Korea celebrates lunar (Chinese) New Year, so at the end of January, we got a 5 day weekend. (We’ll also get to celebrate Buddha’s birthday in May, so that’s pretty cool.)
We wanted to get out, but needed an “easier” trip, so decided to try to walk the “hardest” of the Olle trails. Most of the Olle trails are on Jeju, but a couple are on near-by islands. We’ve already done one on Udo and Gapado (with Jenn and Drew). This break we decided to do Chuja-do.
Chuja-do is a group of about 40 islands (4 inhabited) about a 45-minute ferry ride from Jeju. Only about 5,000 people live there – mostly as fisherpeople.
Ben and Patrick on the open deck of the ferry. It’s January!
We had a group of 6 teachers from KIS. We got off the ferry and were met by the trail manager, who owns a small guesthouse where we would stay the night. Dropped our bags, then hit the trail, looking good.
Patrick being photogenic at the top of one of the hills. Most of the hike was on paved/concrete trails, but occasionally we got to actually “hike” on rocks and dirt.
Our first day was gorgeous – sunny and warm. We could see all the islands from hill-tops, and the water was bright blue in the sun. So beautiful!
Looking over the harbor city – I love all bright orange rooftops.
These blue metal exercise machines are in lots of public parks. Nothing like breaking up our hike with some outdoor gazelle training.
Fun decorations on the bridge connecting the two biggest islands where we hiked.
Mid-afternoon break for a snack and some water views. We happened to pick a great bay location with resident flying fish. Super fun to watch!
Our guesthouse for the night. 6 cozy bunks with electric blankets that were basically our only heat in the room.
Day 2 was a bit cloudy/rainy all day, but still gave some lovely views.
Patrick hiking through a trail of tall golden grasses.
This little dude hung out at the bas of the mountain we climbed half-way through day 2 hiking. He was a protector of something I dont’ remember anymore… sorry!
We didn’t really expect to walk straight up a mountain, but we were proud of ourselves when we reached the top!
Reflections in the bottom of a well along the trail.
The trail had lots of ups and downs – pretty tiring for the second day, but we rocked through it. We finished much earlier than we expected and headed back to our hostel. It was a holiday, so most things were closed. When we asked our host where to find lunch, she said, “here!”.
LUNCH PICTURE
We spent our last couple hours staying out of the rain and cold by hanging in the ferry station. See our cutesy hiking feet.
While we sat, our host came in to drop some luggage for the ferry. She saw us and came over to “chat”. She didn’t speak English and we did our best to ask/understand that we were seeing pictures on her iPhone of her kids, grandkids and whole family!
We spent Wednesday and Thursday hiking, and took Saturday as a “date day”. This month’s Fitzjarrald Date envelope suggested dinner and a museum. Jeju has tons of weird museums, and we chose to see a new one – the Teddy Bear museum. We didn’t expect much…
The entry way had a few life-sized teddies for pictures. Happy bride and groom teddies!
Beth with the Charlie Chaplin bear.
Inside, there were a bunch of dioramas of historical events and famous places, like Disney world! These guys waved their arms to the “Electrical Light” parade song.
The Terra Cotta warriors in bear form.
A traditional Korean wedding, with bears.
One of the two most expensive teddies in history – housed in the museum. There was one dressed in Swarovski crystals, and this one had a full Louis Vuitton ensem. Both sold at auctions for more than $1 million!
some political buttons and other old fun things with a Teddy bear.
I’m missing a few pictures of our raw fish dinner on Chuja-do, but decided it’s been far too long since I posted. Thanks so much for all of you who have left comments! Great to hear from you, and more stories from our Service Learning trips and spring break very soon!