Tuesday, May 6, was Buddha’s birthday! Did you miss it? It’s not too late to send a card…
lanterns around a pagoda in the middle of a round-about
close-up of the paper lanterns. Colorful and so pretty!
For us, Buddha’s birthday meant a 5-day weekend. Woot! We celebrated by going Korean-style camping with some of our school staff friends. The tent (below) was big enough for all six of us. Each 2-some even had their own zipper-separated room inside the tent – with individual entrances! Woah. Luxury. 🙂
Patrick and John deciding who opens the first beer, or something equally important.
The campground was just off of Hyopjae Beach. We got there in time for a sunset walk on the beach.
It’s a very shallow sloping beach, so when the tide goes out, the beach is about 50 meters long, including this stretch of lava rocks which was left covered in bright green seaweed.
Flowers above the beach.
We did BBQ potluck – each person brought different meat or veggies suitable for grilling and we shared around. Jin was grill master.
Post-dinner campfire. We were short on firewood, so got a little creative… (note: we burned through that whole log before bed!)
Campfire highlight: real American marshmallows (thanks Mom and Dad!) and chocolate-covered shortbread cookies for super tasty s’mores.
We recently learned that Korea passed no-smoking laws for restaurants and public places in JULY 2013. Just before we moved here. Perfect timing.
Darn – I forgot my parasol (I guess “tents” doesn’t translate well?)
After a night under the stars, surrounded by dozens of our closest Korean camping friends, Patrick and I got up early to tackle Olle Trail 14. We were sleeping right on the trail, so it was an easy start.
Beautiful flowers on our hike. Look at the bottoms – those are CABBAGE flowers!
Jeju is overrun by pheasants. This one had great timing back when this cement was poured.
Some photogenic, geometrically pleasing farm fields.
Jeju is mostly agricultural, so it’s fun to focus on the fields and crops. I guess it’s harvest season for garlic. Here’s some drying on the road.
Ever wonder where your aloe-vera products come from? The aloe farm!
The west coast of the island is known for cactus production. Yes, production. They even have a mascot on the road.
One of several cactus fields we passed. They harvest the fruits for candies, tea, jams, etc.
A few fruits left behind
A type of cactus I’d never seen before. Looks like big paddles.
Rest stop? Funky old couch next to a farmer’s field and the road.
Some high-brow English graffiti.
Jeju is also famous for its women divers. Free diving in the cold water for shellfish. Most are very old these days, as young women opt out of the grueling profession.
Packing up the day’s catch and heading home.
After hiking, we had some folks over for a game night. Let it be known, it IS possible to beat Pandemic!
On Tuesday, we took on part of another Olle (11, if you’re counting). We passed through some of the oldest forest on the island, where farm walls are well overgrown.
An incredible view from the trail. The far-away mound in Mt. Halla (tallest mnt in South Korea), and the closer one is Sanbangsan.
More trail flowers. Delicate, pale purple, and growing straight out of daikon radishes!
More trail flowers.
I didn’t take too many photos on the forest part of the hike because we were so focused on avoiding caterpillars. Yes, they have something like army worm infestations here and we hiked right through it. Silky strands in our faces, worms literally raining from the trees onto our heads and packs. We walked holding a big branch ahead of us to clear the path. Ew. And yet still beautiful. Would recommend that particular trail for summer or fall next time.
On Tuesday night, a few friends went to a near-by beach for a campfire Buddha’s birthday party. S’mores, drinks, songs.
You couldn’t see it well enough for a photo, but a temple on the hill above us was decked out with hundred of colorful paper lanterns all lit up for the holiday. It was beautiful.
We finished the night with some hand-held fireworks. Aim toward the ocean and enjoy! Not sure their peaceful-Buddha-approved, but fun!
That was our last break of the year. Now it’s five more weeks of classes before we head out for the summer.
In case you haven’t heard yet, we are planning to start our summer with two weeks exploring Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands (photos/stories to come!), and then be in Colorado for most of July. Looking forward to seeing as many state-side friends as we can!