Hey everyone, so this post is to update you all on my summer vacation. It was a 13 day trip so it's gonna be a long post.

It started on Friday 24th July with an early start to catch the bus in down-town Ulsan that would take me to Gwangju, the main city in the south western province of Jeollanamdo. After a four hour bus ride, I got to Gwangju and went to the hostel. I didn't really know what to visit when there but the hostel owner suggested I go to Mudeungsan mountain and a nearby temple called Jeungsimsa temple. On the long walk there I came across a large open grave mound which was cool. The walk into the mountain was beautiful and reasonably flat so it wasn't difficult to walk, however the temple was a bit disappointing (probably because it was much like every other temple I had seen). I left there and went into the main city area of Gwangju. I went to a plaza and happened to get there at 5.15. There was a clocktower there which chimes a tune in memory of the May 18th Democracy Movement, at exactly 5.18 each day. So that was great timing and I never even knew about it until I came across the clocktower. I sat down and waited for a few minutes and listened to the song. After that I went to an "art street" which is a street full of art galleries and shops, then to see a tower to the student protest movement. I also had oritang (duck soup) for tea, a speciality in Gwangju and quite nice. Returning to the hostel in the evening, I met a Korean from California called Bongha and we decided to travel together for the following few days.

The next day we went to Boseong which has a green tea plantation. It was very interesting to see and the hills covered with lines of tea plants. I even had some green tea ice cream (yes that's a thing here) which tasted delicious. Next we went to Suncheon which is home to the Suncheon bay area, a beautiful estuary with lots of wildlife, reed beds and an eco museum. We got there in time to watch the sunset (albeit there were clouds obscuring some of the view) which was nice. We then decided to keep costs lower by sleeping in a Jimjilbang that evening. A Jimjilbang is a Korean sauna/ bathhouse and many are 24 hour ones with sleeping areas. First you go in to the sauna area with different temperature hot tubs and sauna's, and then you go into a communal area where you can sleep, play games, eat and watch tv. It was fun although the floors are difficult to sleep on. Still, at only 8000 won it was cheap accommodation for the night.

Sunday we went to Yeosu. This was not the best day to be honest. First rainy season had ended so it was outrageously hot (and will be until end of September). Second was the fact we had to wait over four hours for trains there and back. We went to see the 2012 Expo buildings, but it turned out they wanted 10,000 won for each building or activity which was far too much when most places charge 1-2000. After wandering round for a bit we did find a "memorial hall" to the 2012 Expo for only 3000 won. This also included a 4D experience of a typhoon which was cool, as well as a lot of information about marine industry and development. We then decided to walk to an island, but the heat made it almost unbearable and it was a good few miles walk. We made it, walked round part of the island to take some nice photos and then came back. After a further 2 hour wait for the train we left and I returned to Suncheon while Bongha went home.

Monday I decided to go to the Nagan Fortress, this was pretty good despite my blistered feet. The fortress is hundreds of years old and contains old style thatched houses where people are still living and carrying out traditional crafts. It was a very interesting place to visit. Afterwards I spent the rest of the day resting my feet and avoiding the heat, but in the evening the hostel owner bought everyone drinks and snacks so we sat round talking and I made a few other Korean friends.

Tuesday, I went to Mokpo as I would be taking a ferry to Jeju Island from there the next day. At Mokpo, I visited a maritime museum which was very interesting and included displays of sunken ships, and in the evening I found out it was the final day of the Mokpo Port festival so I went to that. It was brilliant and included performances by young people as well as traditional dances, fireworks and a boat burning traditional ceremony. My hostel that night was in a converted traditional style "Hanok House."

On Wednesday I went to Jeju Island. Another early morning start for the five hour ferry ride to Jeju.....and there was no seating on board which was annoying. But it was still a nice trip with live musicians on board and time spent looking out to sea. I arrived at Jeju at 2pm and immediately there was a problem. The two buses from the ferry do not go anywhere near the town centre or the bus terminal. I wasn't really sure what I was doing so I got on one bus and "hoped". Then I phoned the hostel who told me to get off and take a taxi - yes thats what I should have done in the first place. To make it worse, Jeju was the hottest place in Korea that day and had 95% humidity which meant every step I took, I got more and more sweaty! Thankfully I managed to get a taxi to take me direct to city hall which was right near the hostel. Another nice hostel, this one called "You and I guest house". That afternoon I decided to brave the heat and got direction to a nearby shrine to three demigods. The story of the founding of Jeju goes as follows - thousands of years ago three demigods came down from heaven and three holes were left in the ground in their wake. They hunted for a while and then three princesses arrived and taught them agriculture. They married the princesses and founded a kingdom. They shot three arrows from Korea's tallest mountain (Mount Hallasan) which set out where the capital city should be. The shrine, called Samseonghyeol, included a 15 minute english animation of the story. The shrine is essentially the three holes in the ground left by the demigods appearance and various buildings/ altars where rites are still carried out to them today. After that I visited the Natural History and Folk Museum and found out all about Jeju's volcanic past.

The next day, my first full day on the Island, I went to three great places. First was the Manjanggul cave, a 1km cave left behind by a lava flow. I took the bus there, but didn't realise there was a 2.5km walk from the bus stop to the cave entrance - in terrible heat. I was not impressed and on the way back I got a taxi instead. The cave itself was brilliant and the cool temperature was a welcome relief. Inside the cave was also a lava column, the tallest in the world. After the cave, I went to the Haenyeo museum which is a museum about the woman divers on the Island. I have wanted to find out more about them since I watched a documentary about them in the UK. Basically for hundreds of years the women have gone out into the sea each day and dive without any breathing equipment, sometimes to 20m depths or more to collect abolone, sea weed, sea urchins and other edible sea food. It is quite dangerous but a traditional practice that still goes on today in some areas of Jeju. Finally I went to Seongsan Ilchulbong (sunset peak) which is an extinct volcano. There is a very steep 20 minute walk up the side to the crater at the top but it was definitely worth it. The views were amazing at the top. When I came down I also did a few minutes of horse riding - something i've wanted to do for a long time but never had a chance. Finally, that evening I went to the cinema to watch the new Mission Impossible film. This was definitely the best day I had in Jeju.

On Friday I went to the Jeju Mokgwana & Gwandeokjeong, these are the old administrative government buildings of Jeju and a pavilion. It was interesting to see the architecture and what the different elements of administration were involved 500 years ago. Then I went for a walk along part of the Tapdong promenade, walked to a bridge over a gorge and then down to Yongduam the dragon head shaped rock. It was too hot again so I went the the cinema in the afternoon to watch Minions, a quite funny film but probably not worth a cinema ticket price. During the evening I decided to go to the beach.....this didn't start off too well though as the hostel manager told me a bus stop for the beach that didnt exist and so I ended up going past it on the bus and having to get a bus back quite a way, thankfully someone else helped me by telling the bus driver to let me know when I needed to get off. This is the first time in months that I had trouble with buses. I got to Samyang beach around 7.30 and I didn't realise it would all close at 8pm, but at least I got some time in the water. It seems that you are not allowed in the water outside the times when the lifeguards are around and even then they bunch everyone up into a small area of the beach. Needless to say, I was not impressed by the health and safety gone mad attitude. Here's another interesting thing - Koreans tend to wear lots of clothing in the water, they usually wear T shirts e.t.c which I think is very strange.

Saturday morning I decided to go to the Seongeup folk village, this was very similar to Nagan Fortress but less spectacular. It was interesting but probably not worth a visit as I'd already been to Nagan. I rested inside in the afternoon and that evening I went to the Startlight World and Planetarium, another big highlight of the trip. This is open in the evening and was very exciting. They have a 5 minute 4D "cosmic coaster" ride. This is basically liking being at the cinema except your seat moves around a bit. The amazing part was that it actually felt like you were on a rollercoaster going through space. I was very impressed with it. Following that was a 20 minute planetarium video where you can lie down and watch a production about the stars which shows you how to find different stars and constellations in the night sky. Although the talk was in Korean the words on the ceiling were in English so I could understand quite easily what was going on. I now know how to use Ursa Major to find Arcturius and Vega :). Following that, there was an exhibition hall to go around and upstairs to the telescopes. They had one big telescope pointing at Saturn so I was able to see it very clearly and see the ring around it. There were also smaller telescopes pointing at other stars. All in all, a wonderful experience.

Sunday it was time to move from Jeju city in the north of the Island to Seogwopi city in the South. After a 3 hour bus ride and I arrived there and checked into the hostel. This was another lovely hostel which even included curtains around the beds and personal lamps. That evening I decided to go and see the local waterfalls which are famous. The first one close by was Jeongbang Waterfall. This is the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the sea. It was magnificent. After that I went for a walk to the Saeseom island and bridge. Apparently it is lovely at sunset and I got there just after sunset. The Island is part of an UNESCO marine park and had some nice views. The bridge was also lit up nicely on the way back. Finally I went to a second waterfall, Cheonjiyeon, which was supposed to be lovely at night. It was lit up but personally I think I would have looked better in the day time like Jeongbang did.

Monday I wasn't sure what to do so I went to the world cup stadium which is open to anyone to go in for free. There is a cinema and several museums there so I ended up going into the Dak Paper Doll Museum which was surpisingly more interesting than it sounds as they had made many figures and scenes out of paper. There is also a water park next to the stadium so I went there too.

Finally, it was Tuesday. My ferry was scheduled to leave at 7pm that evening and arrive in Busan the next morning. Things wouldn't go to plan, but first a bit about my day. During the day I went to Hallim Park, a lovely park with many different areas to walk around, including a tropical plants garden, two more caves, a bonsai and stone garden, a small scale folk village and a water garden. It was very interesting to visit and it's also next to two beautiful beaches which I visited afterwards. At 4pm I headed to the bus stop where I made another new friend, a student from Singapore. Back in Jeju city, I had dinner - I decided to try cuttlefish but it was given to me raw so I didnt really like it at all and left most of it. Still, I can say I tried it now. Then it was time to head to the ferry. When I arrived things seemed a little strange as there was no one checking people in for the trip to Busan. I decided to queue up anyway but when I got to the counter, they said I should go to some room down the hall. I went and it was locked. I then asked someone about it and they just said "no". Eventually they showed me the word "bankrupt" on their phone. Oh no! After confirming this with tourist information, I was not happy. I had paid 60,000 won for that ticket and now was left stranded because no one from the company could be bothered to let me know what had happened. There was another ferry leaving for another port called Wando in 10 minutes and the staff at the ferry port suggested I get on that. I wasn't sure where Wando was but they said it was near Gwanju so I decided to risk it - at a cost of another 40,000 won. This actually turned out to be a good idea because it got me back to the mainland within 2 hours. (note - if you are going to Jeju by ferry, get the Wando ferry). This was lucky because it meant I could catch the last bus to Gwanju and I had a number for a hostel there. Another lucky turn of events, considering this is the height of summer tourist season, the hostel in Gwangju had a spare bed :). Things were starting to look up again. I got to Gwangju around 11, and after more troubles trying to work out how to get to the subway station (korea - please learn about joined up transportation systems!) I made it to the hostel by 11.30pm. The next morning it was back to the bus terminal and a four hour trip home to Ulsan.

It has been a very eventful holiday. There have been some excellent highlights and new friends made, but the heat was too much and I would not advise others going to Jeju in the summer. When people do visit Jeollanamdo and Jeju, I recommend the following sites - Manjangul Cave, Boseong Tea Plantation, Jeongbang Waterfall, Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak, the Starlight World & Planetarium, the Nagan Fortress and Suncheon Bay. They were amazing experiences I will never forget.