Summer Vacation Day 15 -16: Jeju Island part 3

The weather was still looking very misty but this was our last chance to go to Udo (Cow Island), a small island just 3.5 km off the east coast of Jeju, so we jumped on a coastal bus to Seongsan-ri. We got off a few stops early by mistake so had to walk to the harbour. The weather was still looking distinctly unpromising and had started raining. A mini sandstorm was whipping our legs and we were really unsure about going to Udo but as the ferry only cost 5500 won return and they were very regular we decided to go for it. It stopped raining when we landed on the island and we immediately set off to hire ourselves some form of transport top explore the island. We had been told that you don't need a driving license to hire a scooter or ATV on Udo and this was actually one of our main reasons for going there as neither of us has a full driving license and riding a scooter sounded like fun. We got a bit scared of scooter riding and as it was still threatening rain scooters didn't seem like that uch fun. We briefly considered hiring golf buggy but in the end we settled on an ATV for the bargain price of 2500 won for 2 hours. All they required was for Rowan to leave his Alien Registration Card (ID card for foreigners) and they let us loose on the public roads of Udo with only the slightest nod towards safety equipment (helmets that didn't fasten and no arm of knee pads - pads were required to be worn when we went on the ATV course at Sanbangsan).

The gruesome twosome on their trusty ATV.

The view from the back of the quad bike we hired on Udo, much cheaper than taking the special course at Sanbangsan but not quite as many steep hills and banked corners to enjoy.

We set off on our trusty ATV and had a great time though it was a little terrifying on the public roads. We saw all the main sights of Udo including the Korea's only coral sand beach (Hongjodan-goe Haebin), some black lava cliffs and a lighthouse that was perched on a tiny little rocky island that was joined to the mainland by a (at the time somewhat flooded ) causeway. We didn't want to stop when we had to return the ATV 2hours later! I seriously started plotting to get my own ATV to ride to school through the rice paddies in Gwangju!

People wading across the rather flooded causeway to get out to the lighthouse.

View of Seongsan Ilchulbong from Udo island.

We climbed the large hill on Udo that gives way to the black lava cliffs. It was exciting riding the ATV up the narrow road to get there but we couldn't take it to the very top and had to leave it in the car park just like an ordinary vehicle.

We caught the ferry back to Seongsan-ri and on the way Rowan got a bit of a laugh as it was very windy and a young Korean woman stood in front of us had her dress blown up by the wind exposing her underwear to the whole boat. She looked very embarrassed and hurried down below decks unable to look at any of us. We were a bit unlucky with the buses again and ended up waiting around for a while for the next one so though we took a but straight to Jeju Waterworld in the hope of some water park action we were too late and it had turned into a Jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) for the night. So instead we caught a bus out to the Jungmun waterfalls and got in for free as there wasn't anyone manning the ticket booth. These waterfalls are set in a deep forested gully which was very beautiful though as we had come in the early evening it was alive with biting insects. We had to cross over a steep humped bridge that soared high above the gully. Getting to all 4 of the falls involved a lot of climbing up steps which was hard work in the incredible humidity that had descended on Jeju by this point.

This picture does not do this vertigo-inducing bridge justice - it was an incredibly steep humped bridge and the gully was a hell of a long way below it.

One of the waterfalls at Jungmun.

Some Dolharubang (grandfather) statues in Jungmun. These statues are the symbol of Jeju and are the protectors of Jeju's people. We saw these figures everywhere on the island.

We had a tasty dinner of dolsot bibimbap (rice and mixed vegetables with chilli paste served in a sizzling hot stone bowl) in E-Mart that night and ended up back down the Rose Marine bar where we bumped into two American girls that we had met at the ATV course the previous day. Needless to say we ended up staying out far too long and drinking far too much beer. The girls told us about a nearby restaurant they had been to that served horse that was really delicious. Rowan was pretty gutted we wouldn't have time to go there ourselves. We eventually got to bed about 4.30am.

We woke up late and pretty hungover the next day and had to pack our bags and make our way up to Jeju City in the North of the island as this was our last day on Jeju. We caught a bus to Jeju-si and found a reasonably priced motel called the Olympia that was right opposite the bus terminal. We got the 'special' room for 30,000 won (after first having been given the key to an occupied room) and found that it was pretty special - in a weird way! It was a really big room with a massive LCD TV on the wall, enough extra bedding to make up another bed on the floor, strange folding doors with magnetic seals and a kitchen area with no utensils or cooker, just a fridge! We dumped our bags and caught a taxi to Jeju Loveland, one of the world's strangest theme parks. It was basically a park filled with models of people having sex, sculptures of massive cocks and giants breasts. It really was a very odd place filled with shy, nervous looking Korean newly weds and groups of raucous, laughing ajummas (Korean older ladies) making their way among the obscene displays.

This photo really doesn't do justice to how massive the ejaculating cock sculpture that ran down the entire centre of the park really was.

Giant ecstatic woman sculpture -she must have incredible neck muscles to be able to hold that position.

Vag in a can - for those nights when a can of beer just isn't enough!

Jeju Loveland seemed to take a dim view of homosexuality...

His identity maybe shrouded in mystery but his gender certainly isn't...

All aboard the cock train!

There was a section of sex themed dioramas that included this one of a poor traditional Korean family who had to share one room for sleeping with the parents and kids altogether - note the look of horror on the little girl's face on the right while her parents get down to it on the left.

This dog seemed to be taking the 'lead' from his master...

This woman sure knows how to bed a man to her will. There were a whole series of sculptures like this one of a larger, stern looking woman forcing a puny, wimpy looking guy to do her bidding.

Rowan operating the automatic rubber dildo display.

We were forced to beat a hasty retreat from Jeju Loveland as the insects had started attacking again so we caught a taxi to the centre in the hope of finding a Mexican restaurant mentioned in the guide book. As usual the guidebook had let us down again and we couldn't find it so we ended up going to a fantastic Indian restaurant called Café Baghdad. The atmosphere was great and the food there was amazing - in fact it was so good that Rowan was threatening to make himself sick just so he could eat some more!

Tasty samosas from Cafe Baghdad - they were huge.

Afterwards, we made our way back to the motel and went to bed. The next day we flew back to Seoul from Jeju airport and our 16 day tour of South Korea was over. Phew!