Day 12: Touring Jeju

Day 12
Thursday June 26th

We started our day at Sunsan Ilchulbong, a sleeping volcano on Jeju Island. It was a little bananas there. Jeju Island is very popular for Chinese and Korean tourists. What should have been a peaceful hike up a pretty volcano, ended up being a hot sticky mess where I was shoulder to shoulder with strangers scream talking at each other, taking photos in the middle of a staircase without warning, and spitting and burping with total disregard.
The view was pretty though.

Below the volcano, down by the water, women were selling live seafood they had caught.

Older women swim out into the water and fish for abalone, sea cucumber, and octopus with no equipment. 

Our guide bought us some of each to sample. 

The sea cucumber and abalone- they cut up right in front of you and you eat raw. 

The octopus they flash boil. 

It is served with gochujang and raw onion. 

The texture of the abalone was not what I expected at all. I thought it would be soft like sashimi but it was tough like tendon or cartilage. The sea cucumber was also chewier than I thought it would be. 

Women divers

Abalone live (top left) Women selling it (bottom left) 

Abalone and sea cucumber raw (top right) Gambe! (cheers!) (bottom right) 

1. Drink soju   2. Nom on sea creatures

After, we had one of my favorite meals of the trip- seafood soup, spicy pork, and grilled mackerel. We had to order a second fish because we all gobbled up the first one. 

Next we went to another folk village. It was very similar to the first. The highlight was playing with the traditional Korean toys and games. 

Swings that you stand up on and go really high. 

Tops. 

A game with sticks and a tall cylinder can you throw the sticks into. 

Stilts. 

Stick and hoop. 

Simplest of all, a round patch of sand with heavy rocks in it- to show strength and settle agreements. 

 At the folk village, they had hydrangeas as big as my head!

After that we visited a waterfall. 

In the parking lot at the waterfall, they had food vendors. Our guide bought a cup of silk worms for everyone to try.
I am not a picky eater in any sense- but silk worms were hard to me. It didn't help that I saw them crawling around the day before in the market. Bugs. Yikes. That's some Timon and Pumba ish. But- I tried it. Who knows when I'd get the opportunity again.

I hated it.

 I hated the idea. I hated the texture. 

I don't remember the taste because the first two things were clouding my senses. 

But I'm glad I tried it.

While the group had dinner, I shopped at a local department store- E Mart. It was my last chance to get goodies before I left Korea.