16 Days, 6 Cities {part 2}

Random Adventures in Ulsan

Now Ulsan was one of the craziest adventures that I have ever had in my life. Besides the fact that I was couch surfing for the first time, Ulsan brings out the best travel stories. I have two stories from my two days in Ulsan. It was...memorable.

Story 1: Taxi Confusion

Inside the cave.

I didn't have a plan for when I arrived in Ulsan. So once I arrived at my host's apartment, I started looking at maps and tourist guides. They lived right outside a national park and I thought I would go for a hike or go to one of the attractions in the park. I only had the afternoon left of the day, so there was only so much sunlight left. I decided to go see the Amethyst Cave. First thing I did to get there was... I got on the wrong bus, now I realized this fairly quickly, but still. So I got off at the train station so that I could talk to the tourist information desk and they could help me figure out how to get there. They tell me the bus number and it was going to be a 40 min wait. I wasn't too happy about this, but I decided to get some food and what did I see....there is my bus. Twenty mins early. So, yep, I missed it and the next one wouldn't come for another hour. I wasn't about to wait for another hour. I didn't have much day light left and I knew this place wasn't really all that far away. So I went back to tourist information and asked them to write down the name of the cave in Korean for me so that I could give it to a taxi driver and they would be able to get me there.

Apparently, the taxi driver didn't know how to get there. He honestly had no idea. He was just giggling the whole time and pulling over on the side of the road asking people how to get there. Many of the people didn't know wither. I had a general idea of where it was because I studied the map a bit, but I really couldn't help much.  Now, this is a very rural part of Korea and we are in the national park and there are very few signs or they are in Korean. But none of the signs were for the Amethyst Cave. Both the taxi driver and myself were just guessing where to go, then all of a sudden he was like, "Ahhh Haaa!" Then there I was. I was real unsure about getting out the of taxi because I didn't look like what I expected to be seeing. There wasn't a sign saying "Amethyst Cave" or anything. What I saw was a small sledding hill, carnival rides and tons of very young families.  This was quite unexpected. I reluctantly got out of the car because these were the two thoughts going through my head; 1. Where am I?   2. How will I get back? I am in the middle of nowhere. I was so tempted to have the taxi driver take me back to town, but I sucked it up and decided to be brave. And boy an I sure glad that I did! 

The kiddie park in front of the cave. Very random.

I got out of the taxi and it took me a minute to figure out that I was in fact in the right place. It was weird, let me tell you. I saw what looked like a ticket counter, and the lady behind the counter was sleeping. It took me a few knocks and saying "hello" for her to wake up. Now, she didn't really say anything because she didn't know English, she just took my money and gave me a ticket for the cave. There was no map or anything. Once I had the ticket, I didn't know where to go. So I just wondered a bit and found the what looked like the entrance. I wasn't so sure, because there weren't any families I could follow. It felt like I was the only person there to see the cave. Everyone one else was by the carnival rides.

The temple built into the mountain.

So now I am in the cave, it's actually quite large and it has lots of different ways you can go. There were only a few other people in the cave. It was basically just your average cave made out of rocks and such. All of the amethysts have been taken out. It took me 30 min to wander through the whole cave, then it was over. I was thinking, I can't just leave now after all the effort it took to get out here. As I exit the cave I see stairs going up the cave on the outside. So, I walk up them and...I was blown away. The view was so beautiful. Since the cave was in a national park, it was just beautiful landscape. There was a small walking trail on top of the cave and then I went around a corner and what do I see...that's right, a Buddhist temple. The temple was built into the side of the mountain and they used the smaller caves that had been carved into the mountain when it was being mined for amethysts. This temple had the most amazing view of the national park.

The amazing view...well part of it.

Now, I was faced with the challenge of trying to get myself back to town. I decided to go back to the ticket window to ask them to call me a taxi to take me back, since the nearest bus stop was 2 km away, and I didn't even know which direction to go. I asked the lady to call me a taxi and she hollered at another guy who worked there and he came out and told me to get into his van. Apparently, this was the shuttle bus and I was soon back to where I needed to be. All that concern for nothing:) Let me remind you that all of this was in Korean, so basically I don't know what's going on.

Story 2: Lost in the Mountains

Great view, minus the power lines.

 I was staying with this awesome Australian couple and they let me tag along on a hike on Saturday in the hills just north of Busan. As far as we know there wasn't a map available  all we knew was the name of the trail. You would think that would be enough, not trails in Korea are pretty well marked so we didn't think it would be a problem...we were wrong. It was estimated to be a three to four hour hike. Perfect, we were prepared!
We start walking and it was suddenly extremely steep, and it didn't flatten out at all. After about an hour of extremely steep upwards climbing we made it to the top of the ridge. It was really a great view of Busan and the hillside. You could see for miles but one of the coolest things was seeing the apartment complexes. Korea has the most gigantic apartment complexes ever. They just seem to jet up out of nowhere. Much of the trail was walking along the ridge line on top of the mountains and then going down the other side of the mountain. There were some places were you couldn't see where the path was supposed to go, so we just climbed up over giant rocks and the trail always seemed to continue. Then we start the decent of the mountain. Let us not forget that it is January, with a bit of snow and ice. It was a nice day out, above 32 degrees so it was muddy from the melting snow and ice, but there was still plenty of it to be found on the trail. Thus, making the trail muddy and very slippery. It took so much concentration to not fall down. We were hoping the the trail would let up and things would get easier soon. After at least a good hour of this difficult walking, we came to a clearing that had the option of taking two different trails. One was steep and long, and the other trail was shorter and yet still steep. The signs didn't have the trail names, so it was basically just a guessing game by this point. We were tired from concentrating so hard from the slippery terrain.

Tiny Buddha cave.

We took the shorter trail. It was steep but not as icy and slippery was before. We walk, and walk and walk. Then the tail leads us to have to shimmy around this giant rock to get to the other side of the mountain. To our surprise, there was a large platform and a cave build into the side of the mountain. Inside this tiny cave was a Buddha alter, this is becoming a norm. From the there the trail seemed to have disappeared  It was a bit more snowy in this part so we thought that it had just gotten covered by the snow. It was obvious that people had been there, because about 20 meters away there was a refrigerator  plugged in and all. It was in it's own little shelter, just big enough for it to fit into. Very random.
We kept walking thinking that the trail has to appear again. We decided that we just had to keep going down-wards. There was no going back, because the trail was too difficult. The decent became very steep once again, and we were not on a trail. This time the challenge was not slipping down the side of the mountain due to the large accumulation of dead leaves that would slide under your feet when you stepped on them. Another hazard become very apparent rather quickly, there was all of a sudden tons of broken glass and bottles everywhere to add more difficulty. It took us awhile to get through this part. We could see the highway far ahead of us and we just thought that we better just keep heading towards the highway. The next challenge we came to was now having to crawl through some very thick foliage. There are so many vines, twigs and such that we had to crawl through. It was unfortunate that none of us brought our machete  with us. It is really what we needed.

Temple that led to the road!

 Then, out of nowhere, it all cleared up and right in front of us was another temple. This was a pretty exciting time because there was a road leading up to the temple, so we followed that for awhile. We made it near the highway and were walking parallel to it, looking for a way to cross. Thanks to the help of my smart phone and Google maps, I was able to see that there was a rest stop just up the road a bit, but there wasn't a road that connected to the highway from where we were. We had no choice to off-road it to get to the highway. So we walk through a cemetery  jump the fence, walk through a small stream, cross under the highway bridge, climb up the ditch and then finally climb over another fence to get onto a highway. It was quite the time. Now we are walking on the side of the highway with the crazy Korean drivers flying past us. We were walking on the highway for 15+ minutes until we finally made it to the rest stop. What a relief! After taking a short rest, we needed to find a taxi. We were in the middle of nowhere Korea, so obviously there are no taxis just waiting around out there. So, we go the tourist info office and ask the girl working there to call us a taxi. We struggled with language issues because she didn't understand why we would need a taxi. People don't just walk to the rest stop. It's one of those places that you drive to. We tried to explain that we got lost in the woods and don't have a car to get back. After some confusion, she called her manager and finally called a taxi for us. The manager motioned for us to follow her outside, we followed. We had no idea where we were going. First we go through a gate to all of the garbage dumpsters, then through a fence with many dog kennels with dogs barking, past that there was a path through the woods. All three of us were laughing this whole way because we had no idea what was going on. Why were we walking back here? Then finally at the end of the trail, there it was...our taxi, waiting for us.

Historic Gyeong-ju

The Homo Nomad Guest House.

Gyeong-ju wasn't in my original plan for this trip, but I had three nights that I had not planned for before I left Jeju.   I wasn't sure where else I wanted to go in Korea, so as I was traveling the first few days I asked people to make me a recommendation of where I should go. I have several people tell me to check out Gyeong-ju because it is the capital of the Silla dynasty, which is very important in Korean history and affects the culture still today. So I went to Gyeong-ju. Originally I just booked my guest house for just one night because I knew that Gyeong-ju was a small town and I thought I could see everything in one day. I met two others at the guest house who were also traveling by themselves. So we decided to join forces and explore Gyeong-ju together.  

  

Tombs. Similar to the pyramids of Egypt on the inside.

The entrance to the temple area. The fog makes is so mysterious. 

Let me set a scene for you about how the three of us met. First, it was night time, so it was dark. I get out of the taxi and get to the fence of the guest house and there a sign read "Jenna, I am not here right now. But go inside your room is upstairs..." Okay, no problem. I walk through the fence into...I guess you would call it a courtyard. There were small little buildings along one side of the fence and across from them was the house. I walk into the entryway which, in Korea is where you take off your shoes, then you walk through the actual door into the house. I walk in and...there are two people just standing there staring at me, and I at them. I say "hello" and go up the stairs to find my room. I drop me stuff off and thought it would be good to go down and introduce myself and talk to them to make things less awkward. I introduced myself and they did the same. Apparently, we were the only ones in the house and they had just arrived a few minutes before my arrival. They were strangers to each other as well. It was kind of like the in the movie CLUE when everyone was arriving at the house and nobody knew why they were there or what was happening. We were just kind of standing there waiting for something to happen.
These two new travel buddies were both from Europe. He was from the Netherlands and she was from Czech Republic, but she was studying in Taiwan. They were both in Korea for vacation. They really amazed me, be their language knowledge. They both spoke perfect English, but it's obviously not their native language.
Anyways, we all became friends fast because none of us knew what we were doing in Gyeong-ju. We went out to get dinner and then made plans together for the following day.

Part of the ancient palace at night.

One of the main sites in Gyeong-ju is to go see this large temple. So that is what the plan was. It was really large, and quite interesting. The surrounding area was just beautiful and I would love to go back in the summer time. Also in Gyeong-ju I went to the old palace, the National Museum and the tombs of ancient kings. I learned so much about Korean history and it was so much fun. Gyeong-ju is a really beautiful small city. I am really glad that I decided to stop by there for a few nights.

Busy, Busy Seoul

N. Seoul Tower

Festive mall lighting

My final destination before heading back to my little island was Seoul. Now, I had so many people to see and things to get done in Seoul, that my days were basically planned out before I went. Seoul is actually really easy to get around so I didn't have many travel "adventures" as far as transportation goes. Unless you call being inches away from 10 other peoples faces in a packed subway car an adventure. Seoul was a great time, and it was nice not having so much confusion getting places.  I was able to spend a lot of time with my friend, Joanne. She grew up in Seoul and I met her while studying at Stout. This was my second time visiting her in Seoul, but this is the first time that I actually can comprehend where I was, because the first time was when I got off the plane from the US.  I think Joanne was shocked by my ability to read Korean and being able to get around by myself in the big city. I had to assure her that I would be okay doing things on my own since I have lived in Korea for five months already successfully.
 I spent two days shopping. Seoul was my only chance to find western sized clothing and western-ish style clothing. It was a failed attempt until I met up with Joanne and she was able to find just what I had been looking for. I was also with my friend, Kim, who is also a teacher on Jeju. She was spending her vacation time in Seoul as well. One evening all three of us gals met up with my friend, Jack, who is also from Seoul and I met while he was studying at Stout last year. We went to Outback Steak House. Surprisingly, these are all over Korea. We thought that we would get our western food in, since it is lacking a bit on Jeju. I ate a lot of Mexican food in Seoul..MMmm good:) 

I think I have a problem...!

There were a few things that I wanted to do while I was in Seoul. One of those things was to go to the Trick Art Museum. Joanne and I went there one evening and so I want to show you just a few of the pictures.

Joanne lost her head...literally.

 I had also told Joanne that I wanted to go to Lotte World. I knew it was a theme park, but I didn't realize that it was like the Disney World of Korea. Joanne doesn't like rides, so she asked one of her friends to take me to Lotte World. This place was packed! It was so busy. The lines for the rides were a good two hours long. So most of the time we were there we spent waiting in line. It was fun to get to know Joanne's friend and to be around tons of Korean families.

Tricky

Hehehe

Lotte World

Well, back to Jeju I went. Home sweet home. Wow. I didn't realize that this would be such a long post, but I guess a lot can happen on a 16 day trek around Korea! I have decided that on any given day in Korea, anything can happen:)

-Jenna

16 Days, 6 Cities: {part 1}

Korean Vacation

My Journey through South Korea

Setting out on an adventure that well, honestly I don't know if I was ready for. I wasn't very well prepared due to the craziness of work the week before and getting sick. Thus, leaving me without a plan of where to stay for three nights of the journey. I had most other things booked or planned but there were three days that I just didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do.  So I packed my giant backpack and headed to the airport. Then it began...

Gwang-ju

On the first leg of my trip, I flew from Jeju-do to Gwang-ju to visit my friend Grace and to meet her family.  They are really the first Korean family that I have met and spent time with. They were just the sweetest people and I loved playing card games with Grace and her cousins all Sunday afternoon after church. Grace had to do all of the translating between her parents and I, but I hope to work on my Korean so next time I will be able to at least have a small conversation with them without translating through Grace. The Jeong family took such good care of me and made me feel right at home. As they dropped me off at the bus station, Grace's mom gave me a bag full of snacks for my trip. Such a lovely family, and I hope to see them again this summer.

They were just too cute:)

While I was in Gwang-ju I stayed at a guest house, which was really just a room in the upstairs of a families home. The daughter of the family was having a sleepover with her friends and they were staying in the room across the hall. When they saw me I could just hear giggling and then they finally became brave enough to come out and say "Hello." Then they wanted to take lots of pictures with me and make sure I knew Gangnam Style. Thus, we broke out into a spontaneous dance party in true Gangnam style fashion. 

Busan

Next, I took a bus to Busan. I didn't have any plans to meet people in Busan, so this part of the trip I was a solo-traveler.  I arrived at 1 of 2 bus stations, the problem was that I didn't know which one. It took some time to try to find a sign that would tell me where I was in Busan. I had to figure that out first so that I could figure out how to get to my hostel by the subway. I eventually figured it out and found my way pretty easily. Now, if this would have been my first time taking a subway, I would have been freaking out. I was very thankful that I had already learned how to work a subway system and read the map in London a few years ago.

The elevators lit up going to my Hostel.

I stayed at a hostel in the Nampo area of Busan. What a nice place! This is the a huge shopping district and at night all of the streets were lit up with lights over the sidewalks, making you feel like you are in some kind of magical land. There are many different kinds of shopping in this area. You could go to the underground market and shop at a tiny locally-owned stores. You could also shop on the main street where there are many chain/brand name stores. Then there was the international market that sold everything from socks to a full, hot meal, right in the middle of the street. It was quite the sight. One of my favorite moments while exploring this area in Busan was walking from the underground market into the huge mall that was connected to it. If I would have come in from any other entrance I don't think I would have been as amazed, but coming in from the bottom floor and right in front of me was a huge water and light show playing.  I came in at the perfect time. There was k-pop playing with the water and lights dancing to the music. All of the families in the mall were gathered in the middle of the mall enjoying the show and the children were so adorable and dancing to the music. It was like I just walked into a huge party. Probably my favorite memory from Busan.

Water and light show!

My only full day in Busan was spent mostly outside. Most things to do in Korea, are outside. Which isn't a problem...during the summer months. It was really cold. I went to the Busan tower to get a good look at the view over the city.  Someone also suggested to me to go to the roof of the mall, because the view is really good from up there as well. They were right. On top of the mall there was a park, petting zoo, coffee shop and an observation deck. So, that was pretty neat.

Jenny and I at Les Miserables!!!

Daegu

Next stop, Daegu. I was pretty pumped to go to Daegu, not because of the city itself but because I was going to be staying with a friend from the states and we had tickets to go see the Korean production of Les Miserables! It was such an amazing show. Now it was all in Korean, but that didn't matter because the whole show is a musical and you know exactly what is going on because of what song is playing. The voices were beautiful and the acting was fantastic. But the most amazing part about it was the special effects! There was one part in the show where Jenny and I looked at each other and were like "Did that really just happen?!?!" We couldn't believe how amazing it was.  I think we both wanted to go the next night to, but it's too bad that the tickets are about $60 per show. Otherwise, we would have been there.

Sorry, I had to split the stories of this trip into a two part series because they are taking me awhile to write. I will try to post them next week! I just wanted to post at least part of it now!

-Jenna