Pacific Jeju City

... The rain took our minds off of the torture of climbing down a volcanic rock mountain. We finally made it to the bottom and caught a bus to Jeju city where we stayed for the night. The Mr. Pizza we had for dinner was the best I might have ever had. Early in the morning we had to get back to the airport to fly back to Seoul and then the subway back to Hanam-si, where I had to promply turn around and go to work while I'm pretty sure Justin took a nap.

... only by their obligatory handbag-toating boyfriend and sheer will power! For the duraton of the visit I was waiting for at least one of them to fall over and snap their cocktailstick-like ankles, but no, it seems that they can and will scale mountains in ridiculous heels! :-)

Secondly, the whole peormance of what is a tourist attraction also made me laugh - the lava caves in their own right are an amazing spectical, they are the largest in the world bar ...

L'ile volacnique de Jeju est le paradis touristique des coreens ! Chacun y trouvera au moins un musee et/ou un parc d'attraction a son gout, ce qui d'ailleurs defigure l'ile (a-t-on vraiment besoin d'un musee sur les dinosaures, un chateau de verre, un musee du citron, de l'erotisme ou encore du cinema...).
De notre cote, nous avons bien apprecie la randonnee au sommet de l'ancien volcan Hallasan (1950m, le plus haut de la Coree). 360 autres petits crateres, appeles Oreums ...

... were several rooms to choose from but the temperature could vary from room temperature to sitting in Arizona in August. After a sauna you may sit out in the sleeping room or watch TV or hang out in the lounge area to chat. It can be an all day activity if one chooses to do so. We also climbed a smaller mountain called Sunrise Peak. It is a little mountain that faces east and hosts ...

... Oh fyl peanut butter and deodorant are expensive as he-a couple hokey sticks. -So upon my arrival, while driving into Seogwipo, I heard a truck or car driving around with a loud speaker repeating a short message. I assumed it was political, something like 'vote for billy', but after hearing it twice more I finally caught a view at the truck and they were selling water melons. -These slick ass Koreans don't know when to stop impressing you ...

... s a cave which contains a simple stone Buddha. A single monk was sat in the cave chanting, quite a peaceful and calming place except for a few loud tourists who came up the path after me. I had few minutes of solitude before they arrived. I descended down to the Yongmeori coast at the foot of the volcano. The beautiful coastline is famous for it's strangely eroded volcanic rock. Due to wind and sea erosion the cliffs look like big layered waves curving around ...

... chain called Lotteria. I'd seen the chain tons of times, but my McDonald's aversion had always turned me away. To me, it's better than American burger places, despite strange entrees like the shrimp and bulgogi burgers. With a satisfied stomach, we ventured to the Jeju World Cup Stadium, home to the traditional Korean doll museum. Also, Helen's pick and better than I expected. Inside were paper mache depictions of traditional Korean way of living. My ...

... and asked a group of local high shool boys, because young people or students speak better English in general. Unfortuanately they didn't know the waterfall, but it didn't take us long time to get there. Jeongbang waterfall is famous as an only one waterfall falling into the sea in Asia. After we ate noodles for lunch, we walked down the cliff to see the waterfall. We took a few pictures at the popular photo spot and then went back. There was a tourist information office ...

Hey there! Day three on Jeju-do and this time we made it to Yeomiji Botanical Gardens thanks to the help of the tourist information booth. It took three buses in sweltering heat, but it was worth it! The central part of the gardens is a large building with 5 themed indoor gardens: the Cactus & Succulent Garden; Tropical Fruits Garden; Flower Garden; Water Lily Garden; and the Jungle Garden. In the middle of this building in as ...

... inland to hazy Hallasan in the middle of Jeju-do. Without question though, the best panorama was at the summit, which allowed a 360° perspective over the scenery. We certainly weren't the only ones up there, but I can easily imagine it was nothing compared to the crush the place probably sees in mid-summer. Dinner was a fairly informal affair, as we just pulled a cheapo tactic of scrounging at the nearby convenience store. At least it offered a different (and therefore ...