostel for the night.
The
next morning we were up early to check out Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak, also know
as Sunrise Peak. This tuff cone was formed over 5000 years ago due to
hydrovolcanic eruptions and is another one of Jeju Island’s UNESCO World
Heritage Sites. We could see the huge
mountain from our hostel and it was only a few minutes away. At the base of the
mountain is a parking area and lots of vendors selling various types of street
food and souveniers. About a 45 minute
to one hour hike up thousands of stairs will take you to the top to view the
breathtaking scenery overlooking the East Sea and the Island. David, Patrick
and Kylee jumped right in and headed up the mountain. Unfortunately I’m afraid
of heights so I stayed behind and sampled lots of street food and purchased
souveniers, including some of Jeju’s famous tangerine chocolate. About an hour and half later Patrick showed up
hot and sweaty followed by Kylee and then Dave. It was really cool that they
actually climbed to the top!
We made it to the top!
Later
that day, after recooperating from the mountain hike, we decided to drive to
the southern part of the island and go to Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls. It was about
a 45 minute drive and we stopped at a few beaches along the way just to check
them out. It was a fun drive and after navigating our way through some narrow
streets we finally found the park. We walked along a gorgeous stream with a
beautifully landscaped walkway full of tropical plants, encountering multiple
small dams along the way. At the end of the path was the waterfall. It was
beautiful and we took multiple photos. We even got to see some of the Mutae
Eels swimming around! The walk back was a different path and we met up with a
High School Korean soccer team. The coach asked if we could take some team pics
and they returned the favor. We also got a group picture of all of us. Before
leaving we all rubbed the “Golden Magic Pearl” for good luck and made a wish!
We met a soccer team!
In front of the "Golden Magic Pearl"
One day we went to Loveland Park aka the Sex Park, which has many provocative statues of people in compromising positions. This is a popular place for Korean newlyweds to visit on their honeymoon. We were dying of laughter the whole time walking around!
Treats at Loveland Adventures at Loveland
We
decided our last day on Jeju should be relaxing so we spent the day at the
beach. We found a beautiful beach with
white sand, gorgeous blue/green water, and lots of nearby food. The beach scene
in Korea is definitely not like anything we had seen before and was very
entertaining. Koreans don’t like the sun on their skin so most beach goers were
fully dressed in long sleeve jackets, hoods up, hats, sunglasses, and
umbrellas! And most of them don’t swim so they only go out around waist deep.
The four of us love the water and started wading out towards the bouys until
the life guard kept blowing his whistle at us and motioning us back! So we were
stuck in waist deep water as well, but made the most it. At one point schools
of baby squid were even swimming around us! Later in the afternoon we found an
outdoor Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner near the beach then decided to pack it
up and head back to our hostel.
We forgot to take pictures at the beach....one of like 2!
Early
the next morning we left for the airport and boarded our plane back to Seoul
where we would spend the next four days. Stay tuned for our next article which
will be about our adventures in Seoul!
