Shinsung Resort Seogwipo

... top, the real climbing began, and so did the weather. It was very misty and windy, enough to push me around a bit.
The last 1/4 mile is all steps made of railroad ties and we couldn't
see anything but wet mist blowing by. I was wearing shorts and had on
a plastic poncho that was whipping my legs. At the top we couldn't
even see the crater. We stopped for just a few minutes, took pictures, sat in the lee of the only shelter built at the ...

After sleeping most of the day Friday, which in retrospect was a terrible idea, since it would take me until Monday to get on the right sleeping schedule, Heather and I flew down to Jejudo Island off the south coast of Korea for a little mini vacation. Upon arrival we hopped a bus from the airport to the bus terminal, and then a bus to Sunrise Peak on the eastern most part of the island. We hiked to the top as a test run for hiking the volcano tomorrow ...

... headed to Jungmun beach. We took cabs and it cost about 12,000 WON. Once at the beach I was pleasantly surprised to see the waves were cracking. The ladies, John, and Konstantine relaxed on the beach. Matty and Adam had rented scooters and would be joining us later in the week. I found out where the rentals were and was robbed at 40,000 WON for 2 hrs. I tried to get him down to 30,000 WON but he wouldn't budge. In the end we agreed on 3hrs for 40,000 WON. "He who has the gold makes ...

... an adventure with out anxiety. I was worried that I would miss my flight. Like someone with OCD I checked my subway map after each stop, glanced at my watch, and hoped for the best. No worries though as I had 20 minutes to spare at the airport. The flight was smooth and only an hour. I read the Korean Times (in English) and learnt of the plight of teachers here fighting the strict visa screenng process, specifically HIV and drug testing. There was an article detailing ...

... one was pretty but I LOST MY LENS CAP, which I wasn't too enthused about, and the Last one was great but too far away to take a great picture.

Then we went to an American place called Gecko's which Preston needed because most of this island is seafood and Preston and Seafood equal testy Preston. So after that we went to the Yomeji Botanical Garden which had a zone for everything from Jungle to the Desert. We took some footage ...

... set. I was sweating like a pig. How refreshing it was to be in the sea! Then I had to cycle back... EFFORT. Made a quick stop in E-Mart (bloody huge!!) before heading back to the hostel. A good day's work I'd say. Full-day 2, spent climbing Halla-san, or Mt. Halla to us. The highest peak in Korea at 1950m above sea level. Arrived at the start of the trail at about 10am and set off on my own up the trail. Very nice ...

... here than me, so they just take the lead.

Something random happens here everyday. Pauliina's been blown away by it, but I guess I'm used to it now. :) Number one thing to know if you come to Korea: Expect nothing, and be ready for anything. Something as simple as grocery shopping can turn into an adventure, or someone will be crazy to you, or you'll see kids riding on saline holders down the street, like they were scooters (in front of a hospital, but ...

... als wuerde man da eine discount kriegen, ist aber so. Damit kann ich dann so viel Zug fahren ( in die 14 Tage )wie ich will. Ich habe schon ausgerechnet dass ich um die 2000km mit die Karte fahren werde, was echt ne Strecke ist ( nicht auf einmal natuerlich, erstmal von Fukuoka nach Kagoshima, dann von Kagoshima nach Nikko ) Ich bin auch echt auf Weihnachten in Japan gespannt - es kann nur sehr anders sein :-)

... places are not for you or I, but rather a local brand of tourist who have their own reasons for hanging out in such a place. The more I see, the less I seem to understand about this country. It's the awkwardness of it all that actually makes it interesting, so don't get your hopes up about finding that unexploited treasure that you can write home about. Instead I've decided to write about this nonsense in the hopes that someone will re-direct me to the side of the peninsula that isn't crazy!

... to buy her family a heap of dried fish and sea-weed. It was such a great afternoon. We also purchased a heap of seafood for our last dinner on beautiful Cheju-Do. After a beautiful evening feasting on fresh seafood we all took a walk around the streets and then headed back to the hotel for an early evening. Beers N Cheers toya....shane Accommodation: Motel in Jeju City ...