If you recall, last summer I spent my week off hanging around Seoul, acquainting myself with this city in which I have chosen to live for an unspecified amount of time. Well, in order not to break with tradition, I spent this year's summer vacation with the same person ... in the same country ... but a new location.
Hyun, my friend and former roommate from SMU, happens to be spending her summer vacation (from SMU) back in Korea with her family on Jeju Island ... and I decided to spend a few days there for some R&R.
Now, for those of you who don't know, Jeju is kind of like ... Korea's own little paradise. It's a small island off of the coast, about an hour's flight from Seoul. You can read more about it here.
[ Please note : if you click on the pics, they open in a new window and they are HUUUGE. Not even kidding. Just save yourself the headache, haha. ]
My vacation started on Saturday morning, sipping Starbucks and waiting for my flight at Gimpo Airport in Seoul. Already I was in a good mood because ...
A.) I was sitting in a Starbucks
B.) It was vacation
C.) I was on my way to the island, baby!
< Passion Iced Tea, a blueberry scone, a book, and the hand phone ... >
Also, I decided to use my mileage with Korean Air to first, purchase my ticket TO Jeju (that means no cash out of hand!) and then to upgrade BOTH of my flights to Prestige Class ... OMG. Greatest idea ever. Also most comfortable airline seat ever.
< Flying in style ... even if it was only for an hour. >
After arriving in Jeju, Hyun and I set off to climb a small hill in order to watch the sunset off of the coast. I haven't seen a proper sunset in FOREVERRR ...
< Hyun >
We then proceeded to walk along the coastline ... and stopped to find small crabs running on the rocks so that we could take them home and eat them. MMMM!
The next day, we went to mass at her family's church. I haven't been to mass in FOREVER, so that was great, even if I didn't understand what the celebrant was saying. Oh well.
< The church >
Then it was off to horse-back riding in the drizzle that remained a constant throughout most of my stay. Now, I haven't been on a horse in FOREVER ... but it's kind of like riding a bike, I guess. Except for the fact that I couldn't get my horse to move past a saunter. And every time we got near the gate, he stopped. EVERY TIME.
After horseback riding, Hyun's parents took us to the Guest House where we would be staying for two nights. Now, this place was my first real experience with anything resembling a hostel, and it was pretty neat! The manager/owner dude was really nice ... and spelled my name "Mar-u-she" (or something like that) in Korean ... gotta love it. :) And the guest houses themselves were super cute - shaped like little mushrooms. I enjoyed my stay there ... especially the BBQ they organized in the evening for EVERYONE and where I was able to converse with people, despite being the only foreigner in attendance. :)
< The guest houses >
On Monday, my third day on Jeju, Hyun and I went to Udo, one of many small islands off the coast of Jeju. The weather was REALLY nice, and we were really excited. After a ferry ride, we disembarked and walked about twenty minutes along the coast to find one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen ...
The water was clear, and AMAZING. The color was stinkin' gorgeous. The rocks (yes, they were volcanic) contrasted nicely with the white sand (erh ... crushed shells, haha ... at least, the first part of the beach we went to) ... it was AMAZING.
< Your's truly! >
Later on that day, we managed to meet up on Udo with some of my new coworkers - Rob, Katie, and Arezoue. After a delicious lunch, we traipsed down to another part of the beach (more sand, less rock) and spent the day in the sun. Oh, and Arezoue rode on one of the banana boat thingies.
< Katie, Rob, and Hyun >
< Arezoue >
After riding the ferry again, we decided to hike up this HUGE (looking) bluff or rock or something on the coast. Yeah, took less than thirty minutes to make the top. Wasn't as big as it looked. Still offered breathtaking views, though.
< At the top >
The next day, Hyun and I left the guest house and took a bus to Seogwipo City. Now, Jeju Island has two cities - Jeju City and Seogqipo City. Evidentally, Seogwipo City is where it's at. It's where all the money hotels are - Notably Shilla and Hyatt (I want to stay at the Hyatt someday!!!) Well, it started to rain. So we dropped our bags off at the World Cup Stadium jjim-jil-bang, and set off for E-Mart, haha. After E-Mart, we hopped in a taxi and headed towards some waterfalls.
< Hyun and I >
Then we decided to walk around a bit. Events of the day included ...
< Teddy Bear Museum >
< Walking around the Hyatt >
< Seeing the chapel (at the Hyatt) where parts of "꽃보다 남자" were filmed >
< The amazing beach near the Shilla and the Hyatt ... it looked INCREDIBLE even though the weather was stormy! >
< A fresh seafood dinner, caught and served by one of the famed women divers of Jeju Island >
That night was spent getting all sauna-ed up at the jjimjilbang ... World Cup Stadium, by the way, in Jeju is an AMAZING place - not ONLY is there a jjim-jil-bang, but there is also a water park, the Love museum, and a gym ... amongst other things. CRAAZY.
On Wednesday (the day before I left), the sun shone brightly and we packed up our bags (again) and hopped a bus for Hyeopjae Beach where I was to receive the worst sunburn of my life. Really. You don't get to see pictures of the sunburn (just know that I'm still reaping the "benefits". You do, however, get to see this AMAZING beach.
< My two traveling companions - Wada-san, my faithful puppy - and my teddy-bear >
And that was pretty much my vacation. It was AMAZING, and I can't wait to go back and do EVEN MORE things that I'm sure I missed out on. And to eat lots of halla-bongs. :)
More pictures on Facebook - or just click here.
