Get ready folks... This here is a long one!
About two months ago, over my last three day weekend and my birthday, I took a trip to Namhae Island. This trip was filled with ups and downs, and I don't just mean the hills we had to walk up and down, and it started out on a low. I was meeting the bus in a tiny town that was hard to get too and hard to find. Because I didn't know how long it wold take (and I wanted to give myself time to get lost or miss and a bus or two) I left early at 8 am. I ended up arriving way before the meeting time at noon so I got some breakfast, had some coffee, and wandered the town a bit. I was surprised to find sunscreen at the local convenience store, because in Korea sunscreen can be hard to find and is usually very expensive, which I find odd in a country so obsessed with having pale skin that they bleach it.
As noon drew near I mossied back to the bus station and waited to see if anyone else would show up to meet the bus with me. With about 20 minutes to go before the bus arrived I received a text message telling me that they were going to arrive in Daejeon in about 30 minutes. Daejeon was the stop before mine and a full two hours away. I texted back my confusion and they told me that they would get to my stop in about two hours. To say I was annoyed is an understatement. I had dragged my lazy ass out of bed a 6 am to meet them on time and now I find out I could have left three hours later?! NOT HAPPY.
I was about to wander and find a coffee shop when a foreign girl with a suitcase walked into the bus stop. I had been in this town three hours and hadn't seen
another foreigner so I assumed she was there for the bus. We said hello and discussed the lateness of the bus (she had a friend on it already) and decided to get coffee together. We found a decent coffee shop and sat outside drinking coffee and telling our life stories. An hour later she got a text telling her that they would get there around 5, three more hours... UGH. She went to check the bus stop for anyone waiting and I stood watch over our bags and prime outdoor seats. She came back with another girl and we all sat around and got a few more coffees. By the time the bus finally arrived we were lifelong friends... kinda.
But now we were finally on our way. And I want to make sure to mention that it wasn't the groups fault. The traffic was insane! ( see above picture for proof) It was Buddha's Birthday and no one was working that day. Plus there was a big festival on Namhae as well so it was bumper to bumper. I am complaining about waiting in a coffee shop for a few hours, but the people who got on the bus in Seoul had been on that bus for 11 hours by the time we finally reached our stop for the night. Because of the late hour, we only really had time to get our stuff into the different buildings and then rush to dinner prepared by the people of the town. It was, as always when I get food like this, amazing. We drank and ate and took pictures until it was time to head down to the beach for the bonfire. It was on the beach, right along the water, and it was lots of fun. We drank more and talked and enjoyed the finally not frigid night air.
In the morning we woke bright and early at 7 and grabbed a quick muffin and coffee breakfast before starting our day. And a busy day it
was. We got right out onto the water to do some deep sea fishing. This was not quite what I pictured when I read about it. No cool rotaty chair that you get strapped in while you take on Jaws' uncle Tom. Oh no. It was a small boat and we dropped in a string tied to a coat hanger that had to lures on it and let it sink to the bottom. Then we tugged on it a little until something tugged back The tugging of the fish was almost identical to the tugging of the waves, so there were a lot of let downs when w thought we caught something, but found nothing on the end of our line when we pulled it up. The worms we were using were hairy and had tiny little mouths full of teeth. we had to shove the hook up into the worms mouth and inside its body then rip it in half. The fisherman running out boat baited a lot of hooks that day. Even with false alarms and lots of insane giggling and joking around we actually caught quite a few fish, 17 to be exact, including a pretty rainbow colored fish and a fish that, when it was pulled from the water, caused the fisherman to leap across the boat yelling something that translated rough to "holy shit don't touch that fish!" Turns out it was a pretty poisonous fish, one sting and we would have been in the hospital for at least four days and is a lot of pain the whole time, maybe dead. He removed it from the line with his foot.
After fishing (I caught two by the way), we traded with a second group and did some ocean kayaking. I was thankful didn't fall in right upon getting in my kayak (unlike some unlucky dude who got in after me) and I was more shocked I not only didn't roll or tip the whole time, but also wasn't the last one paddling in panting hours after everyone. I held my own, even though the current was a pain and my path was that of a drunken sailor, zigzagging back and forth while I fought the current pushing me in and pulling me out. it was lovely and refreshing though, and we pulled up for a quick break on a very rocky beach. We had the option of snorkeling, but the water was cold, murky, empty, and had a very noticeable sheen of oil over the surface from the fishing boats, so I opted to sit on shore and chat and look at rocks.
Then it was back in the boats and paddling back to our starting point. I will admit I made a race of it for myself and i was the second one back. I know this is not as impressive as it could be since no one was racing besides me, but i was pumped, and worn out. Then we rushed back to the houses, rinsed off the salt water, packed, and bustled on to the bus for a quick nap while we were trucked to a second village for our second night. The drive was only about 20 minutes, and it was beautiful. We went up and down some really beautiful mountains and through forests. And when we arrived at the new village we were at the top of a very steep, tall hill. As the bus backed up to parked, it broke. I shit you not, the bus broke and we had to get out and push. A tour bus. Uphill. It was pretty awesome.
We grabbed out bags and trekked down the hill to the town hall where we were meeting our host families. The woman who took in my group was very old and spoke very little English. We were lucky to have a Korean-American in the group so we could actually communicate pretty well. We left our things in the rooms she set aside for us and headed out to meet the group heading to the rice fields. There, waiting for us, was an 80 year old cow. At least according to the little old man beating him with a stick to make him pull the plow he was 80. Turns out he was actually 12, which is still old for a cow I guess. I couldn't bring myself to beat the beast into pulling the plow, so I watched as all the foreign folks, and some Koreans, tried out old school plowing.
After the plowing we hiked all the way down to the shore. We arrived on an interesting rock beach where the wave turning the rocks made a calming sound and people were fishing all up and down the shore. This was a whole different kind of fishing, however. Those of us who wanted to test it out and didn't mind getting a little damp and salty, where handed a small cup with some water in it and a chunk of sea squirt. We held the sea squirt down in the rocky beach right in the water and waited. The little bitty fish there would swim up through the rocks and grab hold of the sea squirt and we pulled them up into our tiny cups. It was fun, and a bit shocking when a giant wave came up and took us out with freezing water.
While some of us fished, and others lounged, still others were given the option of going out on a big raft into the ocean. I was nervous about falling in but on the third round, I manned up and headed out. About ten feet in I found out that the girl in front of me couldn't swim, the guy across from me couldn't either, the man telling us to steer the boat didn't know his right from his left, and the guy sitting behind me was in the world's smallest speedo. This boating trip was both a high and a low.
After boating, it was getting late and we all had to get to our respective homes for a home-cooked, Korean meal, made for us by the wonderful lady we were staying with. we walked up the steep cliffs, then up the steep roads, then up more steep roads until we finally got back to our home-stay. We rinsed of in freezing water, got dressed and tried to help with dinner. We were kindly told to get the hell out of the kitchen and let her work. It was worth it. The food was amazing and fresh and so much better then I have ever encountered in a restaurant. There were a lot of homemade sides and pan roasted fish. Yum!
We headed back out into the village and met up with everyone else to drink and play some traditional games and have another bonfire, complete with portable Norebang. We had relay races, and tug-a-war and a few games that I forget the name of. Some of us got a LITTLE to into the winning part of the game, while other, like your truly, spent the time laughing till our sides, faces, and the rest of our bodies ached. I also practiced my mad night time action photography skills. We drank and sang at the fire until the rain forced us to sleep.
The next morning we were gently woken by our Korean host at an early 8 am for breakfast. The breakfast was the same as dinner, which while tasty, was not my idea of a breakfast meal. I was starved so I ate a ton anyway. Then we packed up, and cleaned our rooms, thanked our host and headed to the bus. That crazy tall hill we walked down to get to the village was even worse on the way up, but I think if I lived there two months my ass would be spectacular. After everyone got settled on the bus we headed out to our last destination for the trip. We were going on a mountain hike to the highest point on the island. Unfortunately for this girl, I pulled a bone head move and forgot to bring shoes other then my flip flops, so I stayed behind because of the slippery paths and gentle downpour still happening. I hung out, eating snacks and chatting with the other people who stayed behind until the hikers were done and we were getting back on the road. Lunch was at a little restaurant we had stopped at the day before, with spicy fish and lots of soup, it was a nice little meal before we finally headed out.
Myself and three other girls all got dropped off in a nearby town so we could catch the bus home without going four hours out of the way. After some problems with catching buses and trains I finally made it home to a super grumpy Dash. I then promptly showered and left again to go on a date, much to Dash's dismay. The date was great, even if I was exhausted, and sleep in an actual bed was even more welcome.
Man... this was a long one huh?
