Mokpo and the Ferry to Jeju island

We took the train down from Seoul to Mokpo. It took us 4 hours to make the trip. When we arrived we found our hotel with ease and we headed out to explore. We found the down town area but we couldn't find food so I stopped two women and asked them where the food street was. They didn't understand what I was asking for so I thought of the only food name they might know, chickenuh. Their eyes lit up and they grabbed us and we walked and walked and walked and finally ended up at a run down chicken restaurant that doubled as a house. The fried chicken there was amazing! Mom and Don really loved it. Afterward, we found our way back to where we met the ladies and stopped for some waffle ice cream for dessert.

The next morning we woke up really early to catch our ferry to Jeju island. We were all excited but it was very different than we expected it to be.

 Waiting to jump on the ferry

Selfie as we walked up the ramp to enter the ferry.

The staff helped us find our room and we were surprised to find that it was just an open room, no seats or furniture or anything. You had to take your shoes off before you went in to clam your personal floor area. We chose to sit by the window.

 Shoes in the hallway.

We shared our room with these guys and two families. 

When we entered our room a couple with twins had already claimed the other corner next to the windows. As soon as we sat down this happened. 

He crawled up to me and was my buddy for the next 5 hours while we were on the boat. Sorry for the cuteness overload.

 They loved our electronics!

After a while, we made another friend. Her family sat on the other side of us and her Mother spoke English pretty well. The little girl just watched us for a few hours, not sure what to make of us, and then the above happened..... the itsy bitsy spider.

Once the little girl in the pink dress started talking to us there was no going back. She wasn't speaking any English but would just go on and on and on. It was super cute but we wish we could have understood her. Her mother started to tell us what she was saying and most of the time she was asking what is this? What is that? She even came up to me and sat in my lap, looked and pointed at my breast and asked, What is that? We all laughed really hard.

At one point I wanted to go walk around the ship because I needed air and the boat had more than just sitting rooms. It had a game room, restaurant, convenience store, bakery, souvenir shops, karaoke room, and more. We were also able to walk around the outside deck. Anyways, as I got up to leave, the baby boy crawled after me and started to climb up my leg. I picked him up and asked his mom if it was okay to take him with me and she gave me permission. The little girl in the pink dress (not his sister) ran up to me and got angry because I was trying to take him with me. After some argument she ran over to her dad and I took my chance to escape. Next thing I know she came running down the hall with her father. She grabbed my hand and took me around the whole boat talking to me the whole time. Her father just laughed and followed us. At one point he tried to grab her and and she yelled "No" and turned her head towards me and smiled. I felt very special! It was a great boat ride. We were sad to part when we reached the island.

We made it to Jeju!!!

On the Ferry ride back to Mokpo we took some pictures on the deck and stayed there most of the time because our room mates weren't as cute. We were in a room with a bunch of drunk men who wanted us to gamble as we played Rummy. There was also a nice young University student who loved chatting with Don ;)

 The ferry was a great and cheap experience! We would definitely do it again!

Seoul has Soul

It took us three hours to get to Seoul from Andong. We thought we knew where our hotel was but it turned out a lot hard to find, guess it didn't want us to know it's Bizness. We stayed right next to Insadong which is a fantastic place for souvenir shopping and eating. 

Eating in Korea is tricky because sometimes you don't know what you are putting in your mouth. Nick knew what he was getting into and you might not believe me when I say this but the picture is my witness. He asked for that green leaf in his hand...................

 and then he ate it! Miracles happen, you all just witnessed one!

Tasty cream and chocolate filled Churros

 More food!!! We love our food. YUM!!!!

You should remember this amazing Oreo bingsu from a previous post. Mom and Don enjoyed it immensely....

Well maybe a little too much, "I can't feel my eye" (Don) HAHAHAHA We laughed for days just repeating that line! We couldn't count how many times he stopped eating because of a brain freeze, guess he enjoyed it.

 The famous mirror picture!

 We walked a lot in Seoul and it was worth it to see these places.

The two pictures sandwiching this description are of the old and new Seoul City halls. The old city hall is the cube building and was built by the Japanese during the occupation previous to World War 2. The new one is the Glass building that looks like a Tsunami wave.  I wonder what the architect is trying to tell us.  Maybe you can leave your theories in the comments.

Of course we had to take them to the Temple, our favorite place in Seoul.

We found an awesome bench in the subway. If you can't read the English print it says, "You are not alone." but I would think if you have friends that look like that, loneliness isn't your biggest problem.

We walked by an old Palace.

 Don stopped to admire the bumps for the blind people.

 He also stopped to check out this Golf place!

 Before we knew it we were on the train headed to Mokpo.  Nothing like the Korean KTX to get you there in style.

DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone)

We were picked up from our motel at 7:50 am and dropped off at our tour bus. We chose to go with the COSMO tour group because we had heard good things about them. Our tour guide was hilarious and he seemed to know all the answers to every question. 

Our first stop (35 minutes) was the third infiltration tunnel. North Korea dug tunnels through the DMZ in the 1960's and 70's with the intent to invade South Korea. Only four tunnels have been found and they believe there is more undiscovered.

The hike down to the tunnel wasn't so bad but we dreaded the climb up. They wouldn't allow pictures here but there wasn't much to capture. We put on yellow hard hats and headed down the hill. When we reached the bottom we walked into the tunnel. My mom and I were the perfect height so we didn't hit the top at any point. Don however walked down the tunnel in a squatting position and still hit the top a several times. Right behind us was a boys Volleyball team with all of the members over 6" ... laugh laugh!

Making the climb up was the hardest part but we made it!! We were all sore the next day!

Second stop (20 minutes) we went to the observatory. The picture below is of North Korea!

Third stop (20 minutes) we went to a  special train station. This is the last stop before you get to North Korea. The train doesn't run pass this point.  It was built in the early '00s with the intention of allowing some trade and travel by train to occur between the two Koreas but it has only seen four freight trains pass by as the North closed their boarders to the trains a year after the railway's completion blaming the south of doing something unsavory.

 Going to North Korea!! LOL

I forgot that we had one last stop. We thought it was a Ginseng factory and we were going to learn how things were done but in reality is was a living infomercial for Korean Ginseng. They put all of us in a small room with a bunch of sales men and then explained to us what the product was that they were selling. As soon as they finished we walked out and went back to the bus disgusted at their misuse of our time. We were there for a total of 45 minutes. Longer than we spent at the any other stop. Our displeasure with this last stop will be reflected in our review for the tour company.

On the plus side they dropped us off in Itaewon, Non-Asian-Foreigner central, for lunch. Where we enjoyed some fantastic hamburgers, although these also turned out to be too spicy for Mom's liking.  Oh Korea, what are we going to do with you?  The day turned out to be really fun and eye-opening, although I feel like we missed something out of our trip there.  The DMZ just seemed like it wasn't as big of a deal as it really is.  We only did the half day tour; the longer tour takes you to the actual boarder of North Korea and lets you cross the line.  If we were to do it over again we would have gone with that tour and skipped the ginseng place.  Oh well, we'll keep that in mind for future reference. 

Andong and All its Rainy Glory

And now we begin the Korean exploration part of our vacation!

We started our adventure by taking the bus to Daegu and then grabbing the very next bus to Andong. between the two busses I had some time to show Mom and Don around a semi outdoor Korean market and we can say it didn't disappoint for Korean-ness.

The bus

beans and grains

Bull frogs being sold at the market.

We made it to Andong and waited a while for a bus to the Hahoe Village in the pouring rain.  Monsoon season this year has been a doosie, nothing like last year. When  the bus got to us it was filled to the brim with people.  The bus driver did the obligatory stop but when he opened the doors he just looked at us and gestured "no." Luckily an enterprising Korean Girl decided to help us out by getting a taxi for us instead of waiting over an hour for the next bus. Thank heavens for Korean Hospitality.

We ended up beating the bus to the entrance to the village because our taxi driver was so awesome! The bus dropped us off at a ticketing center where we then caught another shuttle to the actual village. We then hoofed it to our lodging in the rain but right as we got there it started to downpour. We thought it'd be a good idea to just hang out in our room and watch the rain until it faded and then go look for dinner rather than get soaked; but the rain just came in waves, it would lighten up just to begin drenching everything again. We finally decided to head out and explore despite the precipitation but that proved to be a saturating endeavor as the rain came down so hard the water soaked through our umbrellas. Rain was coming down, up and sideways. There was so much water you could get washed away in the rivers flowing down the streets.

Despite all this our little room was so perfect.  I could imagine some old men just sitting there watching the rain come down while they talked about frivolous things.  It was fun for just the one night to sleep on the floor and live in a Folk Village despite the fact we had some nice modern amenities to make the time spent more pleasant.

Even with all the rain people were having a good time and we were able to get some good pictures.

 The church in the Village.

We didn't get many pictures before we turned around because the rain was ridiculous and we were soaked. After it slowed down later in the evening Nick and I went out in search of food but apparently the shop owners figured no one would be crazy enough to venture out in the deluge so they closed up shop and we ended up just walking around the village.

The river was high but people still took the small ferry across to climb the cliff. We saw people up there taking pictures right after the hard rain.

 A beautiful tree in the area.

Beautiful picture!

Our place was perfect. It has been owned by three previous generations of one family and is currently owned by a fourth generation son. He lives there with his mother, his wife, and his four month old baby. They brought by some fresh homemade kimchi and it was the best kimchi I have ever had! After dinner they brought the baby by for us to oogle over. She was beautiful.

 Saying our goodbyes :(

 The Mask Museum

Nick looking like he belongs in a mask.

We had a great time in the village even though it was raining like crazy. I wish we had more time to look around and explore more but we had to get to Seoul to begin phase three of our adventures!!!