Cousin Palooza-the long winded version...BEWARE

Blogger won't let me upload any more pictures to this post so you will have to check them out on Facebook. I am happy with the ones I have posted but they don't even begin to reveal the fun we had, the beautiful things we saw, or how truly wonderful our trip was!

It was so good to see Curt! We met up at about 8:30 Friday morning. We hung out at the airport and caught up...sitting outside on the roof in the sun, drinking coffee, and talking. It was perfect. The perfect way to start the weekend. Our flight was perfect...we were even seated in an exit row...although the flight was only an hour we were thankful for the extra leg room. I did think it was amusing that they allowed us to sit in an exit row because if there was an emergency we would not be able to communicate with about 98% of the people on the plane...

We got to Jeju got our luggage and caught a crabby taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was not in a good mood but we arrived safely and found our room. Interesting thing...our hotel had no fourth floor...There was not even a fourth floor button in the elevator...We couldn't figure it out...I mean just because you don't label it as 4 it is still the 4th floor off the ground right? After ditching out stuff we went next door for some internet and subs. We ate and tried to connect with the real world. After lunch we hailed a cab to the bus terminal so we could go up to Hallasan...the tallest mountain in Korea. This cab driver was much nicer and even took us on a scenic cherry blossom lined street. We got our bus tickets...Yipeee for Curt's Korean and made our way up the mountain.
This was our view...
We got to the trail head and they told us that it closes at 12 so people have adequate time to hike up and back down. We thought this was stupid...but who are we to make the rules. The lady spoke English though and directed us to a foothill that we could hike instead. We decided to do it and get some pictures of Hallasan from one of its foothills. When we got back to the parking lot we noticed that there were about 20-30 buses of middle school students. They started talking to Curt because they were fascinated with how tall he was and the girls thought he was handsome. It was pretty funny.

We caught a bus back down the mountain and then walked around the bus terminal area. We found some interesting street food we were both not brave enough to try and talked to some more students who were in town for a sports day. It was one busy place! We found some possible things to do in my guidebook so we hailed a cab and told him where we wanted to go. A little hint on traveling and using cabs....If you have to show your cab driver where your destination is on the map more than once...chances are you might get a little lost. Well we did reach our destination only to discover that the name changed and that was why the cab driver had no idea what we were talking about. We were going to see a kind of Korean Circ-de-olle. We missed the first 15 minutes of the show but we got a super good discount so we didn't care! We saw acrobats, a contortionist, aerialists, gymnasts, and trapeze flyers. It was amazing!
These Dolharubangs are all over the island! They are grandfather statues and they are everywhere! I had to get a picture with one! I have a great picture of Curt with two of them but this post is already too long and I haven't even really started yet...
We ate dinner, planned our Saturday, and went to bed. Saturday morning we had free breakfast at the hotel and made our way to the bus terminal again. Destination: other side of the island. We had a plan and it worked out beautifully. We saw everything we wanted to see and more.
This was our bonus sight...we didn't even know about this site...there weren't really any signs...no real evidence that it was there or that it was as spectacular as it was! The water was so clear, the rocks were so pretty and the views were so spectacular it was one of my favorite parts of the whole island. We were able to go to the edge of the cliffs, climb on the rocks, and explore the grounds. It was great!
This was our second waterfall of the day. This is the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean. It is about 75 feet high and it truly majestic. We spent a lot of time climbing around on the rocks, poking around in jip joint shops, and eating Halla-bongs the famous tangerine things on Jeju. They are delicious by the way.

There are little 'restaurants' set up every touristy spot. They are raw fish places where women just cut up sea cucumbers and other strange sea things wash them and serve them. Curt asked these ladies what they were eating and they in typical Korean fashion shared and made him eat some too. I was taking video but they soon noticed me and made me eat some too...It was not the best thing I have ever eaten. Curt didn't really like it either...he said "I ate it like a pill. I just swallowed it and then I tried to mask the flavor by eating it with the clove of garlic...it didn't help!" It was hysterical!
This was the third waterfall we saw. It was really nice. This waterfall falls into a pond where there are marbled eels and where the migrating ducks come. It was really peaceful here and we spent a long time sitting on some rocks enjoying the sounds and people watching. Curt enjoys the "couple uniforms" as much as I do. After this spot we needed to hop in a taxi and head further down the island...cue scary music and enter the cabbie of death.

The can driver tried to kill us...on multiple occasions. From where I was sitting I could see his odometer and at one point I saw it at 120kph (74mph). Please note that we were on a road that was probably 50 mph. tops and it wasn't that he was just going fast he was impatient, reckless, and most likely ADHD...He was crazy! It was an adventure.
We had to leave our mark on something. We wrote this on a sail at the cliffs sight. Curt is tall so he wrote it way up high!

This spot was gorgeous. These rocks have formed into these shapes by the elements! This place was crazy busy....a little too busy for my liking but it was so pretty that I ended up not minding all that much!

After the cliffs we made our way to another waterfall. We had a nice hike in this area and saw two waterfalls, a really neat bridge, and this temple-isc building.

We had gorgeous weather on Saturday as you can probably tell by our sunburned faces. We were blessed with so many good things on this trip! It was quite the palooza! After this we went to the beach. We soaked our feet in the cool water and picked up a myriad of shells and beach glass. It was a great spot to end our day on the other side of the island. We walked back to the road and caught a cab for a block and a half ride to the bus stop...ooops...While we were waiting for the bus another cab stopped and struck a deal with us to take us to the other side of the island for 10,000. We decided this was a great deal and we took the taxi instead of the bus. It was great! Curt even worked it out for the taxi to take us directly to our hotel for only 13,000. It couldn't have worked out better!

That night we went our for dinner, did some light shopping at an underground mall, and walked around. We decided that we had enough time on Sunday to catch a few more sights.

The weather on Sunday was overcast and rainy we went to this rock that is called Dragon Head and we did some walking around the area. We walked back to our hotel and as we were walking along the sea wall we saw the famous Jeju women divers in action. That was really cool! Then we got back to the hotel and made our way to the airport. We got on our plane...with only a small mishap on the runway with the guy in the stair car ramming into the door to the plane...The engineer had to come out and check to see if there was any damage...he cleared us for take off and we were headed back to Seoul.

We got back to Seoul, got our luggage, and waited for Kasoon to come and pick up Curt. We had a quick goodbye...which was good for me because I couldn't help but let the waterworks flow a little bit...it was just so good to see family. Then Curt was off for more Korean adventures and I started my long trek home. I got home and I crashed...after I unpacked and did laundry of course...do you know me at all? Today, so many people asked me about my trip and commented on my color...as mentioned before I got a little color on my face. All the teachers at work are jealous of my trip. I am so happy we went to Jeju but the very best part of the trip for me was spending time with family. I have been truly blessed to have such an amazing family! I can't wait for my parents to come and visit in July! I am so excited!

Sorry this is such a long one...this was truly a great adventure! Thanks for coming Curt! I had a great time! Bonnema cousins....start thinking of the next palooza...no it does not have to be in a foreign country...just together.

Holly