A bunch used our week off and headed for the much famed Jeju Island just off the south coast of South Korea. It is also known as the "Island of the Gods". The island was created thousands of years ago from a massive volcano (Halla Mountain). It is a super popular vacation spot for Koreans and many Japanese. It is also one of the top honeymoon destinations for Korean newlyweds. Some of the main activities for tourists are hiking, catching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean, seeing one of the many waterfalls, riding horses, or just relaxing on the beaches. One of the things we wanted to do was to rent scooters as it was fairly popular to do so as their isn't much local traffic. Unfortunately due to not having insurance and an international liscence it wasn't realistic to risk the cost of crashing, although they still would of rented them to us.We arrived on the Saturday afternoon and quickly made our way down to the southern part of the island to Seogwipo. After unpacking at the hostel, we visited a waterfall and had a great dinner, then met up with some other teachers. We spent the next day on Jungmun Beach, just sun tanning and getting thrown around by the huge waves crashing on the beaches.
We made our way to the Eastern part of the island to Seongsan where we stayed in the best hotel you could imagine. For 60,000 won ($60) between the four of us we were on the ocean with a great view and right beside was Sunrise Peak, a massive crator promising amazing views. Of course we climbed it in pouring rain and didn't exactly get any of those great views though. In the bay we were looking out into what was a popular spot for the famous haenyeo ("sea women"), who were often the heads of families, because they controlled the income. They earned their living from free diving, often all year round in quite cold water, without scuba gear in order to harvest shellfish, sea cucumbers and other marine products. It is thought that women are better at spending all day deep-water diving because they resist cold better. They were known to hold their breaths for up to 2 minutes. Nowadays these woman are the last of their kind and are 65-70 years old and still going at it. Quite a site to see.The next day we made our way to the famous Lava Tubes. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest in the world of it's kind. Once flowing with magma through them, they are now these huge cave-like channels. Only going in a kilometer or so was enough to see why these tubes are so popular.
Our next mission was to hike up another World Heritage Site, Halla-san (Halla Mountain). It is the highest peak in Korea at 2000m above sea level. We started early in the morning as it was said to be a 8-9 hour climb. The rocky and damp terrain made it difficult at certain points to climb efficiently but we slowly creped our way up the 9.6 km East course. Climbing through the clouds was an exciting experience. Exhausted, we finally made it up to the summit to enjoy breathtaking views of the volcano at the top. Looking down at the clouds had to of been one of the best sites I've seen in my life. We snapped a few pictures, had a bite to eat and headed down the 8.7km North course. None of us were looking forward to it...After another day on the beach, we took a flight to Busan to meet up with some of the other teachers at our school. This is the second biggest city in South Korea and another major location for foreigners teaching english. Although the beaches were far more crowded, it was a great place to visit as there was lots to do. The weather seemed a lot fresher than Seoul with the ocean air blowing over the city. We only had a couple days there and as soon as we got there it felt like we were heading back for Seoul. Had a great vacation but the fact that we were right back in the classroom the next day after only a week off just wasn't fair.
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