Well half way through

What's been happening since the vacation that could have been a bit better? Well the weather has not been kind to us on the Asian continent this summer. After having two Typhoons strike during our time in Taiwan two or three (depending on your definition of typhoon versus tropical storm) hit Korean soil.

The first one was an awesome show of what mother nature can do when she is pissed off. Wind gusts of over 200 km were reported. There was a fair bit of damage in my area and the river was at an extremely high level.
The other two were far less dramatic than Bolaven but a pain in the ass nonetheless. In between the typhoons was insanely hot, humid and awful summer weather. Today I woke up got out of bed and was a bit chilly...It was the best feeling!

       


So Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving and as such is a public holiday. The way it fell meant that we were given six days off... Glorious!!!
There is an amazing guy here who does trips throughout Korea and designed one for the break to Ulleungdo and Dokdo Islands. Most Koreans will never check there places out so we were pretty lucky. We tried going camping on Ulleungdo before but given our sub-par Korean it proved too difficult.

So out trip started on Friday at 11:30pm and we headed north-east towards the ferry terminal in Muko through the night by bus.While I am all for safety stopping every 45 minutes was driving me insane... just when I started dozing off we would stop again but I guess the driver falling asleep would be a pretty bad way to start the trip.
We arrived at a lookout point and watched the sunrise, which was definitely worth it!!!

After breakfast we boarded our bus again and made the short final trip to the ferry terminal. Our final journey involved a three hour ferry ride... I can't tell you much about the journey but I can tell you that the back of my eyelids were beautiful for practically the entire journey.
When we landed on the island I was feeling refreshed, add in an energy drink and I was good to go.
So the first thing to do is pile into out minibus. The bus was filled to overflow with the twenty something of us plus all of our gear. All of a sudden a few random Korean jumped on automatically making this an entertaining ride...luckily it was a short trip to the place we were staying.
We stayed at a Korean hostel, which basically meant it was a room without a bed just a pile of blankets that we were supposed to make a bed out of. We were only staying for a couple of days so it will be fine. (Fast forward a couple of days this idea changed).

The first stop after checking into out hostel was the Bongnae Waterfall. Our guide told us that many claim it to be the best waterfall in Korea. With raised expectations we hiked up to the waterfall, which is the islands drinking source.

                             

It was a nice waterfall don't get me wrong but I there are many more waterfall far more dramatic.
Next stop was Hyangmok Observatory. On a clear day Dokdo can be seen from the top but today was not the day. Such an amazing view...nothing I expected to see when we decided to take the trip.

The roads on the island are windy and steep...no way in hell I'd like to be driving a minibus around but our driver must have had a buttload of experience as he was throwing the bus around the corners as though he was a rally driver.
We stopped for a traditional bibimbap and makoli than back into the bus to head back. If we thought that the last bit was a bit scary... add night time to the mix... that journey seemed to last for ever!!

We made it back safe and sound. Called it an early night as we had a 530am start.
Up at crazy o'clock we grabbed a great breakfast of bacan, eggs and fruit then headed back to the ferry terminal to head to Dokdo.
If you don't know about Dokdo it's the island that both Korea and Japan claim as there own. The island itself is nothing special' basically just a bunch of rocks. The main reason they are fighting over it is the fishing rights and natural gas that is under it. From a foreigners perspective it seems the fighting is more about nationalistic pride.
Anyway the island is a 2.5 hour hour ferry ride. We were told that it was our lucky day as the water was calm enough for us to dock and step on the island. The best part of the trip was our Korean guy got incredibly excited as he not only got to see the island but also got to walk around on it. Few Koreans will ever see it and even fewer will step foot on it.  I was happy to be part of him being able to cross Dokdo off of his bucket list.

 

The excitement of the Korean s from not only seeing but also walking around Dokdo was extremely obvious when we encountered the first slightly larger wave. Hands went up, yelling and cheering much like that of roller coaster riders...this did not last very long as people quickly realized that the trip back was going to be a long journey back.
There was a mad dash for the bathrooms and sickbags... most people were feeling rough... if not for motion sickness then the smell and sounds got people going. Thankfully I have a pretty rock solid stomach so I was fine.

Back on the mainland it was lunchtime of mussel bibimbap... given my disdain of seafood and shellfish I bailed on that one.
After lunch we were given two options...A four hour hike up a steep mountain or a coastal walk.. Well that was an easy choice for me. So the mountain can partake in the leaving of my general direction in this situation...I love water!!
It was flippen amazing!! The water was crystal clear, and the path winding it's way around the cliffs. This was by far the most amazing place I've been to in Korea.
I said it many times that day and still wonder if it really was Korea.

That night we hit one of the bars on the harbour for some beers. Others ordered seafood and from all accounts it was amazing...I struggled to believe them but will have to take their word for it.
We decided to hit the town and grab more beers... alas it was a holiday so nothing was open... road drinking it was.

The next day we headed back. It was a long trip back. Three hour ferry ride, and seven hour bus ride due to holiday traffic... it sure did suck ass.

I was reluctant at first but glad Lush really wanted to go so I went... Definite highlight of Korea.

So thats about all I can report... Hope all is well and be good.

Failcation!!!

Well the best thing about a public school gig in Korea is the vacation. I was given eight days off so Lush and I headed off to Taiwan for the vacation.
Things started off brilliantly with a surprise upgrading. Living it up in business class we though this was a sign of things to come and our vacation was going to be awesome!!!

So the first day of vacation was filled with travel. Bus to Incheon, flight to Taipei, fast train to Kaohsiung, and finally bus to Kenting... It was a busy day but it was worth it to be near the beaches.
We got off the bus and had no idea where our hostel was. We walked around completely lost so headed into the police station to get directions. After being told how to get there the cops just decided to give us a lift. We jumped into the back of the police car and away we go. (and it was a mighty Corona)

We decided to grab food so walked around and found a place where we got amazing burgers... So much for eating the local food.... but tomorrow we will get amongst it.

We wake up on Sunday get on the go but not before the all important coffee and food and headed for the beach. We jumped on the bus and headed to Kenting town... Walked around for a while then waited for what seemed like forever for another bus and headed for Eluanbi Park. Had a nice walk around the park and checked things out...We headed back to where our hostel was and grabbed food and headed to bed.

Monday we went to the beach, We decided to head to Beisha Beach, which is considered the nicest of the beaches... The day was overcast but we thought to hell with it... When we arrived it was a typical Asian beach. Umbrellas everywhere and people swimming fully clothed. The water was beautiful and clear, however this is where the weather packed up. We headed back and got a beef noodle dinner that was amazing!

Tuesday we woke up early to head to Taipei feeling little more refreshed after a beach day. Opened the blinds and holy rain Batman! So we got out our umbrellas and headed to the bus station and looking forward to our next adventure... A little bit of rain can't dampen our spirits. So good-bye BlueHi, hello Taipei Hostel.
So after our bus ride we had a lunch of duck then fast train we arrived in Taipei. We were greeted but heavier rain... Oh well we are on vacation and it won't last the whole time.... Right?

So that night we headed to Shinlin Night Market and walked around. It was not what I was expecting but it was fine, however the food was awesome.

Wednesday....LAME SAUCE!!!!
Typhoon hit. So we found out that the weather has completely packed in and is meant to be like this the rest of the time...Yippee.
What the hell let's get out into it anyway. We headed to Longsin Temple... It was pretty cool.

After this we thought what the hell we are wet anyway let's just toughen the hell up and get amongst it.
So next stop Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It kind of made up for the crappy weather... it was really nice... and I saw a squirrel and a turtle... It's all coming up Fitzgerald!!

With the weather completely packed up we were struggling to see the best in Taiwan but we gave it our best... so instead of staying in our hostel we ventured out to go to another night market... We jumped on the subway and off we go. We struck up a conversation with a local who had amazing English. She asked where we were off to and after hearing our reply she basically told us not to bother. Meh we are not letting anything stand in our way. We left the station only to have the rain coming in sideways... after five minutes of walking in this... it had us beaten so we turned around and moved as fast as we could in jandels and slippery footpaths and headed back grumpy and beaten.

Thursday we had plans to go to the Toroko Gorge and it was the only thing Lush was looking forward to. So we headed to the train station only for it to be empty... something was definitely wrong. We asked for our train ticket and found out all trains were cancelled due to the weather... we were beaten again.
So plan B we will do museums and temples and stuff... nope try again they were all closed due to...you guessed it weather... Plan C we will just walk around the mall.... closed... What the hell? Turned out everything shuts due to bad weather.... well and truly had our asses kicked... dejected we played cards.

Friday we are heading home...AWESOME!!! It just doesn't seem right to be thinking that on vacation... it should be I want to stay but not this time.

Well today was overcast wanting to rain but it wasn't for once.... So we headed to the tallest building in the world..Taipei 101. So when we got there we found out that we could not go to the outdoor viewing platform as a result of the weather.... one bug final get stuffed to Blair and Lush.

Well we headed to the bus station to get the hell out of here and guess what? Yip, more flippen rain.
We hit Korean soil and our mood improved... we are home.

So let me end this by saying I don't really have an opinion on Taiwan as we didn't see the best of it. The people we amazing...polite and not rude at all...even the old women were nice... Not an ajuma in sight.
So the highlights were upgraded on the way there, the beach for a day, and ending with finding salt and vinegar chips and marmite.
So the weather sucked, which made our vacation super mega lame but the thing that really got to me was the everything closed, which made it near impossible to do anything besides staying in our hostel.
Oh well onto bigger and better things.... Hopefully, Iowa for a white Christmas with some luck.