JEJU - The Wisconsin Dells of Asia

Fun fact: the Jeju-Seoul flight route is the most flown route in the world.

Jeju is a large island (2.5x the size of Singapore) off the south coast of S. Korea and is a favorite vacation destination of Koreans and others from the area. As a result, this island is full of crazy sights, bizarre museums, and strange landmarks.







The best way we can describe is that is like the Wisconsin Dells - on speed, and in Korean. And with a volcano and beaches.

Here's just a brief list of SOME of the actual attractions on Jeju:

• Teddy Bear Museum
• Peace Museum
• Museum of Sex & Health
• Psyche World
• O'sulloc Tea Museum
• Miracle Art Museum
• Locadio World
• Mysterious Road
• Paper Doll Museum
• Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum
• Alive Museum
• Jeju Pony Town

• Jeju Dinosaur Theme Park
• Chocolate Museum
• Jeju Glass Castle
• Yeomiji Botanical Gardens
• Africa Museum
• Swamp trail
• Dodu Submarine
• Jeoji Culture and Art Museum
• Seogwipo Citrus Museum
• Chocolate Land
• Maze Land

Not to mention tons of hiking trails, lava caves, and several surrounding islands with their own unique flair. And you read correctly: chocolate museum AND chocolate land, two different places on one island. So the difficulty about being a tourist in Jeju is that there is very little public transport and unless you hire a driver for a day (reasonable, but still expensive), you're stuck with taxis and - this is the exciting one - public buses. We had a bus route map but almost all the stops were labelled exclusively in Korean - and this turned out to be true on all the bus schedules at the actual stops as well!

The competition was being hosted at a rather remote boarding school - very swanky and nice, and in the middle of nowhere. On Thursday, Jacob practiced a bunch while I tried to plan an excursion for Friday, which was free. The best part of this was trying to type bus stop names into the computer in Korean and using Google translate to figure out what it meant. I was mildly successful, which felt great considering my lack of familiarity with Korean.


Friday morning we ate breakfast (rice, kimchee and cereal!), Jacob practiced a bit, and then we headed to the bus stop. Very hot day - we made great use of our umbrellas, the only thing standing between us and blistered, peeling skin!



We took the bus just 1 stop to O'sulloc Green Tea museum - very cute and packed with tourists. We learned a bit about tea, passed on the over-priced green tea ice cream (we got some later, fear not), and enjoyed the view.


We then visited a neighboring store/cafe that sells soaps, paper, perfumes and other products made from the bi-products of other industries, like the green tea industry or the palm oil industry. Interesting, and really pretty building. We had lunch there, then headed back out to jump on the bus


However, a taxi pulled up and practically begged for our business, and it turned out to be a good thing - it was a 30 minute taxi ride to our next destination - who knows how long the bus would have taken? - and only about $2 more.

We then arrived at: Love Land. 

Love Land is basically an erotic sculpture garden and museum - and it was pretty hilariously awesome. If you're ever in Jeju for some bizarre reason, you gotta go. Mostly, you just can't believe you're actually seeing what you're seeing!

My friends, let me tell you, I have some crazy pictures from this place. But I can't post most of them - keepin' it family-friendly here (for the most part). 

I believe that is a chair.

Need to wash your hands?

Along with the sculpture garden there were two indoor (air-conditioned, thank goodness!) exhibits. One chronicled the development of 'toys' over time and the other featured dozens of carved wooden, well, you can guess. And of course they were selling lots of ridiculous 'gifts.'
The only thing we purchased, however, was ice cream.

After Love Land, we checked out Mysterious Road - which turned out to be some sort of trail lined with cacti. We decided it wasn't worth the entry fee, so I guess we'll never really know what we missed!









Instead, we took a quick stroll through the Jeju Art Museum (which was right net to Love Land - let's guess which one gets more visitors!). There were some really nice pieces, including a small exhibit about candy! We didn't have much time though, as the buses were few and far between and we didn't want to miss our shot. Somewhere in the midst of all this, I think we forgot to eat lunch...odd occurrence for us!

We rode the bus to the Yeongsil entrance of the national park containing the volcano. After stocking up on water from a spring, we hiked up and up until we found Jonjaam Temple - neither of us realized we were hiking to a temple, so it was a nice surprise!

On the hike back down, we realized there was a far easier - if slower - way up:

Cheaters!

Convinced we were going to miss the last bus of the day, I basically dragged us down the hill - only to wait 10 minutes for the bus. Of course. (But - we didn't miss it!). We rode it (and napped) for about 45 minutes down to Jungmun, a small town on the south coast of the island. We then walked for 20 minutes trying to get to Chocolate Land and ended up taking a taxi for the last 5 minutes (should have grabbed one at the start!) - but we found it! Predictably, it was moderately disappointing but amusing in it own special way.

This case appealed deeply to both of us.

These dudes were cute.

Mostly, Chocolate Land featured display cases with chocolate in them - far from my Willy-Wonkan dreams of chocolate lakes and snozzberries that taste like snozzberries. Alas.

Chocolates of the world - including, basically, anything that
contains chocolate. Like biscuits. And Swiss Miss.

CHOCOLATE JESUS!
(What, surrounded with chocolate buttons?!)

While we didn't visit, we saw the outside of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. Bet it's pretty sweet! But we were really hungry, so we went here instead:

More Korean BBQ - sooooo good. I think we polished off
everything except the anchovies!

We then ended our night by returning to an attraction we passed earlier:

THE CIRCUS!

Somehow I always seem to forget how much I LOVE circuses.

Clearly not excited.

While waiting for the show to start, we decided we needed ice cream - again - because, hello, CIRCUS! I got orange soft serve, Jacob got chocolate Dip'n'Dots and, like a dream come true, we used the Dip'n'Dots as a topping for the orange ice cream.

I took a lot of video - which is a pain to upload, so here are some stills.

 I think my favorite part was either the acrobats who used a teeter-totter to launch each other into the air and onto each other's shoulder, or the act where performers climb those long silks and fly around. Yes, there was a motorcycle cage and they got 4 motorcycles running in there - for me, that part borders on 'no, stop, someone's going to crash, ahh!'
Another cool thing about the circus - it doesn't really matter if you understand what they're saying. Which is good, cuz we didn't!

WHAT?! AWESOME!

Exhausting day, but so worth it!

Seoul: Day 2

As mentioned previously, we slept in a bit on Wednesday before showering and heading back out into Seoul. My original plan had been for us to get up early and climb one of the mountains in Seoul - the city fills the valleys between several mountains - I guess for 'mountains' they're fairly small, but they're BIG hills and much more topographically exciting than anything in Singapore.

An early morning hike would have been lovely and not too hot. But we started around 11am. Brilliant!

We were in rare photographic form that morning!

We first stopped for bagels and coffee near our guesthouse, then took the train to Dongdaemun, where we followed signs for the Inwang Temple and Mt. Inwang. 

A little hard to tell from the picture...

It was a steep climb to the shrine, during which time I discovered that my 'adventure' pants, which are great for cold weather, are not so ideal for heat. They quickly became completely soaked through with sweat, which was both gross and embarrassing. I share this with you so that you can enjoy the fact that, whatever is happening right now, at least it is unlikely that you're walking around with wet pants. I did manage to mostly avoid public settings at least! But I digress...

Makgeolli!!!!

Just waiting for us.

The temple also seemed to play a bit of a joke on us. As we climbed a staircase and rounded a corner, we came across several open bottles of Makgeolli and a bunch of huge, disgusting dried/fried fish, both of which gave us flashbacks to the evening before. Well played temple, well played. 

Loved all the bright, cheerful paint! So much green!

Still, the temple was beautiful and we began climbing further up the mountain to explore the Shamanist shrines that dot the hillside. Despite feeling hot, sweaty and physically not great, I really enjoyed the hike and the view. Amusingly, the trail was almost completely unmarked, so we did a lot of guessing and also got some help from some locals who, while not speaking English, would adamantly point - or even lead us for several hundred meters - in the right direction.

A large rock formation is the focus of this shrine,
where women often go to pray for fertility.

There were many small alcoves, some of which had small pool of water with dippers, candles, and mats. We saw a few worshipers around, and I must say, it'd be a beautiful place to go to pray! The view of the city was stunning. It was amazing to feel so immersed in nature, yet to look out and see the city sprawling beneath you.

Jacob Dalager - Kickin' Shell

We climbed and climbed, eventually finding the 'well-marked' trail the guidebooks had referred too. We hiked all the way to the top, where there was a spectacular view - and also some sort of military and/or fire look-out checkpoint manned by soldiers. Pictures were forbidden, though we weren't sure why - and actually, I snapped a few before I saw the sign, so here you go!

Totally worth the hike! I just loved this part.

We hiked back down...and down, and down. Eventually the train brought us to a city street, directly to a convenience store where we stood in front of the aircon and then downed a bottle of Powerade. We hunted around for awhile to find the subway station - but when we found it, we realized that it'd be easier to just take a cab to Nongdaemun. 

Filled with cinnamon and spices.
Probably some butter too.

We saw the giant gate there, then walked around a bit until we found the bustling market. This market was far less touristy and seemed to be frequented by mostly middle-age Korean ladies. We turned down alley after winding alley, taking it in - and buying some cinnamon-filled chapati-like treats.

Hats, hats, hats for sale!

I spy with my little eye: a pink
pleather visor that I want to buy!

We also figured out where all the ladies (especially tourists) get their giant sunhats and visors - in one of the many shops, like the one picture here, which exclusively sell HUGE hats.

Bibimbap! I wonder if the name is supposed to be
onomatopoeic?
And yeah, I had to look up the spelling for that!

We found a lunch spot, ordering beef udon and 'bibimbap,' - rice with all sorts of salad-y toppings mixed in, topped with meat and an egg which you cook by stirring into the hot rice. All accompanied by kimchee, a staple in the Korean diet. (Kimchee - or kimchi? - has tons of health benefits, including providing lactobacillus, the good bacteria that is also found in some yogurts).

More market wandering followed by a coffee stop. By this time, I had embraced my burgeoning coffee addiction - this trip brought to you by caffeine!

SNACK ATTACK

We took the train back to our guesthouse to collect our luggage and change out of our nasty hiking clothes. Then we were on the road again, taking the A'REX to Gimpo Airport for our flight to Jeju. Our plane was delayed a bit, but we passed the time reading, snoozing and snacking. We even learned the official definition - and etymology - of the term snack! 

Once on board, I think we were both asleep before take-off! We landed in Jeju and hour late, and after a fair amount of confusion, a couple international cell phone calls, and accidentally getting picked up by the wrong person, we managed to get in the right car to the right place. And then it was straight to bed because breakfast, apparently, started at 7:30am! (And consisted of, among other things, a large portion or rice and small piece of nori to wrap the rice in, and - of course! - kimchee! And I liked it. At least the first day.)

The Jeju saga is for another day - but if you like trying to read Korean bus schedules, ice cream, circuses and/or erotic-themed sculpture parks, you're gonna want to check out my next blog!

S-Oles!

Spoiler Alert: Korea-based Ole Reunion coming up!

Seoul, Day 1


The sun rose in the Land of the Rising Sun - while we waited in the airport. Here, Jacob eats a sandwich after waiting for an hour for the Narita Airport cafe to open. Mediocre but sustaining. Our flight was uneventful (or, we were asleep and didn't notice the events) and we landed in Seoul around 10:30, cleared immigration (another new stamp for both of us!) and got on the A'REX express train that takes you from Incheon Airport (way west of Seoul) to the city center in 50 minutes! I seem to keep mentioning transport in these blogs - figuring out the local transport took some effort but was also pretty rewarding - you feel so successful, plus you save a ton of money that would otherwise go towards taxis!

We saw cabinets like this in every train station - 
unsure if the masks inside were for protection from
fire or gas protection (or radiation? Though I'm thinking a
gas mask won't help there). It was clear that there were
not nearly enough masks for everyone if there
was an emergency though!

Following the excellent directions provided by the Kimchee Myeongdong Guesthouse, our digs for the evening, we dragged our suitcases through the rain and up a few flights to the guesthouse. Great place - highly recommend! Great for backpackers - provide maps and tour booking, computer and internet, great price.

The rain makes my hair look good!

Then it was back to the train station to meet up with Clara Jung ('12), a fellow St. Olaf bandie and recent (like, the day before) immigrant to Korea. Ok, actually she technically has South Korean citizenship, despite the fact that you can't actually have duel American and Korean citizenship. You'll have to ask her about it. We managed to meet up even without the use of phones (!) and we decided to immediately find a place to eat. The rain had picked up so we dodged down an alley and into the first restaurant we found - which worked out great! Jacob got Spicy Pork Nuddles (yes, 'nuddles') and I had Kimcheejeon - a fried Kimchee pancake, accompanied by pickled radish and kimchee (fermented cabbage - much better than it sounds!). We caught up and tried to plan some indoor activities for the afternoon. Fortunately, after lunch and a stop for coffee (at Miss Americano's), the rain let up and we went back to our original plans.



We first tried to look at a Hanok (traditional) village site where you could try out handicrafts and go to a tea ceremony, but it was closed on Tuesdays! Alas. We walked around the grounds a bit, then took the train to Gyeongbokgung Palace. The rain gave way to steamy heat, but we checked out all the beautiful architecture and tried to ignore the blisters forming on our first-soaked-and-now-sweaty feet. From there we walked to the Bukchon Hanok Village Cultural center, then wandered through the neat little area which was a mix of traditional housing, guesthouses, boutique-y shops, and cafes.

Shhh..it's a Samurai!

Caution falling!

It was too bright, I didn't even try to keep my eyes open!

Jacob then headed back to the guesthouse to practice trumpet while Clara and I went to Insadong, a very touristy (but still fun) shopping street. I bought three small flower and bird paintings, and we couldn't resist trying one of the bizarre (and definitely tourist-trappy) street foods on offer - ice cream pipe! Clara manages to look cute, while I look horrified. Don't make me eat it! It didn't taste especially great, but it was amusing. And it contained ice cream, so...

Amusing store name - it was a chain,
we saw several.
Shhh...it's skin!

We went to the appointed meeting spot to catch up with Jacob and - yes - another Ole! Zach Pietryla, who was living in Singapore and working at Duke-NUS when we first moved to there, is now living just outside Seoul and teaching English. So great to have the chance to meet up! Clara, Zach and I were all Sociology/Anthropology majors at St. Olaf too.

A strange egg-cake we bought in
Myeongdong - the egg felt like
plastic, but the cake was good!

Look at all those side dishes!

Cooking action shot

We explored Myeongdong, one of the happening night spots of the city, before locating an excellent Galbi (Korean BBQ) restaurant - they brought the stove to our table and cooked the meat in front of us, and then we ate while cooking a bit more. After the meat is cooked and cut, you take a lettuce (or sesame) leaf, fill it with some pieces of meat, kimchee, and any other combination of the half dozen or more side dishes on the table. Meat and vegetables - and no rice! Good meal. Along with our food, Zach introduced us to Soju and Magkeolli, two types of Korean liquor. Both are primarily rice and/or wheat alcohols, and were quite tasty. And easy to sip on...and pretty darn cheap.

Sometimes food looks bad but tastes great.
But food that looks THAT bad...it tasted like you'd expect.

From the restaurant we went on to a small bar near our guesthouse, where we got another bottle of each. Clara's native Korean language skills were immensely helpful in all aspects of the day - and hence she was able to understand that the surly waitress was insisting we also buy some food item. We bought the special - King...something - because it was ₩1,000 ($1USD). Mistake. They brought us nasty whole fried fish - it was like eating fishy leather. Poor Zach somehow couldn't stop eating it though. We were joined by Clara's boyfriend Sean, a Northfield native (and a Gustie, but it's ok guys, he's cool) who is also teaching English in Seoul. 

Soc/Anthro Oles!

Whole crew!

That giant sign above our heads was advertising
the disgusting fish, pictured above.

Fantastic night of chatting and laughing  - even if by the end we were all feeling less than fantastic physically and were wishing there were fewer empty bottles on the table. Still, when we left at closing time, we had clearly outlasted the owner! Our friends found taxis (too late for trains) and we found our guesthouse - I'm actually pretty proud of my navigation skills on that one, that was definitely me and my map reading skills at our best. And we immediately fell asleep.





Unlike the last several mornings, we did NOT pop out of bed early - but I gotta believe we were still feeling better than THAT guy!