The Island

Blues, greens, browns, and lots of charcoal gray (Ben's favorite color). These were just a few of the colors that we were surrounded by during our four day stay on the Hawaii of Korea, Jeju Island. Though quite different than how we would imagine Hawaii to be, Jeju had so much beauty to see and unique places to explore.

Our four days consisted of: a bumpy, but short, flight in; long walks; a bus ride through lush forests with all shades of green; three waterfalls (one was inside a restaurant); many colorful flowers; one very blue ocean; a few whistling, diving fisher-women; one scooter; two horses; many stunning views; six beaches; one sunset; four cold hands; two wind-burned faces; a few wrong turns; even more beautiful views from our wrong turns; two heads of helmet hair; two socks that were transformed into racing gloves; a dozen misquito bites; some late night ice-cream; miles and miles of coastline, and an abundance of memories. Oh, and did I mention the airplanes? We stayed about 100 yards from the airport runway.

Anyhow, we have many memories and beautiful pictures to share.
There are many detailed stories are after all the pictures!

We took almost 300 pictures, and trying to decide which images best captured our experience was indeed difficult. We 'narrowed' down about 50 of our favorites and put them into an online photo album for you to view. All you need to do is CLICK HERE FOR MORE OF OUR FAVORITE PICTURES!

If you don't have time for the 50, you can catch a glimpse if you just scroll down.

Some green with a small island in the background.

The coastline offered beautiful views everywhere we looked.

Our main mode of transportation (and our new favorite!)

We saw the sunset just in time before returning the hog. Ahem, scooter.

Fishing boats dotted the ocean on the northwest coast. This view was the result of one of our wrong turns, combined with Ben's manoeuvreing the scooter on a small, perhaps closed, road.

One of the two beatiful waterfalls (this one was real).

Our favorite beach. It was too chilly to go in the water, but simply amazing to look at!


He looks like a real cowboy. We splurged on a 15 minute ride, but the scenery was worth it!

Actually, I look more like the cowboy. Or cowgirl? This was my first real ride!

We didn't realize that our outfits were going to compliment nature so well.


Don't forget, there is a lot more to see: CLICK HERE FOR MORE OF OUR FAVORITE PICTURES!

OUR STORIES
The Scooter:
Our preferred transportation while on the island was a dark gray, 125 cc engine scooter with a sticker near the front headlight that proclaimed "My bike is a beast!" It proved its strength by taking us through meandering roads along the JeJu Island coastline. It even went "off road" a couple of times. Sort of.

To say that the time on the scooter was liberating would be an understatement. For two days, we were not confined to public transportation. We were not confined to roads, either, as Korean scooters seem to fit perfectly on sidewalks. We could go wherever we wanted to go, whenever we wanted to go. And it was beautiful. A subway ride offers a view of...well, nothing. A bus is better, but all you see is concrete. The scooter provided us a constant view of ocean, rocks, and more ocean. The only thing missing from the experience was a constant breeze through our hair, thanks to the very safe, and very attractive, helmets.

The first sunset (attempt):
Our first day with the scooter was an adventure. We spent an hour looking for the bank and a gas station in the city. After driving all around town, desperately searching for fuel before we were burning fumes, we filled up. A stop at the bank, and we were on our way. We drove a quick highway road to the southeast coast, visited a beach, and then planned to drive along the coast road to return home. The sun was out, the wind from our blazing speed kept us cool, and the views all around were just wonderful. This was the day when we stopped to ride horses. The weather was perfect for riding, the skies clear and welcoming. We thought that it was a perfect opportunity to see a sunset, considering that we would be passing a place called "Sunset Rock" on our ride home. Our goal was to make it there before the sun went down.

So, Ben put the scooter to the limit and we raced along the coast to the sunset island. The farmland that we passed through was stunning, and we were anticipating some spectacular views of the sky. Well, the sky had a different plan, as it suddenly turned to a gloomy, gray, misty sight. Not only that, but the temperature dropped significantly--all in a matter of minutes. Our quick speed on the bike made it feel even colder on our limbs. Our hopes of a beautiful sunset were dashed. The goal was to get back to the hotel as soon as possible, and as dry as possible. The "as warm as possible" was lost when the sun went behind the clouds. By this time, it was as hilarious as it was miserable. Ben was taking the brunt of the wind with his hands and his face, and I was simply underdressed.

I felt like we needed to invest in some leather chaps by the end of the day.
My legs were so tired and my hips were begging to move after being in the same position for so many hours. Despite the pain, the agonizing pain, our ride was worth it. Our hotel room was warm and welcoming, with its heated floors and instant coffee. We thawed out, laughed at our red sun and wind burned faces, and went to dinner.

In preparation for the next day's ride, we sacrificed a pair of my socks, which were transformed into Michael Jackson-esque biker gloves. Ben also made use of my bandana as a face mask. When worn with the goggles, his face was entirely hidden, and quite intimidating. A true hog rider.

The Airport:
When we booked our hotel, we were told it was a convenient 10 minute car ride from the airport. Our self-proclaimed hotel "captain" picked us up in his Korean Kia SUV, and were on the way to our vacation home. As we approached the ten minute mark, we noticed that we were near the airport again. Actually, we were driving next to the runway. It didn't seem like a big deal. So, we proceeded to our room, and started to unpack the bags.

It was then that we heard something that resembled a missle, or something like it, about to land on our building. At the very moment when the sound reached the it-couldn't-get-any-louder-unless-it-hit-us point, it started to subside. A plane had flown over us. It took a few more planes to pass over for me to stop worrying about one of them falling out of the sky. It wasn't a big deal at all, in fact, by the next day, it was actually a game for me to catch a plane flying overhead on the video camera.

The Taxi Ride:
Korean taxis are cheap. The base fee is usually around two dollars, and everything seems close in the city, so we can usually get around pretty well with a our limited Korean and a few bucks. While in Jeju, before we had our scooters, we took the bus to the southern coast. We explored on foot, found some amazing sights, and then wanted to return to the bus stop. Well, we couldn't exactly find the bus stop, but managed to stumble upon my favorite coffee shop along the way. We quenched our thirst with some iced coffees, and asked for directions. The barista pointed to the direction we had just come from, and assured us that the bus stop was "over there". We had just come from "over there", and so we were convinced that we would have seen it. We didn't listen to her advice.

Shame on us. We hailed a taxi, asked to go to the bus station, and he said, OK. Well, two dollars and 17 seconds later, the cab was stopped, and we were halfway around the roundabout. There we were, standing outside, perplexed, and staring at the coffee shop across the street. The bus stop was a bit inconspicuous, so we probably would have asked the woman inside the "bus station" for directions to the bus station. Perhaps our embarassing two dollar loss spared us from more embarassment afterall.

The horses:
Many people may not know that Ben's dad grew up with horses all around. Ben wanted to show off his inheirited ability to ride in order to impress me, so we agreed that we would travel the "horse road" and see what adventure we could find. See, in Korea, the theory of business is much different than what we are familiar with in America. If you want clothes, you go to the clothes market. If you want fabric, you go to the fabric market. If you want paper, well, you know, you borrow some from work. Anyway, things and places are generally grouped together by category, rather than being spread out (business competition is different, I guess).

Instead of having horse riding (not horseback riding) on different areas of the island, there was a 5 KM stretch that had about 8 different "ranches". They weren't really ranches, but rather tourist stops that had your choice of go-kart, four-wheeler, or, for the old fashioned folk, horses.

It was my first "real" horse ride, so I was excited and a little nervous. My anxiety subsided, however, when I saw my horse. It looked average size, actually...until the worker arrived on his horse, which was substantially bigger, taller, and more powerful. Ben was a bit jealous that my horse was the "dark one" and he got stuck with a white horse, his least favorite color.

We began our ride after a make-shift photo session, where the man on the big horse insisted that we come closer together. I'd imagine that he was saying something like "come in close, like you love each other" in Korean. Anyway, after a few shots, we were on our way. I thought it would be a good idea to take some nature shots on the camera, considering the beautiful scenery surrounding us. Well, I didn't understand what the Korean man on the big horse said (who was, interestingly enough holding a leash connected to my horse). My good idea turned sour when we began a medium-paced trot. Remember, it was my first time. So, I quickly grabbed onto my saddle, put the camera away, and tried not to fall off.

Ben enjoyed his freedom on the white horse behind us (they became friends), while my hourse and I were pulled by the man with the big horse. They even gave him a whip! Our speed changed from slow, to kind-of-fast, to "oh, no! Am I going to fall off???" It was a blast. My only hindrance from feeling like a real cowgirl was that my leg was often pinned between my horse and the big horse's hind quarters. At one time, we gained so much speed that Ben thinks it was a fast canter. After 15 minutes, our overpriced ride was finished, but well worth every Won (penny).

The Waterfall:
Actually, I should title this "The Top of the Waterfall". My adventurous husband loves to look at waterfalls and rocks, and pretty much anything in nature. However, the view of the waterfall from the place where everyone else looks at it (the bottom) is simply unsatisfying. So, he convinced me to go to the top.

It wasn't a hike up a mountain or anything that you would typically expect. All that we had to do was walk down a road, cut through the small gap between the bridge and the road, hop down next to the river, and walk across the rocks. Even so, we had to do all of this without falling, for fear that the six-inch river current would drag me down to the edge of the waterfall. It wasn't really that threatening at all, but that adventurous husband of mine went closer than I was comfortable with. As he made his way closer to the edge, I had to stop and wait, reminding him not to fall off. The more he leaned over the edge to get a good view (and some great pictures), the more nervous I got. He was very cautious, and we both survived without incident. I got my nerves back, and we were on our way to the next adventure.