Road Trip Part 3 (last one)

Part 3 is going to be a long one, just to warn you. After Yeosu, we took the ferry to Jeju island and we stayed there the longest and I think it was the highlight of the trip. We got there New Years Eve and explore a folk village before we prepared for the new year. Those are kimchi pots in the first picture. In the other two I'm displaying how the bathrooms once were and how they use to cook. haha.

That night we went out for a dinner, wasted some time at a hotel bar and then dared the freezing cold to celebrate at the outdoor festival. They had fireworks , a big bon fire, and music. It was really fun. I use to hate new Years, but the last couple years have made me change my mind!

Over the course of the night, the weather turned frigid and it snowed. By the time we were on our way home, the roads were slippery and our car skidded off the road. Nothing was hurt and the other car of people came to our rescue pretty quickly. That doesn't happen in Florida!

After sleeping just a couple hours we all woke up for a sunrise hike (a popular thing to do in Korea to celebrate a new year.) We ate and then did yet another hike to the top of an old volcano island, Udo-myeon.

The cold only got worse the following day. We picked the coldest of cold days to do our ultimate 7.5 hour hike on Hala mountain. I can't even tell you how cold it was. If you look closely you can see ice in my hair and ice sickles hanging horizontally off the pole. 7 of us started the hike; 4 made it to the top. I want to do this hike again... in the summer!

Our last day, you wouldn't believe how beautiful the weather was. It was sunny, all the snow had melted and it was like 20 degrees warmer. So, we of course set off on another hike. We opted for a much easier one that was more like a walk since we were all a bit sore and tired. We walked along the southern coast line and WOW, was it amazing. I've already decided I will be back when the weather warms up.

Before leaving Jeju, we stopped by one more temple that I honestly can't remember the name of and then jumped on the ferry. On our trip over we had nice reclining seats, but the ferry back was jammed packed and all we got was a mat on the floor for the 4 hour ride. It went by pretty quickly as we played match after match of a Korean card game called Hwa-too.

After making it back to the main land, we had one more day before having to head back to Seoul. We stayed at Naganeupseong Folk Village. They let people rent out huts for the night, and then you can explore the traditional village during the day. The first picture is the hut we stayed in. That old women was in charge of our hut and was super nice. She kept trying to talk to us and she washed all our dishes. Then during the day we basically played. We had a 6 hour long drive home later in the day so we went wild before the coup up.

We made it home Sunday night and then I started English camp Monday morning. You think I'd be exhausted, but this trip actually really energized me. I'd been feeling a little down, just tired of work and not understanding things around me and feeling a little lonly. This trip really just let me have fun, laugh, meet new people, and be myself. I think it just woke me up and reminded me to enjoy the things around me again and stop taking things so seriously. Fun times!