Geomundo/Baekdo Islands

Hello everyone! That is the link to my pictures from this weekend. I know it has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged, and it has been quite busy. A couple weekends ago I was rehearsing all weekend for the musical, with no time to do anything else. This past weekend, however, we had a three day weekend and I was able to take a trip to Geomundo and the Baekdo Islands.

After taking an overnight bus from Seoul on Thursday, we boarded a ferry to Geomundo Island. Almost immediately after arriving there, we got on another ferry to take us on a tour around the Baekdo Islands. They are also called "Treasure Islands" and are not what you think of when you think of Disney's Treasure Island theme park or anything of the sort. It is an island chain of uninhabited islands in the middle of the ocean. The scenery was very unique and unlike anything I have ever seen before. The water was also the bluest I have ever seen a body of water be, which was very refreshing to see.

After our cruise around those islands, we returned to Geomundo. We had a lunch break (we ate all Korean food this weekend for our meals) and then went for our first hike around the island. We hiked up some hills and got to see the random British cemetery with three graves. After that we went to the "beach." I say "beach" because on Friday there was very little sand, and actually we were laying on stone steps next to water. On Saturday, when the weather was rainy, there was plenty of sand to be found as the tide had receded. It unfortunately wasn't like that for our nice day of weather.

On Saturday I woke up to watch the sunrise with others of the group, only to find it was overcast and we would not be able to view the sunrise. A little later on, we went on a 4 hour hike around the island and up a mountain or two. It started raining about midway through the hike, however, that did not deter our fun. The scenery was really beautiful and a very excellent hike overall. Our group had planned to stay on the island until Sunday, the weather had proved something different though. There was a severe wind warning that was issued for Sunday, and all ferries were canceled for Sunday and Monday. There was a bit of suspense in not being sure whether we would make it on to the last ferry on Saturday, but eventually we did. Our group leader made alternative plans for us to go to the coastal city of Younsin for the night and stay there.

Sunday, the rain had still not relented, but I still went on the planned hike around an island park. (An island you had to cross the bridge to get to.) We got to see the "dragon's cave" and the lighthouse there. I didn't take any pictures because I did not want my camera outside in the pouring rain. After that, we had lunch and headed back to Seoul. It was a really great weekend, and I got to see and experience some really cool things, as well as make some new friends. I'm definitely excited for the next time I can go on a trip with Adventure Korea!

That's all from me for now. Happy Sunday, Western World!


Also...GO HAWKS! :-)