Summer vacation to Jeju Island
I had 3 days off of work for Summer vacation and Molly, Ara & I decided to go to Jeju to enjoy a week in the sun. Molly & I enjoyed the sun a little too much and got some pretty awesome sunburns but it was a great time none the less! To give you a little background on Jeju it is an island off the coast of South Korea. In the center of the island there is a dormant volcano (Mt. Halla) so the island is covered with volcanic rock, which makes it quite beautiful and different than any island I have ever been to. It was only an hour flight there, which got us in early Saturday morning. We started the trip by getting some lunch and walking on the nearest beach for a bit. We then went to a maze of bushes that we had to find our way through. It was "a-maze-ing" and took us 30 minutes to get through. After this little adventure we went to the lava tubes. This is where magma flowed at one time but now it is just a cave with amazing sites. My camera did not work well in there, which was a bummer but it was beautiful. It was 65 degrees down in the cave, which was a nice escape from the 93 & humid day. After the lava tubes we went to Yongduam, which is dragon head rock. In case you didn't get it from the name it is a rock that looks like a dragon head. We were there around sunset, which made for beautiful pictures with the sun coming down on the rock. We then ventured out to Loveland. I will not be explaining this place in my blog but if you want to know about it google it! It was an interesting experience to say the least. We then went to our pension after a very busy day of touring the island. The next morning we did not waste anytime and headed out to catch a ferry to take us to Udo Island, which is an island off the main island. We rented scooters and rode along the coast around the whole island. It was beautiful and we were constantly stopping for photo opps., but pictures just didn't do this place justice. We then got on a boat and did a water tour of the island in which the guide drove us through little caves and tunnels from the huge mountain. This concluded out Udo adventure and we caught the ferry back to Jeju. We then decided to hit up the beach for a bit and caught the most amazing view I have ever seen. On one side there was the beach with everyone swimming and on the other there was the ocean with Sunrise peak, which we went to later, covered in clouds in the background and then a horse just grazing on some grass right on the coastline. It was definitely something you would see on a postcard. After hanging on the beach for a bit we decided we wanted to go to Sunrise peak. 
Sunrise peak is a volcanic cone that was formed by hydro volcanic eruptions about 5,000 years ago, but enough about the science/history lesson, it was BEAUTIFUL. When we were down in the parking lot I asked myself why I was about to hike to to the top of this, but once I got to the top I was so thankful that I did. It was quite the hike up with just stairs for 45 minutes but the views along the way made it seem easy. At the top we were literally in the clouds. It was much cooler up at the top and you could see clouds floating by you. There is a crater at the top of this mountain, but it was hard to get pictures of because of the clouds blocking the way. It was beautiful to look out and be able to see all of Jeju. By the time we got home we were exhausted and sun burnt. I didn't think to put sunblock on my legs but from being on a scooter for a few hours my legs were fried, which makes for some pretty sweet tan lines not to mention my pretty awesome tank top sunburn. Although Molly and I were in some pain from our sunburn we did not let this stop us.
The next morning we were off to hike Mt. Halla, which is the highest peak in South Korea. We didn't get their early enough to hike to the top, which I was secretly excited that we did not since it is known to be a 9 hour hike. We opted for the 4 hour hike, which still took us pretty high with gorgeous views. The 2 hour hike up was mostly stairs up, which was very tiring but the sites were well worth it. After our hike we went to check out Cheonjiyeon waterfall. We then went to the sea cliffs on the coast. They were pillar shaped volcanic rocks that jet out of the coast. This concluded our 3rd jam packed day of tourist attractions. The last day of our trip we just enjoyed relaxing on Hyeopjae beach and cooking out Korean barbecue at our hostile. This trip was an amazing one to say the least and definitely one I will remember forever. Jeju is a beautiful place and I would recommend this place to anyone that finds their way to South Korea!
I had 3 days off of work for Summer vacation and Molly, Ara & I decided to go to Jeju to enjoy a week in the sun. Molly & I enjoyed the sun a little too much and got some pretty awesome sunburns but it was a great time none the less! To give you a little background on Jeju it is an island off the coast of South Korea. In the center of the island there is a dormant volcano (Mt. Halla) so the island is covered with volcanic rock, which makes it quite beautiful and different than any island I have ever been to. It was only an hour flight there, which got us in early Saturday morning. We started the trip by getting some lunch and walking on the nearest beach for a bit. We then went to a maze of bushes that we had to find our way through. It was "a-maze-ing" and took us 30 minutes to get through. After this little adventure we went to the lava tubes. This is where magma flowed at one time but now it is just a cave with amazing sites. My camera did not work well in there, which was a bummer but it was beautiful. It was 65 degrees down in the cave, which was a nice escape from the 93 & humid day. After the lava tubes we went to Yongduam, which is dragon head rock. In case you didn't get it from the name it is a rock that looks like a dragon head. We were there around sunset, which made for beautiful pictures with the sun coming down on the rock. We then ventured out to Loveland. I will not be explaining this place in my blog but if you want to know about it google it! It was an interesting experience to say the least. We then went to our pension after a very busy day of touring the island. The next morning we did not waste anytime and headed out to catch a ferry to take us to Udo Island, which is an island off the main island. We rented scooters and rode along the coast around the whole island. It was beautiful and we were constantly stopping for photo opps., but pictures just didn't do this place justice. We then got on a boat and did a water tour of the island in which the guide drove us through little caves and tunnels from the huge mountain. This concluded out Udo adventure and we caught the ferry back to Jeju. We then decided to hit up the beach for a bit and caught the most amazing view I have ever seen. On one side there was the beach with everyone swimming and on the other there was the ocean with Sunrise peak, which we went to later, covered in clouds in the background and then a horse just grazing on some grass right on the coastline. It was definitely something you would see on a postcard. After hanging on the beach for a bit we decided we wanted to go to Sunrise peak. 
Sunrise peak is a volcanic cone that was formed by hydro volcanic eruptions about 5,000 years ago, but enough about the science/history lesson, it was BEAUTIFUL. When we were down in the parking lot I asked myself why I was about to hike to to the top of this, but once I got to the top I was so thankful that I did. It was quite the hike up with just stairs for 45 minutes but the views along the way made it seem easy. At the top we were literally in the clouds. It was much cooler up at the top and you could see clouds floating by you. There is a crater at the top of this mountain, but it was hard to get pictures of because of the clouds blocking the way. It was beautiful to look out and be able to see all of Jeju. By the time we got home we were exhausted and sun burnt. I didn't think to put sunblock on my legs but from being on a scooter for a few hours my legs were fried, which makes for some pretty sweet tan lines not to mention my pretty awesome tank top sunburn. Although Molly and I were in some pain from our sunburn we did not let this stop us. 
The next morning we were off to hike Mt. Halla, which is the highest peak in South Korea. We didn't get their early enough to hike to the top, which I was secretly excited that we did not since it is known to be a 9 hour hike. We opted for the 4 hour hike, which still took us pretty high with gorgeous views. The 2 hour hike up was mostly stairs up, which was very tiring but the sites were well worth it. After our hike we went to check out Cheonjiyeon waterfall. We then went to the sea cliffs on the coast. They were pillar shaped volcanic rocks that jet out of the coast. This concluded our 3rd jam packed day of tourist attractions. The last day of our trip we just enjoyed relaxing on Hyeopjae beach and cooking out Korean barbecue at our hostile. This trip was an amazing one to say the least and definitely one I will remember forever. Jeju is a beautiful place and I would recommend this place to anyone that finds their way to South Korea!
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