Korea trip, part three

After hanging out at the cabin for a night, we went back to Suwon for a night and then headed down to Jeju Island for several days. We've described Jeju as being Korea's Hawaii. It's an almost-tropical volcanic island and a popular destination for newlyweds. We did a LOT of awesome stuff in Jeju, so here is a quick highlight reel..

One of the first things we did was see Dragonhead Rock. It's the big one, that sticks up.

Yeah, I still don't see it - do you?

Turned out that the first hotel we stayed at was down the road from the Korean Space Weather Center! Happy Chris :)

This is what trouble looks like..

Ridiculously cute trouble

 We spent a rainy morning at this spa. They had two pools with naturally carbonated water. It made bubbles on your skin as you sat in it! So cool :D Had a lovely 'conversation' with a woman who must have been almost 80. I love communicating with people when you have no words in common.

This little restaurant, famous for its kimchi jjigae, will always be remembered as "The place where Tim almost ate a giant beetle." The poor shop owner, after she saw him freaking out (no vomit! so proud!) said, "Aww... Him?? Why did it have to happen to an American?!"

We encountered these little guys at the Green Tea museum. They were part of a display to demonstrate the process of picking and drying tea. I *really* wanted to take one home with me.

Jeongbang Waterfall, said to be the only waterfall in Asia that flows right into the ocean.

We did a lot of walking to look at the coastline..

A little bit of joy

Sunrise Peak

Just before heading back to the airport we went to see Manjang Cave, which was pretty ridiculously cool. It's actually a lava tube. You're allowed to walk 1km in.

'Turtle Rock' which they say is shaped like Jeju.

At the end of the tunnel, a spot where lava poured through a hole in the ceiling.

That's the quick version of our adventures in Jeju! Coming soon.. Seoul & a Buddhist Temple :)

A storm of win!!

Click on the links to see Part I and Part II!

Korea Trip, part two

Silly forest spirits!

The first non-Suwon place we visited was the Yongsin Forest. My super-awesome sis-in-law snagged us a cabin, which was impressive because the rentals are based on a lottery and some people wait years to be able to stay the night there. Yongsin is about a 45 minute drive outside Suwon and is a popular destination for relaxing and getting the kids out of the city and into nature. They have walking trails, a kids park and lovely cabins.

There was a stream right next to our cabin, so of course we had to explore. While we were playing outside Chris found a cicada carcass and we had some fun introducing Johann to it.

Playing in the stream

Cicada!

The day we went to Yongsin was also my nephew's 2nd birthday. You might note the frosting on his chin and the misplacement of the cake on the tray, and guess what happened before we got the candles lit :)

Happy birthday!

I was still quite jetlagged and woke up before everyone else, so Chris and I went for an early-morning hike. It was so green and lovely!

Lucky ducks! These were all over - kind-of want some for the backyard :) 

Really neat pattern on the ground. 

Pretty morning light at the end of the hike

Korean playgrounds have some fun and unique toys in them, often involving two people and some kind of leverage. Here is a link to me playing on another one, in 2006.

Flyin' around with my bro

2-person swing: full body workout.

Next up: Jeju Island!