Amazing and Beautiful Jeju Island

January 21st through 24th was the Lunar New Year Holiday which is celebrated throughout East Asia. Like during Chuseok, most people in Korea travel to see and spend time with their families. For me, it was a great opportunity to escape to an adventure. Again through Warren and the Seoul Hiking Group, I decided to go on a four day adventure to Jeju Island, and the best part was that I was able to go with my good friends James and Nayeon. The time we spent together on Jeju created some really awesome, life-long memories. I was and am so happy that we were able to share this great experience.

To begin, Jeju Island, or Jeju-do, is the largest island belonging to Korea, and it is located off the south-western end of Korea. Here is a wiki link to learn more about the island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_Province .

Like a lot of Warren's trips, our bus left Seoul at 11:30pm on Friday night. We slept, or tried to sleep :>, on the bus trip to our port city which I forget the name of now, lol. We arrived Saturday morning around 8:00am, and we boarded the ferry pictured below. According to google translate, Narea means wreckage, and so, I'm not sure what theme they were going for on this one, lol. Regardless of it's name, it was smooth sailing the entire way. It was also a great chance to actually sleep :)

So, I was dubbed James and Nayeon's pet squirrel, lol. So, these poses of me are my squirrel poses. It's my new hipster pose. I call it squirreling. It is like planking and owling, but like so beyond super awesome! ... I'm trying to be as hipster as I can, LOL.

Oh no! The flag is attacking! ... I know! What are we going to do? ... I don't know! ... Oh no! ... (Sorry, this is an inside reference that James will know, lol)

....

Yeah! Korea!

The water color was really beautiful!

This was our port at Jeju Island. It was drizzling when we first arrived which wasn't a fun welcome, but we were still excited about this adventure.

This was our first meal. It was at a traditional style town in Jeju. The food was really excellent.

These are all the sides that come with most any Korean meal.

This is the original lava rock gods of Jeju. They are in front of most homes as protection against evil spirits. It is so amazing to be able to look at something from so long ago.

I think this was the original city gate to this town, and I'm pretty sure everything is original. I'm sure the local Buddhist temples do the upkeep necessary for the structure. I absolutely loved being in such history.

The satellite is original as well, lol.

Such beautiful artwork!

I'm not sure what this was, but I think it was some sort of cut up fruits. It was also probably from the local Buddhist temples.

I could imagine that this is how this has always looked for the past several centuries.

These are the famous Jeju oranges. They are so delicious!

Kimchi pots! They make kimchi or fermented cabbage in these pots. I think they reuse the same pots for hundreds of years. Kimchi is like sauerkraut but on steroids. It is so good!

And they are Duck fans! LOL

I really felt like I was in Korea in the 13th century. It was so amazing!

I was playing tour guide... and on your left is some original Jeju cabbage dating from the 4th century. ... LOL

James, how many times have I told you to stay out of the cabbage patch? ... lol

Hmmm... not that far from a regular light pole if you really think about it. In fact, I'm going to keep this helpful hint for future lighting solutions :)

Flowers in Winter!! Such a warm feeling!

Our tour bus!

So this was our first itinerary stop for the day. Giddy up James! It was really fun being able to ride the horses. I actually just wanted to pet them. The owners of the facility were grumpy, and so, I wouldn't recommend going here. However, it was still fun riding a horse. I haven't done this for a long while.

This was the beginning of our first hike up one of Jeju's many craters. The brown grassy fields really reminded me of the area where I grew up. ... homesick :)

All I could think of was, "Those are ginormous windmills!"

My wild imagination could see puffs of white smoke erratically rising from below this ledge. Within in this hidden glen, I could see a terrible dragon lurking about, awaiting to attack meandering prey with lighting force. With titanium strength scales that shimmer and shake like fire, he would patiently, secretly blend himself into his surroundings to seem as some ill-placed, razor sharp vein of fire-branded rocks. His gaping mouth of razors marked by scorching fire lay motionless as he waited to release his reign of fire upon his unsuspecting victim. With his powerful claws and talons smashing into the earth like two meteors, this beast of terror would bolt into the sky, tearing the air like thunder as he went. The billowing rush of his wings would snap in two the scraggly trees clinging to the cliff edges, and all that is heard for miles is his heart-skipping, ear-shattering roar of death. Never has any human seen this beast from hell, for all that search for him become nothing more that molten debris and rubble. Since his beginning at the dawn of time, he has plagued these lands like a dormant volcano. His terror becomes stories, myths, and legends as he patiently awaits his reign supreme. His day of reign comes when the human has almost forgotten the dormant, primal fear of him. In this sinister way, he fully demonstrates his power as the true master of the Earth.

This is called Sunrise peak. It is an ancient volcano, crater that has eroded away to become part of the coastline. It is quiet a spectacular geological formation from both near and far.

As pet squirrel, this was my official home on Jeju Island... I think I'm going to be a little cramped, lol.

This Nayeon's pet dog "Snowy". It was tied up in someone else's yard with food and water. We're not really sure why.... lol

This is the tea house at a really famous tea plantation on Jeju Island called Osulloc. Their teas are amazing! Here is a link to their website: http://www.osulloc.com/main.jsp

The official 'Squirreling' pose... don't laugh, I'm a hipster... you will eventually follow me, but I will be long gone by the time you catch up. : p

LOL

Yes James, this is the coolest hipster move you have ever witnessed! LOLOL

James: You want a pet rock? ... Me: Um, let me get back to you on that bro.

: >

I want this in my house. So relaxing!

3, 2, 1 ... Blast-off!

This is the small fishing port that took us to the submarine ride.

The submarine company name was Pirate something a-rather. Our captain to the submarine was dressed like a pirate. It was so hilarious.

RED BEARD! ... "Schwab da deck ya shea shcum!"

James looks like an inquisitive/ intellectual pirate. LOL

This is inside the submarine. It was an actual submarine that took us about 20 meters below the surface. It was quite the experience.

The submarine people were telling us how these fish are a real delicacy to eat.

The "Lone Ranger" fish ; p

Yay!!!! It's Mermaid Man!!!

A beautiful couple for a beautiful background ; )

I love Warren, lol. I'm going to do this for all future pictures! lol

Oooah, Korea is so beautiful!

The happy monkey couple, lol

Walking Tall

I love the pose in the background. ... Yeah, I own this! ... lol

We don't know what these are actually are, but we named them 'Smurf-berries'.

"Bwing, bwing"

Right here on the beach was really warm!

The best seafood soup I have ever had. I think I tried 10 new seafood creatures in this one meal, lol.

Ooops, this is out of order. Regardless, this is my friend from Romania, Eva. She is a graduate student working towards her Ph.D. in Microbiology in Korea. ... NBD

This is an ancient lava flow. The angular shapes of the lava are due to the cooling and fracturing of the magma while still in the ground. The magma cooled into these shapes while still inside the chamber, and the ground around it eroded away by the ocean. For more fun facts, please follow this link: Columnar Basalt

This is inside a lava tube. The lava tube is really amazing with it's cathedral like rooms. The formation behind us is not the usual stalagmite as you would assume. It is from the small remaining stream of lava that dripped from a chamber above the one we were in. My friend David cleverly snuck into our photo, lol.

This is a picture of Jeju City. With stone patterned streets and lots of neon, Jeju really feels like the Miami of Korea.

On our last day, we were scheduled to hike Mt. Hallasan. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Jeju. However, to my great displeasure, they closed the trail halfway up the mountain due to weather conditions. I totally disagreed because the weather was not really that bad. Also, if they were that concerned, they should have closed the trail at the trail head and not half way up the mountain. Anyway, so, we were unable to summit, but it was still fun getting to talk to new people and enjoying the more typical Korean scenery in winter. I really want to go back to hike Hallasan, but I will have to wait.