8 Seasons in the Land of the Morning Calm

As some of you know, we recently took a trip to Korea's Emerald Isle , Jeju-do. We were hoping for some R & R on the beautiful beaches, and maybe some hiking on the volcano Hallasan, BUT the weather conspired against us. We flew onto Jeju-do as a large typhoon was beginning to churn through the straits of Japan and Korea, so we didn't need suntan lotion or bathing suits. We were still able to see the island's most famous waterfall, Jeongbang, and enjoyed the sound of an angry sea on lava boulders. high seas on lava rocks angry skies angry skies  Cheonjiyeon Waterfall Jeongbang Waterfall old hotel lush vegetation

A little glazed-over after the bleaching, but results!     . . . and this time I didn't dye the bathroom any strange colors!

"More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse."* It was the ultimate convergence of being ill-equipped and ill-prepared that led to this moment. Sore muscles and joints creaking to a halt where we could only assume was not anywhere near the end of our trail, my parents’ voices in my head rattling off the checklist of a successful, or at least smart, adventurer. Yet here we were, in the pitch black of a forested mountainside on an unfamiliar trail with one working flashlight (one busted flashlight) and an uncertain number of miles left to go. The courses on the northwestern face of Mt. Mudeung (무등산) are among the most beautiful but least traversed on the mountain. The early climb is a steep, wide, well-marked affair “paved” with large rocks and tree roots for footholds. The later paths, however, are not for the weak of heart or body. Rarely marked trails wind over jagged ravines of boulders, narrow ledges coupled ...

Photographs of our most recent expedition, sunrise atop Mt. Mudeung.  This trip was an impromptu one.  We set out in the late afternoon, and after biking up some significant slopes, began our hike.  After a restless slumber awaiting the sunrise, we were rewarded some fantastic vistas. All in all, we hiked and biked a total of  58 km.  A mountain sunrise is always worth it.                

We arrived in Seomyeon and walked toward the Lotte Department Store. We saw a sign for a yeogwan and walked up. The décor was nice, the wood was dark and there were plants on the stairs, completely different from the last. The room was sumptuous and cool; it even had a water cooler with both hot and cold water available. We paid a much more reasonable price and got two nights, took showers and got ready for our next vacation. Audrey had planned to get her hair cut at a salon in Busan and maybe even prepped for coloring, so I being the anal traveler that I am decided we should reconnoiter the area so as to make Monday’s trip as painless as possible. Also we wanted to see the Foreigners’ Street as our guidebook said it was an interesting sight. We decided to do that first and set off for the train. The walk to the train also included a practice run of the shopping we would do Monday, or I should say Audrey would do, in the underground arcade. We got off the train and immediate...

To start with, it is ill advised to begin a trip with a Martin without a hearty breakfast or a good night’s sleep. I suppose the trip started with some bad omens. They continued at the bus station where the nine o’clock bus was sold out and we had to get on the ten twenty, seated separately, luckily the seats were individual so we sat alone. The bus trip also took a little longer than expected because of all the summer weekenders going to the beach, but we got in at a relatively good hour, hot, hungry and tired, and in Audrey’s case developing a stomachache. Also, our guidebook put us closer to the city than we actually arrived, so it took some time to get on the right track (Literally, as we almost got on the wrong train). My sense of direction while traveling is always wrong, but luckily it is consistently 180 degrees off, so Audrey just has to say, “Let’s go the opposite way.” And we usually end up in the right place. We took a long and uncomfortable ride on three trains to ...

A family musical. Fun for the whole family . . . "Who Shit On My Head?"