Seonyudo Island with Adventure Korea

I went on this trip with Adventure Korea: A great little tourist company - mostly for foreigners in Korea to get together and explore Korea! (http://www.adventurekorea.com)

So, who wouldn't want to go bike around some small islands all connected by bridges? Yeah, that's right! No one! The only thing that could ruin the trip would be ---- RAIN. and what did it do.. it rained. perfect. and not only did it rain, it really rained and also decided to be 40 degrees. (it snowed some places in Korea that day!)

But don't worry we didn't let the rain get us down and how could I when I was rooming with a girl from the Philippines and there were about 10 South Africans on the trip! My two favorite places :)


We took a bus to Gunsan and then had to board a ferry, which took us to the islands. The ferry was about 16,000 won (16 dollars) one way and took about an hour. It was smooth at first but then we hit some choppy water and man that was a bit rough, but I held it together!


Oh and the only form of transportation on the island is bikes and little golf cart things! How funny... but awesome. And hopefully it doesn't break down or have a tire blow out like this one! Who knows how long this one's been there?!

We got to our hotel and put our stuff down. Now if you are picturing a Holiday Inn and Suites - forget about it.. this was a room with no beds, a small refrigerator and t.v. and a pile of blankets on the floor in the corner. Yup, Korea style. Also if you think they had a nice shower, nope just a Korean hose shower head thing and there wasn't even hot water just warmish. This might sound like a complaint - but it's not, I would just like to inform you all of what a 'hotel' in Korea consists of!


So, instead of biking around the island when we got there - the 4 of us roomies sat on our warm floor and just talked and hung out, trying to get warm! We finally ventured out to try to dig for clams. (I guess they are a long tube shape? but I thought clams were in normal looking shells? Anyway I'm confused on what a clam is -- but that's ok!) I had no idea how to go about this, luckily our tour guides did. First we had to find little holes that were sort of bubbling, which indicated there was a clam down there somewhere. Then you would pour salt onto the hole, I guess to draw the clam upward and then after about a minute, or when you see the clam you start digging with a little tool. Then you find them.... oh wait that part is the hard part since they are pretty small and we were digging through the wet sand, which when you dig just fills with water and more sand. So, yeah we failed! Also it was freezing cold, so we weren't very motivated. But hey we tried, I took a few photos and then peaced out!

I just received these images from my cousin to describe how clamming works.... so, now that I have been enlightened I would like to enlighten you as well! And here is more info -- http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/razorclams/howto_dig.html

That night we ate Kimchi Chigae.. a soup with kimchi (obviously), tofu and a bit of meat. It was pretty spicy and when things are spicy everything starts running - my nose, my eyes. And Korea loves to not put napkins at the tables, so this was interesting. After dinner I talked with a few South Africans and ended up getting into a big discussion about politics. I felt bad, since it's a no no to talk about. But I really wanted to know how SA's feel about the state of the country right now! I learned that a white male is now at the bottom of the list to get a job in SA, so many white, educated people are being forced to leave since they can't find jobs. One South African (who grew up in the apartheid era) enlightened me about Nelson Mandela - a darker side that most people don't know about! It's also still very very dangerous there. They say that if someone doesn't have a story about someone they know either getting killed or held at gun/knife point then they are rare and very lucky. I even fit into this as I knew a few people who got held up with machetes. It was a very interesting discussion and I'm glad that they were so open and honest with me about their feelings and experiences!

The next day - a complete 180 from Saturday. It was sunny and warm and I was happy! We wanted to see the sea parting, which is supposed to be like moses' parting of the Red Sea, but the times were off, so we didn't see it. I was pretty bummed, since it only happens twice a year! But, I guess that means I'll just have to go the next time it happens.

 We hiked a mountain and got a good view of all the islands.

After the hike my friend Sarah and I rented bikes and started biking around the islands. Our little bikes had baskets, they were pretty cute but they didn't work the best - and no it was not the users. We got to see some fishers pulling bright colored starfish out of their nets. I am thinking they were not the goal of the catch, but I'm not sure.

We rode for a couple of hours and ended up meeting up with our roommate Isabel (from the Philippines), so we rode with her for a bit. We crossed some bridges, saw a few buildings, the sea, and even a few puppies.

On the way back we stopped by a little restaurant kind of in a tent and got Ramen (or lam-yeon in Korean) noodles. We sat outside on the ferry this time.. I froze but got less sea sick so that was fine. I also met the owner of True Leaf Travel and Tourism. It's co-owned by two guys (Blair and Steve). Blair has been to 119 countries in the last 7 ish years. How crazy is that? I thought my 15 was impressive in 2 years - nope I guess not. Now I have a new goal!!

Overall it was a great trip. We met some great people, got to do some bike riding and just relax for a weekend. However, I think I could have done this trip much cheaper. So next time I'll probably go on my own with a few friends. However, that being said the friendship I made on this trip were seriously priceless.. I met some really great people! I look forward to traveling with Blair and Steve (and their tour company) and also going to visit Isabel in Manila on day soon!!

Cherry Blossoms.

(벚꽃) 
Cheongju, South Korea.

As you might know Japan is THE place to go for cherry blossoms. However, Korea's kind of got some good blossom action in the Spring as well -- good for me!

I wanted to go down to Jinhae, where they have a Cherry Blossom Festival, but it's kind of far and over crowded (I've heard), so I decided against it. I was a bit bummed, until I realized Cheongju (my city) had some blossoms down by the river near Shinae (downtown). Soooo... what did I do last friday night around 10? I went down by the river, took my camera and tripod and sat there doing long exposures for a couple of hours! Yes, I'm crazy. Yes, I got stares but I am so used to that by now! And yes, I of course got some pretty awesome photos. Or so I think, you'll have to let me know if you agree or think I'm full of it. (comment on this bottom of this post - if you so desire!)

I had to fight the hoards of people and wait super super patiently to get one without people in it! Of course all the Koreans had their huge phones out taking hundreds of photos of themselves with their boyfriends! It's actually surprising to me that there are still blossoms on the trees since EVERY person who walked by broke some off. So sad.

The river.

or I guess more like a stream, since it's maybe a few inches deep!

Sunset.

Again, for a few sunset pics.

My day off.

which was well spent with an afternoon of photographing once again -- the cherry blossoms. I got dinner with a friend and of course ice cream too!

Me.

then.. a few of me. I wanted some of me and the blossoms, so I found a way, by using this fun little mirror. Kind of cool, using my wide angle lens shooting into a wide angle/fish eye type mirror.

And I wonder why I get stares. Oh wait, I know. I'm strange and foreign. But that's the great thing about being foreign, I just don't care/can't understand what they are saying. So -- I do what I want! But I did make a new friend, who stopped to say hi. She was really sweet and took a few pictures of me and one with me on her phone! She lived in Seattle for a semester, which is why she was less afraid to speak to the way-gook-y (foreigner).

Photo shoot.

And another time for a little shoot with a friend! (who's also kind of model material!)

So, how many stares did we get, a lot probably. But I had my camera up to my face most of the time, so I didn't notice. However, I could see it in her face! She would start laughing or give me one of those, um ok why is everyone staring/slowing down to stare/stopping to stare/pointing - kind of looks. But I think it was worth it!