Jeju Island

Today was all about our journey to Jeju Island.  The morning was spent packing and getting ready to leave the hotel.  We left most of our luggage at the hotel's bell desk and just took a few bags along.  Our place in Jeju has a washer and dryer so we had one bag almost full of clothes that needed washing.

Checking in at Jeju Air

Our flight was on Jeju Air out of the Gimpo Airport, Seoul's other airport used mainly for domestic flights and regional international flights.  We took the subway/airport express train to get there.  Even though our hotel is a short walk from Seoul Station, one of the main transfer points for transportation, we walked for a long time to get to our train as we navigated stairs, escalators, walking tunnels and such.  But once we got to the train, it was a nice, easy ride to the airport.

Ian with his Angry Bird chips

Our plane, a Boeing 737-800

We got checked in and grabbed some light snacks and lunch at the airport.  I like the security checkpoints in Korea better than the US.  We didn't have to remove our shoes or do a body scan or remove our liquids and they had no problem with the water and Coke in Dana's bag.  I did have to take out my laptop, but it was a breeze compared to a US checkpoint.  Our flight to Jeju was a short 50 minutes and Cami and Ian grabbed a nap on the way.  The flight gets into Jeju-si, on the north side of the island, but our hotel was near Seogwipo in the south.  So we caught a bus that took us around the island where we were met by a gentleman named Alex who took us to our hotel in his subcompact car.  It's a good thing we didn't have much luggage!  Our hotel is called Jejueco Suites.  It's a smaller place,  kind of like a bed and breakfast, run by a guy named Victor who is originally from Russia.  He studied Korean in college and 11 years ago decided to move to Jeju to continue his studies.  He's been leading tours for several years, but just a few months ago opened the hotel so it feels brand new.  The hotel is situated on a hillside among tangerine orchards and guest can pick tangerines from their garden.  We chose the place because the room came with a two day tour of the island and has free laundry.

Ian in the tangerine garden.

After we got settled in our room, Alex drove us into town so we could get some dinner.  We had a traditional Korea meal where we sat on mats on the heated floor.  Interestingly, there were also western style tables in the restaurant.  While we sat on the floor the Koreans who were dining used the tables.  We tried several dishes - Ben had a spicy seaweed and pork soup, Cami and Ian had stuffed dumplings and Dana and I had a spicy noodle and pork soup.  Cami liked the noodles so much we ended up ordering another bowl for her.

After dinner, Victor picked us up and returned us to our room.  We did some laundry while the kids watched Korean cartoons and then we went to bed.  Tomorrow we get to tour Jeju and see all it's natural wonders!

So my observation for the day is this:  When in Korea, remove your shoes before entering a home, but keep them on when going through the airport!