Sunrise Peak 일출봉

Our camping trip ended on Friday and we took a relatively empty ferry back over to the mainland in the late morning. The mainland ferry terminal was PACKED with people wanting to get over to Udo. It wasn't even possible to use the bathroom because of the amount of people literally squeezed against each other in the ferry terminal, waiting to buy tickets to overrun Udo. 

Half of our group took the gear and rode the bus back to Jeju-shi and then school, the other half of us taxied into Seongsan 성산, the nearest city, and climb Sunrise Peak, a UNESCO heritage site.

The climb was steep with many stairs, and the sun shown down on us with unparalleled intensity. AKA, it was f***ing hot. We followed the line of people snaking up the ascending path, and once we reached the top we saw....... a big bowl of grass.....

Don't get me wrong, the views were incredible and the hike, despite the heat, was nice. I think that the view from Sunrise peak was worth more than the view into the grass bowl. It was gorgeous:

Camping on Udo - Day 1

Happy Chuseok! Aka Korean Thanksgiving. All of the students have left campus and that leaves gap assistants and staff members to get up to whatever we think is fun. Nine of us from the gap program chose to go camping for two nights on Udo Island, and so we left on Wednesday, early afternoon, and took the 3 hour long bus trip from the education city to Seongsan Harbor and then the fifteen minute ferry ride to Udo.

Once we got there, we walked for about 15 minutes along the shoreline road until we came to Hongjodangoe 홍조단괴해변, a coral sand beach, where we were able to set down our gear and set up the tents we borrowed from the school. We were so lucky - our campsite was situated right on the beach next to a small town with a CU store and cafe, along with other conveniences. The biggest and best surprise was that there was a bathroom with working toilets right across the road from where we camped. Such a lifesaver.

It took a while to get situated and set up camp, but once everything was pretty much set up, I took a dip in the ocean and we watched the sun set over the sea.

It was then that I realized we were in paradise and we are some of the luckiest people around. Even though I wasn't too hungry, I decided to go along with some of the group to eat BBQ, and I'm so happy I did. We walked along the road for a bit until we came across what looked like some guy's deck with picnic tables and grills set up. There were people eating grilled meat and fish and drinking bottles of wine and soju.

I think it must've been some kind of illegitimate restaurant off of this guy's deck. Anyway, he grilled us up some of the best pork I've ever eaten and we ran down to CU to get some beers and stuffed our faces for the next hour. Then, the guy pulled out a saxophone and started serenading the whole group with old school easy listening that sounded a bit like the Korean version of Enka.

 

That night we built a fire on the beach and gathered around for hours, just chatting. It was so nice to feel like we were finally in Korea, and it felt so good to get away from everything at the school, if only for two days.

Chuseok 추석 Holiday

At 3:30pm I officially start a 5-day long break for Chuseok (Korean version of Thanksgiving) and look at this weather!

Some of the other gap assistants and I have decided to go camping on Udo Island from Wednesday (tomorrow) until Friday. We've borrowed tents and gear from the school and we'll be camping on the beach (which is free to do on Jeju Island). Can't wait :D

On Saturday we're probably going to hike up Mt. Halla, the tallest peak in South Korea, which also happens to be a dormant volcano. I've heard it takes all day to hike up, but the climb is worth it, and from the top of some trails are incredible views.

At the school it poured all through the morning and I was feeling pretty pessimistic when I met up with the group to go on our morning hike. As we walked out to the bus it was a torrential down pour and I figured I'd be soaked through within the first 2 minutes of hiking.

Driving south, the rain increased in intensity, but the bus driver still hurtled the bus forward through the deluge. Jeju drivers are crazy.

Then suddenly, nothing. No rain, dry roads, sun peeking through the clouds. I guess this is what island weather is well known for. We left behind the wall of rain and spent the rest of the morning sweating in the glaring sun and trudging through humid, thick air.

The view from the olle trail we walked today was gorgeous. We were right up on the coast, and the whole walking path was a raised wooden platform with good footing. The downside was that there were many tourists on this part of the olle trail.

Nearing the end of our walk, we went down some stairs and onto a boulder beach with tide pools and sand lice scurrying around. The kids clambered over the rocks for about half an hour and the sun continued to get hotter and hotter as it approached noon, so we made our way back up the stairs and to the bus. The way back to campus was uneventful, but I knew we were nearing the school when we reentered what I'm calling the "bad weather bubble," because we hit the wall of rain and from thereon it continued to pour the whole way back.

Rain cloud overtaking campus early this morning