Wednesday, Apr 3rd, Santa Rosa, USA

Greetings!

A successful group travel is usually the result of several ingredients: a talented tour company leader and experienced local guides and drivers; friendly, interesting, and cooperative travelers; and comfortable weather.  This trip got gold stars for all of the above. 

We can't say enough about Serra Hughes of Adventures Abroad.  We were first introduced to her in 2017, when she led us through Greece and the surrounding islands.  Her warmth, charm, and wits made our travels with her remarkable, and she displayed it all again over the last two weeks.  We also thoroughly enjoyed our local guide for South Korea (Miriam), who brought a deeply personal approach to framing the history, culture, and social conditions of her country. 

We're sitting in the Taneda Airport in Tokyo, waiting for our last flight leg home.  We'll arrive in Santa Rosa on Wednesday at 3:30pm, six hours after we left our hotel in Seoul this morning.  But we'll have been flying, or on our way to and from airports, for 26 hours.

We had a great adventure as usual, and we hope you all enjoyed it also.  This blog only partially serves to inform you.  As always, we'll be happy to share more in person.  But after we get some sleep.

ps. The right side of the blog may look a little different beginning today.  Google eliminated Google Plus today.  I'll see what I can do to restore a means to allow those of you who want to explore my larger use of the Google toolkit.

Tuesday, Apr 2nd, Seoul, South Korea

Greetings!

Seven thousand years ago, a couple of volcanos poked up just off the coast of the small island off of Korea's southern coast.  One sank within a hundred years, the other (Seongsan Lichulbong) grew into a beautiful lush crater which our group climbed this morning. 

Six-hundred steps lead to a larger than Diamond Head-like structure that is a pure test of leg will-power to get to and back down.  Pat and I chose to climb half-way up, and then take the route to the overlook of the small bay north of the crater where the Haensoe (diving women) showed the public their  skills.

On the north side of the volcano, and for many miles up the coast, the women of the island have provided food for their families by diving freestyle to gather from the sea.  As most of the young men on the island have perished in the many conflicts with the Japanese, this island is matriarchal, and the Haenyeo (Sea Women) are venerated for good cause.  We stopped by the museum dedicated to them, and gained a huge respect for the community of providers that guides this island's families.

Finally, we toured the largest lava tube in the world.  There are many lava tubes under JeJu Island, but one can be walked for about a kilometer of its 7.6 kilometer length.  The descent is difficult (many steps), and the floor is very uneven, so take a flashlight and go slowly.  Pat and I turned back after halfway, but were still impressed with its size and the views of the rock layers.

We fly back to Seoul tonight, and I'm actually writing this while waiting to board the plane.  To see the rest of the photos taken today, click on: Tuesday, Apr 2nd, Seoul, South Korea.

Monday, Apr 1st, Jeju, South Korea

Greetings!

Jeju Island is 65 miles south of mainland South Korea.  It has the tallest mountain in the country, 150 miles of beautiful coastline, and has always been a  vacation spot.  We flew to it from Busan this morning, and we're flying out tomorrow to Seoul.  This afternoon, we checked out a tea museum, a collection of basalt columns on the coast, and a Buddhist temple.  As we did, you should know that the Cherry blossom season lasts a week to ten days.  Today is the height of the season, and we've been at the right place almost every day.

The Jusangjeolli Cliffs, part of the Jungmun Tourism Complex on the southern part of Jeju Island, has cliffs with tetragon- or hexagon-shaped columnar pillars. They were created when thick basaltic lava at about 1,000 degrees Celsius flows from the mouth of a volcano and cools rapidly. About 30-40 meters tall, extending for about one kilometer, they are the largest such natural formation in Korea.

The original Yachcheonsa Buddhist Temple left no records of its origin.  The stories are that in a cave or a small hermitage a Confucian scholar drank water from a mineral spring, and it resulted in a dream and better health.   He built the first temple (Yaksuam), and lived their the rest of his life.  

In 1982, work on the present temple began.  To see more photos of it, and of the entire day, click on: Monday, Apr 1st, Jeju, South Korea.