Seoul

During my summer vacation I also had time to go see Seoul again. This time I got to check out more tourist stuff and wander out to some interesting night spots.

Here I am at Gyeongbokgung Fortress, the largest and most important fortress of the Joseon Dynasty. Read more about the history of the Fortress here.

The fortress has some really nice ancient looking structures and temples to see. At one time the royal family lived on these grounds.

I enjoyed some tea in a traditional tea shop.

Here is the famous "63 building".

Here is the photo gallery! <----------------------------Click that way!

Korea from space

A little busy these days, but all is well. Chusok, Korean thanksgiving, is this week. That means this country is gridlocked with traffic. But, I get a few days off, so it should give me some time to relax and put some more pictures up here soon.

Until then, here is something cool. Google Map let's you see some pretty good detailed maps of Korea. Here is a view of Busan, Korea from space. You can zoom in and out to look around the city.
Here is a shot of my apartment. To find it, start at the bottom leftcorner of the huge square parking lot. Go left one block. Go down, there is a row of 6 buildings on the left side of the street. Mine is the 3rd from the top, a little bit lighter color then the other ones.
Here is my school. It's the building with the green and orange roof. If you zoom out you can really see how far out of the city my school is. But, it only takes a about 20 minutes to get there by bus since I live on the edge of town.
Here is all of Korea. At the bottom you can see an island. That's Jeju-do where I went on vacation a few weeks ago. You can really tell it's a volcano when you see it from space.

Anyway, please post here to show me your locations as seen from space.

Boryeong Mud Festival Part 2

And now for the amazing conclusion! Click here to look at the pictures of the Boryeong Mud Festival part 2.

Many people asked me what a mud festival is all about. Well here is the offical word on the subject from the organizers. Much too boring for me to recite. All I can say is that it's about mud. Their webpage also has a bunch more pictures of people full of mud if you are interested.

Also, check out my previous instalment if you dare.
Boryeong Mud Festival Part 1

Jeju Island

Jeju island is a popular tourist spot here in Korea. The weather here is subtropical, and the island is often referred to as Korea's Hawaii. The island boasts numerous beaches, resorts, waterfalls, and is made up of an inactive volcano. Jeju is a great place to relax as the mood here is more laid back than the main land Busan city, where I call home these days. Lucky for me my ex-neighbor from Busan had moved to Jeju and offered me a place to crash for my 5 days visit. Thanks Zach!

Stop 1:Manjanggul Lava Tube

Inside the tunnel the temperature was a chilling 11℃, creating a comfortable and cool atmosphere. It kind of reminded me of Canada. In the cave You can see some stone pillars and the topographical features are pretty cool. The cave is said to have formed 200,000 to 300,000 years ago by flowing lava from the eruption of a nearby volcano. About 1km of the tunnel is open to the public.

Stop 2: Gimnyeong Hedge Maze
I read somewhere in my Lonelly Plant guide that this maze was started by an American living here. Thanks buddy!


It took me about 35 minutes and I think I took every wrong turn.

Stop 3: Hamdeok Beach

The water here was seriously crystal clear. I didn't know Korea had blue water beaches like this. Even at neck deep you could look down and clearly see your feet. You could also see some small fish swimming around in the water around you. Definitely the most beautiful beach I have ever been too. I waited too long to take the pictures though, so everything looks a bit dark since it was night fall.

Stop 4: Camping at Hyatt Beach

Before heading out to the beach we stopped to buy some food and supplies for the night. That's when we saw these means looking hogs. For about 7,000wan you could rent it for an hour. And I did!

*

After the scooters we decided to go set up on the beach. Hyatt beach is a little secluded place off the beaten path. I'm not sure of the real name if the beach, or if it even has a name. It got that nickname from being near a Hyatt hotel. The entire place is hidden from view by large cliffs. Since Jeju is filled with much larger and accessible beaches, we were certain to have the whole place to ourselves.

We camped out on the sand. At night we made a fire using bamboo we found around the beach.

The tides were extremely harsh here. So we only went for a quick swim. We then washed up at the nearby waterfall.


Stop 5: Boat ride to Tiger Island
The islets off the coast of Seogwipo have some interesting caves I wanted to see. So, we bought our tickets and waited for the ride. During our wait, we ran over to the nearby waterfall park. On the way there we passed some nice palm trees and squid fishing boats.


The giant light bulbs you can see attached to the boats are to attract squid. At night you can see these boats covering the water with light.

Here is the waterfall. I believe it's named Cheonjiyeon. After seeing this we realized that we were late and literally ran back to the tour boat which was about to leave without us.

Then we were off to Tiger Island.



The caves were great, but the best part of the ride was the comedic tour guide on the loud speaker. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying myself, a friend translated his joke to me. He was saying something about some rich guy owning the island and if the ladies were lucky they could marry him and get his money and the island...

Stop 6: The Erotic Museum

By the 5th day we were running out of stuff to do. After checking out map we saw the Hilariously named "World Sex Culture Museum" and knew we couldn't miss it. I highly recommend this place our your next trip to Jeju-do. Sexy!


Stop 7: Dinner at Zach's

After Zach was kind enough to let us crash in his home, it was only right to cook the guy a delicious meal he wouldn't soon forget.

Zach before eating:

After eating:

I'm not sure it was good but at least he looks full.

Last stop: Seongsan Ilchulbong (aka Sunrise Peak)

We knew we didn't have the right footwear, plus it was raining, but we didn't want to miss seeing inside a volcano. So, we hiked up this extinct volcano bear footed.

Here is a view from the creater at the top

This is from the top of the volcano looking down the side.


After a great trip to Jeju island, we packed up our things and took the 11 hour ferry back to the mainland. Bye Jeju-do! And thanks again Zach.


Check out the entire photo album for this trip.-->CLICK
Here are some more pictures Zach gave me.--->Here too

*-pictures by zach

80s party

Here is am as Rick Moranis.


This guy wore a hilarious jumpsuit.

Everyone had hilarious custumes. Good times.

Summer Vacation

The rainy season is over so it's getting really hot around here. A good way to cool off is by visiting one of the many famous beaches. I visited Haeundea beach which is massively overcrowded around this time of year. But, who can complain when you can meet beach babes.
Another way to cool off is by visiting the beer tents. Here is my bartender for the day.

People like to wear their regular clothes at the beach instead of swimsuits. Go figure.

I think there must be some Star Wars show going on somewhere in the city because I bumped into a team of storm troopers doing rounds on the beach giving away stickers.

Then, I got killed by Darth Vader.


Check out some more pictures