Leadbetter Visit- Days 3-8

We’ve heard so much about Jeju Island- which is said to be the Hawaii of South Korea- since moving to SK that we decided to go check it out!

We skipped the rental car and spent 3 days using only public transportation (bus, train, subway, taxis & planes) which was no easy feat for Brian to manage to get all 9 of us around without even speaking the local language. But he did!

And Jeju did not disappoint us- surfing, hiking, lava tube exploring, seafood galore, local markets- and we only had time to see about 1/4 of the island.

Off we go- We left base on the city bus, and all only had backpacks for our 6 day adventure ahead.

Kids scored the back row of the bus- 

Bus to the train station-

Trains & buses are silent in South Korea. The question here, can these kids stay quiet?

It took us all day to get from our house to Jeju using public transportation. Bus to train to subway to airport to taxi to finally Jeju!

While in Seoul, Macy wanted to take the crew to a mall she'd recently found with friends. While there, we found some tasty lunch-

Kid choices-

A few shots at the mall golf shop-

Finally at the airport!

We went back and forth- okay, Brian and Sara went back and forth- about which airbnb would be best for us- and this house was the winner- 

Mostly because of the bunk room- 6 beds were perfect for our kids!

And Brian probably also picked it because it came with breakfast each day- which was an interesting cultural experience each day-

The island is covered in black lava rock from the dormant volcano atop Mt Hallasan- even houses are made from lava rocks-

We decided to use a tour guide & driver for our first day there to make it a bit easier to get around, have a translator and see the sites! Here is our people mover- 

First stoop, the beach-

Sadly the day was overcast and a bit drizzly, but the water was still beautiful-

There are famous K Drama filming spots all across the island and this was one of them-

Which we tried to recreate-

Kids mingled on the beach and didn't care that it ws crummy beach weather-

Jeju island is famous for it's delicious oranges, and there was lots of orange merch to be found-

Until this trip, I didn’t even know that underground lava tubes existed-

This naturally made entrance occurred when the land above the lava tube caved in and the entrance was formed. Sounds safe. Down we go!

We are standing in front of the worlds largest lava column. Yup, that’s a thing!

It was cold, dark and wet. My family had recently watched the movie Thirteen Lives about the Thia soccer team getting rescued from being trapped in a cave!

So happy to see daylight- 

We made it!

Summer planned an amazing seafood lunch feast for us- 

I was so happy to have her with us to explain it all! 

Years ago Sara & I both read the book The Island of Sea Women- which is set in Jeju, about the women free divers- and loved it, so I knew we wanted to see the women dive on this trip. And lucky for us, the weather was good so they were diving in this beautiful cove.

The green was SO greet-

Here we are waiting for the women divers- 

Many generations ago, Jeju was a matriarchal society and the women were supporting their families by harvesting the ocean, year round, without any gear. Their ability to free dive to depths so low in temps so cold is unexplainable. The government now regulates the industry and they are forced to wear protective gear.  It is a dying profession and they say that most divers are now over 60 and only 2000 are left. Without training the next generations, this will soon become a forgotten profession. 

Off they go-

Even the kids were interested-

Speaking of kids! Tate & Nick, Tick & Nate, Batman & Robin.

You can see the orange bouy's where the women are under- 

Jeju is covered in over 300 volcanic cones and we hiked to the top of the Seongsan Ilchubong crater. Here we go-

The views were awesome-

Looking into the crater-

We had to get a picture with our tour guide, Summer- 

Korean's love their stairs!

Kids trying to make a plan for their swing picture-

Nice one- and the crater we just hiked is the center of the circle-

Us too!

Cafe culture is a big thing here. So Summer made sure to get us into a hip cafe with a cool bohemian vibe-

On a beautiful day, I'd imagine this view is to die for-

Some hard to resist yard art-

Both nights were were in Jeju we went to the Dongmun Market was awesome and the kids tried everything and ordered courageously on their own!

All teh food choices were so wonderful-

They put our beers in sippy cups to walk around the market with-

On our last night there, Tate met a girl. She spoke a little English and they exchanged instagram whatevers. It was so cute to witness and see him walk away a bit taller- and with a big smile!

Our second & final day we ventured out on our own. It was a beautiful beach day-

Macy REALLY wanted to surf in Jeju with the Leadbetter boys. So we found a surf school and that's what they did- 

Brian snuck in a quick nap- it's exhausting being in charge of us all!

Surfers ready-

 

Sadly, there were absolutely no waves. Nothing. Completely flat. But they learned to paddle and wait for waves- two very important and necessary skills of surfing! 

Quite possibly the best grapefruit-ade and view ever-

This guy is all over the island. He’s the old wise grandpa of Jeju and I adored seeing him each and every time- 

 

Friday morning and it's time to go! No time for breakfast, or the bus- we needed to hop in 3 taxi's to get to the airport and catch our flight back to Seoul.

Airport breakfast burger- 

Next up 3 days in Seoul.

We flew back to Seoul from Jeju island at 10am and checked into the Dragon Hill Lodge (Sara & I had stayed at the European equivalent ‘Edielweiss Lodge’ together over a decade ago) for the next 3 days…

We promptly headed out to the Iteawon district for some lunch and shopping- Mexican for us and the kids went for wings- and solemnly remembered the tragic events that occurred there last fall.

Itaewon is typically a popular spot after the sun sets- but we went for lunch, so notice my cup full of ice instead of booze? The husbands would later take the big boys out for a night crawl (in search of our beloved Doner Kebab from Germany) that night actually- while we moms slept!

Then we headed to the Korean War Memorial Museum for a quick history lesson, the grounds were gorgeous-

and then lastly that day we all went out to lift our spirits an awesome Korean Baseball game- LG Twins vs Lotte Giants.

Waiting for our favorite chicken and beer "one shot"-

So brilliant!

The subway was SOOOOO crowded and hot to and from the game-

Our second day in Seoul we rented a car we headed up to the DMZ (the demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the Korean peninsula roughly in half. It was established to serve as a buffer zone between the countries of North Korea and South Korea, after the Korean War, under the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, an agreement between North Korea, China, and the United Nations Command)

While there at the border, we also we also had the privilege of visiting the JSA (The Joint Security Area- JSA, often referred to as the Truce Village or Panmunjom) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas for diplomatic engagements. This JSA visit was a HUGE privilege that we needed prior approval for and was only possible because of my amazing husband

Part 1 of our DMZ/JSA tour- visiting one of the 4 tunnels that were discovered over the last 60+ years which N Korea dug into S Korea to try to gain access. Sorry- no photos allowed.

While at the JSA- Bonus- Brian was able to get us all onto the World’s

Most Dangerous Golf Course- do NOT retrieve your ball!

Reunification- we can only hope & pray it happens in our lifetime.

Part 2- Dora reunification tower. We sit here looking into N Korea.

Oddly enough, Brian found us the perfect little Korean lunch spot, only a couple miles from the N Korean border.

Part 3- our visit to the JSA, which is commanded by the UN. Here we are looking a bit closer into N Korea.

And here we are IN North Korea. This is one of several “blue buildings” on site, which are shared equally between SK & NK- and once you step to the “other” side of the conference table, you are IN NK. See the guard behind us guarding the door to NK?!?

Outside the blue buildings- with the NK official military/diplomatic building behind us. Since COVID, there have not been many NK forces present we were told.

Our space ship people mover for the day- 

On our way back to Seoul- a quick stop off to a German bierhall to bring us all back to our days together back in Germany

The guys took Tate and Nick out for some late night Doner Kabobs and to see the nighlife in Iteawon-

Our final day in Seoul we visited the Myeongdong district- hip & trendy market streets- and then the very traditional Namdeamun market as well. But the best part was taking the gang to my favorite “silky noodle” shop- where the line is often out the door- and 3 stories high!

It was so crazy hot. SO HOT. 

When it's this hot and humid, people dont like to even walk from their air conditioned car to the air conditioned store- but here we were walking all around the city, often with backpacks and running to catch the bus. It was something. 

Needless to say, we were more than happy to say yes to a night of video games for the boys once we got home from Seoul. 

We had been going HARD for 8 straight days together. It was amazing, but we were a wee bit tired. And hot! What a giant excursion the last 6 days were with our vacation within a vacation to Jeju and Seoul. 5 nights away and it sure was nice to be home with our besties now. I loved all the joyful noises that came from a night at home when all these boys were simply together on the livingroom couch.