DAY 8 - Hyundai Automobile Industry & Travel to Jeju Island - June 22, 2009

Our day started with a tour of the Hyundai Automobile Industry (Willem - give more detail later please). Later, we would on our way to Jeju Island (UNESCO heritage site)

Flight to Jeju island was fine and short with a little turbulence. Boarded a bus to our condo. We arrived at the condo at about 9:30 pm.at a beautiful resort hotel. The room is nice, but nothing like a 3-star hotel in North America . We still sleep on the floor but I was able to gather 3 floor mattresses! This now feels very comfy vs. the marble bed we had in the previous condo! Next day the touring will start at 9 am "sharp" and breakfast will be in our room for the 2 other rooms.

First, we went to a gorgeous waterfall where a river falls into the ocean (still a little ways away, but probably already salt). It is also a protected habitat for the giant molted eel. We took several pictures at the waterfall and reaaly enjoyed the site. At the entrance of the waterfall were restaurants and souvenir shops. We ate a fabulous lunch at one of the restaurants - some meat, fish, kimchi dishes, and leaves for wrapping.

Our next stop was a Korean folklore museum. In Jeju island, the old houses are made of lava rock and thatched roofs. The had a maze there that the kids really enjoyed and they had performances as well.

Our last stop was an extinct volcano - the one you know from the Korean calendar. The approach to the mountain was breathtaking!. Then we had to hike a half hour to the top and Alex was the first one there of course, sweating his head off. Just beautiful to be up so high and see all around you , and the circle inside of the extinct volcano was amazing, but hard to capture on camera. Guess who the first one down was? Yes, Alex. He had a ball.

After the climb, we went further down to the shore where there were "dive women" (something Jeju is known for) that were cleaning their catch to order. Andy Park, the CEO who travels with us (the drill sergeant) ordered octopus and a variety of other fish like sea cucumber and anemones. Except for the octopus, you eat everything raw. We ate raw fish and drank Korean wine on the rocks by the sea while the kids played on the rocks, along with some adults that were scared of the raw fish! The kids were collecting smooth glass pieces.

For dinner that night, we had black pig in one of those traditional buildings built from lava rock and thatched roofs. Alex bit in a piece of hot pepper and ate it! Oh boy... He didn’t like that and I am sure that regular spicy food will taste mild to him now!

Back at the hotel at 9 pm, we all went to the beautiful yellow sand beach which was walking distance. Alex played in the waves and was covered from head-to-toe with sand. He had a lot of fun playing with his new friends. We lit up some simple fireworks and the kids had some sparklers.

Tomorrow we are going back to Seoul in the late afternoon and Andy Park has given us some private time in the morning. However, we need to be packed and downstairs by 12 pm for some more touring.

Hope that all is well there on your side of the ocean and I will try to catch up with e-mail later because I have to go to bed now.