Please see full album of Jeju pics here! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84353&id=501939772&l=26531f51a8

There's an island south of the Korean peninsula where honeymooners flock. They call it "Korea's own Hawaii". They grow oranges. They have volcanic rock. There are beaches and palm trees. There's a soccer team.

This last item was the reason a co-worker decided to research cheap flights from Daejeon, for the weekend. Our team was playing Jeju mid-May, and since a few of us go to the games regularly, the rest of us decided we could get in on this little trip to paradise. We booked a Saturday-morning flight, to return Monday morning. The six of us had the Korean staff arrange a bus to the airport north of Daejeon, and off we went!

It was supposed to rain, but only slightly cloudy skies greeted us behind the tall palm trees. A bus took us from Jeju City (which we did not end up seeing at all) straight south, to Seogwipo, where we ha a hotel booked for $40 a room. The city was close to the Stadium, and the game would be Sunday.

After unpacking in our run-down rooms (the place was obviously classy back in 1930), we explored by walking down steep streets until we came to the sea. The hotel stood on a road that ran across the top of a steep drop, so there was a nice view - but getting down and back was not as easy as it looked! We wandered around the port, and while the two other couples decided to take a cab back to the hotel to nap, James and I continued through gardens and over small bridges until we came to a dead end and waterfall, teeming with tourists. We hiked back up to the hotel to chill out, then headed with our friends to the beach, a cab ride westwards.

The beach was huge and empty, and grey clouds were rolling in. Four of us kicked off our shoes, exploring all the way to the end, where black volcanic boulders were piled under a cliff. We clambered over the bubbly rocks and finally settled next to some Ajumas (elderly Korean ladies who seem to be the most forward and outspoken members of society). These women were collecting snails and urchins in their wetsuits, and sold us these snacks along with soju and beer, which we "enjoyed" on plastic lawn furniture as the drizzle began. Unsurprisingly, the delicacies weren't really to our liking, but it was a place to relax!

Meanwhile, the other couple had gone to the famous Teddy Bear Museum and on to a hotel casino. The Korean nationals aren't allowed to gamble, so we had the place to ourselves, but didn't stay long. The bellhop advised us the restaurant Gecko's, and we all indulged in Western food!

I insisted we blow the joint to catch a service at the temple I'd read about in my guide. (Yes, I was being the geek who actually researched these things.) We took a couple cabs to Yakcheon; the rain had started definitely but the birds still chirped at the fading dusk. We walked up to the sound of thundering drums, as the monks banged away at the gongs under a pagoda at the entrance.

{This video http://tinyurl.com/yakcheon-temple won't fit on the blog site here, but it's worth a watch… even if from 1:00 to 2:30, we're down a dark hall. Expert filming c/o James N}

As we finally approached the doors of the main temple and peered in at the giant golden Buddha, a woman ushered us over to take off our shoes and be seated on silk pillows, which she produced from a cabinet.We all marvelled at the elaborate decorations of lotuses and brightly coloured designs, the golden Buddhas, the intricately carved dragons that winded up columns, the lanterns and ribbons strung across the wide-open entrance. Soon, the ceremony started, and the monks filed in, draped in robes, heads shaven. There was chanting and drumming, and endless bowing. We were finally asked to follow along with the standing and prostrations, which was surprisingly tiring (which was in turn shameful, as these frail devotees did so alongside us with such grace!) - this is when James' blasphemous video ends, the one you really must watch (here on the site). It was a beautiful cultural experience, and the rain really started to pour as we meditated on and off for an hour to its tapping on the wooden eaves. I still couldn't help but apologize later to my friends, since we were obviously all having to repress giggles at all the bowing and signing which we were so ignorant to!

Finding a cab back was something we hadn't considered, in the dark and downpour. We walked up a country road to a driveway full of idling cars and drunk men, who told us we could go inside to call for a cab. James and I walked through the front door into what we expected to be a hopping party, but which was really a family's quiet and dark living room. A teenager stepped out of his room, confused, wondering what we wanted. We felt pretty intrusive but he obliged and called us a cab without scorn! We ended up back at Gecko's where we knew there were cocktails and pool tables. It was an unconventional evening altogether!

The next morning, we had breakfast together downtown Seogwipo, and James and I decided not to join our four friends at the game. They planned to see more waterfalls, go out to the chocolate museum, and cheer on Daejeon Citizen, while we caught a bus eastwards along the seashore to Seongsan, where we hope to see the Ilchulbong or Sunrise Peak. Sure enough, we saw it from the bus' windows, and followed its huge crater-likeness until we were paying a small fee and climbing the path that winds up its side, in Birkenstocks and ballet flats, respectively. Needless to say, we hadn't prepared for climbing, but we would soon learn that girls wearing stripper heels and flowy short skirts were making the trek, no problem.

It was an easy ascent and at the top, we overlooked the tuff and the sea beyond. After a few pictures, we descended and took an alternate path along a cliffside, happening upon a cove with a black-sand beach, drying kelp and more Haenyeos, or "diving women", which Jeju is known for. These Ajumas are all elderly now that the tradition is fading, but still going strong. We didn't partake in the eating of the catch pried off of the seabed this time, but collected shells for our (favourite) students instead.

Finally, the goal was to get to Udo, an even-smaller island off the east coast of Jeju. So we walked up the coast through a village or two, until our route turned into a country road, then a dirt path. Emaciated, moulting horses were roped up here and there, with no building in sight. We crested the final hill to find a concrete watchtower and a fence of razor-wire… but then, the marina below, across a parking lot which we could jump down onto. We caught the late-afternoon ferry to the island, and then climbed onto a tour bus with a gaggle of Korean tourists.

Our drivers must have been hilarious, because they'd announce things over the speaker and everyone would crack up. There were going to be stops, and busses would circulate and pick us up every 15 minutes, a very long time to see the "sights" of Udo, a.k.a. Cow Island. I don't think I saw a single cow, but I did:

climb a large hill,

hang out with stray dogs,

watch people ride horses in circle in the pretty valley,

laugh at the girls in their getups trying to brave the wind,

pose with random statues of pirates and cowboys outside of closed shops,

laugh at couples in their matching getups,

wonder what the attraction of this island had ever been, and

laugh at James freezing his toes and fighting the wind at the final stop, a gorgeous beach.

Back on the main island, we contemplated how to get from the marina back to town. James tried to charm a Korean girl into driving us (his charm has gotten us places before, we all know that) but to no avail, despite the giggles. Finally, a businessman waved us into his taxi, and we figured we didn't mind sharing his cost. They took us a long way, and we kept asking to be let out at bus stops, but they were keeping us hostage. As we watched the meter's numbers climb, we briefly planned to "tuck & roll" out the back door of the moving cab, but on the outskirts of town, they dropped us and refused a cent. They must have thought we were pretty nervous; we forget that these are island folk, and it's Korea. Always best to go with the flow; people are kind!

We made it back to Seogwipo to hear our friends' tales of a long trip to a museum of kinder-surprise trinkets, but also the best chocolate truffles I've had in ages. We ate at Gecko's again (yes, we're bad tourists - no local food for us!) and found a bar in town in which we were eaten alive by the ubiquitous killer Korean mosquitoes (I swear, Canada's biters have nothing on these little f**k*rs!) and finally paired off into our rooms. The next morning, across the island we went, caught our plane, and made it home to dress for work.

My cat-sitters were eager to have me take my little rascal back. But more on that in another entry. Be sure to check out the pics and videos, they make it come alive!

xo