Island Hopping 2014 #1 - Bigeumdo (비금도) and Island with Kind Old Folks and Beach Police

Traveling in Korea in summer can be very difficult. Beaches and camping grounds are packed. My husband and I love traveling but we hate being on a crowded beach. We planned to go island hopping but we didn't know which islands to go to. We've been to Jeju Island, Dokdo, Ulleungdo, and Ganghwado.  And we didn't want to go back to places that we've already been to. We planned to go to Somaemuldo and some other islands nearby. Our plan changed when we learned that When in Korea (WinK) was having a trip, "Island Hoping Trip Off the Beaten Path". We decided to do that instead. So, on the night of July 25th, my husband and I found ourselves on a train to Daejeon to meet the group. Around 1:00 AM we left for Mokpo. The bus ride was long but since I fell asleep, it didn't seem so long. We arrived in Mokpo at around 4:00 AM. There were more than 25 people on the bus but most of them were going to Jeju Island. Only four of us were on the island hopping trip. The weather that day wasn't very nice. The ferry was delayed. Our group leader decided to change the course. We were able to get a ferry to Bigeumdo Island at 1:00 PM. As we left the Mokpo Coastal Ferry Terminal, a group of seagulls followed us. I bought a bag of shrimp crackers and started throwing the crackers to them. I always enjoy doing it. My husband and some other passengers did the same thing.

The long voyage wasn't boring at all. We arrived at Bigeumdo Port at around 3:00 PM.The place was very quiet. The first thing that caught my attention was a big sculpture of a bird. I'm not sure what bird it was.

We walked towards a small store where our group leader asked the owner to call a taxi for us. A few minutes later, the taxi came. While on the taxi, I kept looking outside, trying to see everything along the way. I saw a series of paddies but those paddies weren't for plants. Those were paddies used for salt evaporation. I wasn't able to take pictures though. :(

The taxi dropped us off at the beach. We found a few big tents near the beach. The tents were next to the beach police's  (coast guard) station. Since the weather was hot, we rested there and then walked to the store. We know our stuff would be safe since there were 6 beach police there. On our way to the store, we saw a few old folks.  Some of them were working on their vegetable farms, while others were resting under a small hut. The store wasn't so big and there weren't a lot of stuff in it. There's something interesting about the store though. We saw birds' nests in the ceiling. There were little birds in some of the nests.

On our way back, the old folks invited us to join them under the hut. They then offered us fermented rice liquor (soju) and crabs. The soju was very strong. The crabs were pretty good though. The old folks were really nice. One of them adopted us. :) I think this experience was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I will never forget those old folks.

Pyungnim Maeul is the name of the village we were at.

It was dark when we returned to our tents.
The next morning, Vince and I woke up early to see the sunrise. We were greeted by the cold breeze and thick fog. It was so foggy that we could hear the sound of the waves but we couldn't see the ocean.

Empty tents...

My Husband taking a picture of the sun through the thick fog.

Beach recliners, the beach police's patrol jeep, and jet ski..:)

We walked around and found a lot of interesting insects and some huge frogs.

small spider

a tiny dragonfly

a baby snail

a huge spider

a brown praying mantis

We went to the beach and found out what made all those holes on the sand, the CRABS. We watched them come out of their holes. We saw how they carried and kicked sand balls far away from their holes. It was fun watching them run quickly as soon as they saw us move. Some didn't go all the way in their holes. They stayed in the mouth of their holes and watched us. It was funny how their long eyes turned around while their bodies weren't moving.

Photo credit to my husband..:)

Photo taken by my husband with his telephoto lens...

While we were enjoying the company of our little friends, one of the six beach police came and gave us a cup of hot coffee each. It was really nice of him..:) Later that day, he gave us cold Powerade.

It seemed like we didn't do a lot at Bigeumdo but we had so much fun. Simple things made us happy. The kindness of the people and the peacefulness of the place made our trip a very meaningful one.

Gangneung: A Home of the Great Mother and the Prominent Scholar

Vince, my husband, has been wanting to witness the Gangneung Danoje Festival.  The Danoje Festival is a festival related to shamanism celebrated by the people of Gangneung.
Gangneung is aroung 6 hours away from Gumi by train. We left home at around 10:00 P.M. and took a train from Daegu at 12:02 A.M. I was glad that I was able to sleep on the train. I woke up around 5:30 A.M. As soon as I opened my eyes, the beauty of nature was revealed to me. I  saw the river flowing with crystal clear water and the mountains were covered by verdant trees. I didn't close my eyes again because I was afraid to lose any of the beautiful scenery.  The train passed by a farm covered with golden brown wheat. Then I saw a creek with sparkling water. Along the creek there were bright yellow one eyed Susans. I enjoyed watching them from the trains window.

About thirty minutes later, the train stopped at Jeongdongjin Station (정동진 역). I saw the sun rising over the ocean. It was a very beautiful view.  Actually, one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. I would certainly go back there to watch it.

After a few minutes, the train left and then it stopped at Gangneung Station. We got off and then we looked for the bus stop. We got on bus #202 and got off at Ojukheon Entrance (오죽헌 입고). It was still very early so we decided to walk around. There was a paved walking path near the bus stop. There were colorful poppy flowers on the side of the walking path. We spent our time taking pictures of the poppy flowers and the bees.

This is one of my favorite photos.

Aside from poppy flowers, there were yellow cosmos...

and blue cornflowers there too.

I was like the bees transferring from flower to flower. I couldn't get enough of them. They were so lovely and attractive.

Then it was time to go. We headed to Ojukheon. My husband bought the tickets.

Vince buying the tickets....

We entered the gate. The place was very quiet. There was a few visitors. The first thing we saw inside the compound was the statue of Yi I (이이). His pen name is Yulgok, in which he was often referred to. He was one of the two famous Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty. He is the man on the South Korean banknote, the 5000 won.

Yulgok Yi I

I searched online for a picture of the old South Korean banknote, the 5000 won. Here's what I found.

My husband and I found the exact place where the picture at the back of the 5000 won bill was taken and we tried to make our own. Here's the picture I had taken. 

We explored Ojukheon and found the building where Sin Saimdang gave birth to Yi I.

We also found a seated bronze statue of the notable Joseon Dynasty artist, calligrapher, poet, and most of all, a great wife to her husband and mother to his son, Yi I. She appears on the South Korean banknote, the 50,000 won. One of her paintings appears on the back of the South Korean banknote, the 5000 won.

The sun was already high when we finished walking around Ojukheon. We decided to go to a coffee shop nearby.

Then we headed to the beach....

Discovering Korea's Gem in the South Coast: Gacheon Daraengi Village

My husband and I have always wanted to visit the Southern part of South Korea. But because of the distance and a lack of adequate time, we couldn't go there. We were so excited when we learned that our friend was organizing a camping trip to Namhae. What made us more excited was the fact that the camping was scheduled on a 3-day weekend. Thanks to the Korean War Memorial Day.

It was our first time to go camping together here in South Korea. And the camp site is right next to the beach! How awesome is that! I was imagining lying in our tent, listening to the sound of the waves while my eyes were closed. I couldn't wait for the day of our departure.

Then that day came.We got on the bus and started enjoying the scenery along the way. We stopped at Hanam Rest Area to pick up some people coming from Busan. After around a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at our first destination, the Daraengi (Terraced Rice Field) in Gacheon Village. Gacheon Daraengi was featured in Korean Dramas such as KBS 2 Television series 'Cinderella's Sister' ( 신데렐라 언니) and TV Chosun Weekend Dramas 'Saving Mrs. Go Bong Shil (고봉실 아주마 구하기, and Bride of the Century (백년의 신부). It is also a filming location of the movies  Indian Summer (인디안 써머) and Barefoot Ki-Bong (맨발의 기봉이).

I saw a few houses, small restaurants, and a coffee shop. Some of the houses' roofs were embellished with flowers painted on it.

We walked down the paved road and the ocean greeted us with its soft breeze. It felt so refreshing. The view of the green terraced rice field and the  blue ocean was a marvelous combination.

Then the sky kissed the ocean......looking at them makes me feel calm.

The blue water was inviting me to walk down and dip my feet into it.

The rice plants danced as the soft breezed blow. They seemed to be waving their tiny blades happily as if their welcoming me.

My Husband photographing the rice plants..:)

We continued exploring the village and we found this wooden path way that led us to one of the small gazebos there. I kind of like how the railings led my eyes to the gazebo and then to the blue ocean. That's why I took this picture.

I wanted to stay a little bit more but this plant reminded me of the time and I realized that it's almost time to go back to our bus. People there called this plant a shigye chu (시계 초) because of it's features. It looks like a clock with it's three needles. I searched it and I found out that it is actually called Fassifloraceae or Passion Flower.

Passifloraceae or Passion Flower

Known in Korea as 시계초 (Shigye-cho) or Clock Plant

 Since we almost ran out of time we decided to hike up back to where the bus was parking. When we get there I felt horrible. I didn't thing it would be that hard to hike back up. I felt like I was running out of oxygen. I was very thirsty. But looking back to terraced rice field and the ocean made me feel accomplished.

14th Mt. Palgong Autumn Foliage Festival ( 제14 팔공산 단풍 축제)

   Albert Camus once said, "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  I think he is right. I love both spring and autumn. I love the pretty flowers of spring and the dramatic leaves of autumn. I get so excited every time spring and autumn comes.

In fact, today my husband and I visited Mt. Palgong in Daegu to see the Autumn Foliage Festival. We went there with a friend.

We were not able to get train tickets in advance so we had to stand on the train. We didn't want to stand again going back to Gumi, so we purchased our tickets before going to Mt. Palgong. Unfortunately, many people were going to Mt. Palgong also, so the bus going there was packed. So we had to stand on the bus for almost an hour.

After a long bus ride we arrived to our destination and we were greeted by trees wearing their red and yellow crowns.

               We walked around to see more trees. Beauty was everywhere. It seemed like the trees were smiling at me.

             And this cute friend said 'hello' to me. She's cute, isn't she?

               I can't help but take more and more photos.

        Then we decided to go up to the mountain top. Our time was limited so we decided to take the cable car. Riding in a cable car allowed us to enjoy the view like this. 

        After a few minutes, we reached the top. The colorful mountain grandeur was revealed to us. I can't help but admire the beauty in front of me.

          It was really beautiful and relaxing up there. I didn't want to leave. But I had to. Standing on the train and the bus really was worth it. I would love to go back there again someday.

Live Like Water

What is life?

What is the purpose of life?

How could I live this life?

Why do I live?

These are the questions that often come into my mind.  I keep searching for the answers of these questions but it seems so hard to find them.

Until one day I happened to pass by a river.  Rushing water moves continuously, it seems unending.   It is full of vigor. As I look at it I can see that water seems to be excited to reach its destination.  While looking unto it I noticed that the color of the water is not clear. It is more like milk mixed with coffee.  There's a lot of junk in it: cans, plastics, dirt, and leaves are floating on it.  Seeing the dirty water makes me feel sad because I think that this water in the river might not be useful anymore.  How could be the dirty water be useful? We can’t drink from it, nor take a a bath in it.

Having that sadness within me I continue walking beside the river, trying to enjoy the scenery around me. While walking, I noticed that the vigorous sound of the water can’t be heard anymore.  I look at the river again and I noticed that the water in the river became less in amount and it also moves slower.  I continue walking and I notice that the water totally disappeared from my sight. Another question comes into my mind.  Where does the water go?  Why is it gone?  Then I remember our lesson in science class before about water cycle.  Our teacher told us before that water sometimes goes with air which what we call evaporation.  It is a process in which water turned into air and goes up in space then later on it falls to the ground in the form of rain.  Another reason why water disappears is that it goes into the ground. But it does not stop there.  It continues moving, passing through rocks, gravel, soil and sand below the ground. 

I tried to forget about the water and enjoy gazing at the panoramic scenery.  I set my eyes ahead of me.  I see something sparkling through the striking light of the sun.  There is something like a sparkling crystal not so far away from me.  It sparkles brilliantly in the sunlight.  As I come near I notice that the sparkling thing I saw a while ago is a body of water.  It seems to be the continuation of the river.  But there is a big difference between the water I first saw and the water I’m looking at now.  Now I can see the crystal clear water, not the same light brown water.  I asked myself why?  Is this a miracle or magic?  How could it be?  A dirty river turned into crystal clear water.  As a nature lover I was amazed of what I have seen.  The river seems to invite me to step into it.  I decided to go down and put my foot into the clear water.  At that moment I feel the cool touch of it into my skin.  I feel relaxed.  The sadness I felt a while ago was suddenly gone and it was replaced by happiness.

Then I realized that the water goes down through ground in order for it to be purified by the gravels, sand and big rocks in the ground.  All those things seemed to be hindrances that make the water move slowly, cleansing and making it pure.  These things serve as purifiers that make the dirty water clean and useful again.  After passing through all these hindrances water continues to move in order to reach its destination: the wide sea, where waters of the world come together. 

Then I remember the question I had before.  The water in the river gave me the answer to my questions.

First, what is life?  Life is a journey.  It is a journey which we have to take.  In this journey we pass through different stages.  I do believe that when I was born I have nothing but the body, spirit and breathe that my Creator had given me.  My mind is empty; it is like a blank notebook that needs to be written.  It is covered by the dirt of ignorance and innocence.   But as days passed by and I continue living I was able to encounter different experiences, problems, and trials, which I consider the sand, gravel and rocks.  These experiences, problems, and trials give me trouble and make me think of quitting.   All these seemed to be the hindrances which are trying to stop me from lifting my feet to walk forward and continue living.

Second, how would I live this life? In living this life we need to be flexible.  We also need strength and self-confidence while we face trials and problems that we experience in our lives.  We should know how to deal with problems.  When trouble comes, all we need is to face it.  As the water encountering rocks, sand and gravel we will face trouble even as it will slow us down.  We should keep going forward.  We should think of the way in which we overcome that trouble.  Water passes through rocks by going down the rocks, sometimes through the sides of the rocks since it can’t climb up on it.  But it never quits.  So we should not quit either.  If we can’t directly face it for its size we can pass through it slowly as long as we do not quit.  Quitting or running away from problems can cause more problem which sometimes are much bigger and heavier to carry.  If we run away, we will be considered cowards.  Cowardice is failure.  There are so many things we can do  in this life besides quitting.  Quitting is a defeat without engaging the battle.  In living we need to be optimistic.  Thinking positively will keep us going forward despite the difficulty to persevere.

The last question I have is: why do I live this life?  If the water in the river has its destination, which is the sea, we also have our destination and purpose.  Why we are living here on Earth?  In our life, the wide sea is the success we aim to achieve.  We need to dream , so that we will have the reason to live.  I have a dream that I want to achieve.  This dream keeps me me motivated to live despite the difficulty of my life.

My wide sea is to be able to reach my dreams not only for myself but also for my family and for the people around me.  I live this life for me to offer my help to those who need it.  I admit that I am ambitious. I have many dreams that I want to fulfill and I want to use my life to make others fulfill their own dreams.

Life’s purpose is not achieving something for us alone, but having something for us to share.

Like the water, we can move continuously and supply the needs of others.  May our hearts flow with love and care endlessly.

Water is purified by rocks, sand, and gravel while we are purified and become wiser because of trials.  Continue your journey and reach for your own sea.

Good luck..:)

            Special thanks to my friend Orlando Romero for editing this piece 3 years ago.

Trip to Sagada: The Summary

Sagada is a peaceful town in Mountain Province, Philippines.  It is nestled in the valley some 1,500 meters above sea level.  It is enveloped by the Corrdillera Ranges and Ilocos Range.  Due to its location, Sagada has a cooler and highland rainforest climate which makes it a good summer get away, just like Baguio and Tagaytay.

Sagada is blessed with big caves such as Lumiang and Sumaguing.  It also has waterfalls, such as Bomod-ok and Pongas.  There are beautiful hilltops, such as Marlboro Country, Kiltepan Peak, and Echo Valley.  These places made activities like trekking, spelunking, hiking, and sunrise viewing popular.  Sagada might be popular because of it's natural beauty, but there's something else that made it famous, the "Hanging Coffins".

We booked a tour package to Sagada through a travel agency since we only have 5 days vacation.  The tour package included a van transfer from Manila-Sagada-Manila, accommodation, tour guide fee, and entrance fees.  We paid $760 for 4 people for the package.

We left Manila around 9:00 at night.  I decided to take a nap since I was tired from a 3 hour flight from South Korea.  The van was pretty spacious because there were only five of us including the driver.  A couple of hours later, we made a stop over at a gasoline station.  Then we started going up to Baguio.  It was night time so I saw nothing but a few jeepneys and cars parked along the way.  And a lot of lights that looked like fireflies hovering around the hilltops.

Around 5:00 in the morning the next day we made another stop over at a gasoline station in Abatan, Benguet.  My mom and I got out of the van and looked around the place.  As we opened the door, we were kissed by a cool morning breeze and heaven! We were literally above the clouds and our van was parked a couple of meters away from the cliff.  The view was marvelous.  I was speechless.  Green terraces with clouds and fogs over it.  What I saw was the opposite of 'stairway to heaven', I saw the 'stairway to earth', for we were standing on heaven.

Early morning in Abatan, Benguet

We continued our journey "through the clouds".  I saw how heaven kisses the earth.  And it was priceless.  It was like a dream and I didn't want to blink in the fear of missing any of those glorious views.

Stop over at Mt. Kalawitan

 After a long yet amazing journey, we arrived at our destination, SAGADA.  We checked in to our guest house.  Rested for a bit and walked around the town proper to look for a place to eat.  We passed a number of souvenir shops along the road.  Then saw a restaurant named Masferre Country Inn and Restaurant.  My husband recognized the name.  Masferre is the family name of the 'Father of Philippine Photography', Eduardo Masferre.  We entered and ate lunch there.  The restaurant houses some of the world-renowned photographs of the famous photographer.

At Masferre, waiting for our orders

Around 1:00 in the afternoon our tour guide came and we went trekking to Pongas Falls. The trek wasn't difficult and the weather wasn't so hot. There was a concrete path that leads to the waterfalls. It took us about an hour to get there. And again the goddess of nature touched my soul. The water runs down aesthetically, it was very beautiful. There we climbed one of the huge rocks and took photos. Our tour guide led us to the upper portion of the waterfalls. The breeze and the sound of water hitting the rocks was refreshing. I didn't want to leave. The water in a small natural pool was inviting me to swim but I turned down the invitation and dipped my hand and washed my face instead. Then we bid goodbye to it and started trekking down.

We had dinner at Yoghurt House then went to bed early. I slept really well.

The next morning I felt energized and ready for the day's activities. Our tour guide came and we headed to the hilltop they call Echo Valley. The place wasn't called Echo Valley for nothing, it's one of the few places where shouting is encouraged for your voice returns to you. The place was surrounded by lime stones. It is believed that it was underwater thousands of years ago. From the Echo Valley, we saw the coffins hanging on the side of a huge rock. To get a closer look to the 'Hanging Coffins' we trekked down a cliff. Hanging coffins is a tribal burial tradition that started around 2000 years ago. This burial tradition is slowly fading but still being practiced by few. The latest addition to the coffins was December 2010.

Hanging Coffins

Huge rock at Echo Valley

The part of the trip which I considered a highlight was the spelunking. But before spelunking our tour guide brought us to a sacred burial cave, the Lumiang Cave. Lumiang Cave is the entrance cave for cave connection. But we didn't do the cave connection because it might be very difficult for my parents. We left Lumiang cave and headed to Sumaguing Cave or the "Big Cave". It is the exit cave of cave connection.
From the road, we walked down around 30 steps on a concrete staircase. We had two tour guides for the spelunking. Before we entered the cave our guided lighted two alcohol powered lamps. The entrance was slippery and we could hear the sounds of bats. At first, it was a little scary but then we reached the first glory of the cave, the 'elephants pen'. We continued walking through wet rocks and then our guide told us to leave our slippers. We did and walked barefoot. I was glad I did becuase if I have my slippers on I won't be able to enjoy the feeling of walking on 'flow stone'. 'Flow stone' is a kind of cave rock which looks slippery but is actually rough. As the journey in the cave continues, I felt more excited. I couldn't explain what I felt. The rock formations were amazing. There's a queen, a king's curtain, a princess, a prince, a turtle, a bowing bear, and a lion and tiger. The king's curtain was pretty high so we needed the aid of a 'human ladder', and a rope. We had to pass through a very small passage in between rocks. We couldn't raise our heads or else we'll bump into sharp edges of rocks. Stalagmites and stalactites growing, water dripping and our adrenaline rushing. Further down the cave was a small pool. The water reached my chest. Then there was a big pool which I didn't try to jump into. We rested on a flat surface and our guide pointed to something on the wall. There were fossilized shells on the wall. More proof that that place was once under water.

Standing on the 'turtle's back'

Choco-Vanilla Cake

On the last day of our Sagada trip, we woke up early and headed to Kiltepan Peak to see the sunrise above the clouds. It was foggy that morning and we failed to see what we wanted to see. I didn't feel bad though. The fog made the place so dramatic and I still loved it.

  We checked out and left for Manila. I wanted to see those things I failed to see when we were going up, so I stayed awake the whole trip down and I didn't regret it. The view was amazing. Seeing waterfalls and rice terraces made me so excited and happy. We made a quick stop over at the Philippine Highway's highest point. It was 1,744 meters above see level. From where we stood, we saw some of the Philippine's highest mountains and one waterfall was also visible.

  People may think Sagada is far. Yes, it is, but it is worth it. And if somebody asked me if I want to go back there, my answer will be, "Absolutely!". Sagada is a real gem. It is blessed with natural beauty and it is rich in culture and history. It is also one of the few places where 'Alamid/Luwak Coffee (Civet Cat Coffee) is produced. The food was amazing and the people were nice too.

If you love adventure, Sagada will be a best place to go. Some famous places near Sagada are Baguio, Banaue, and Batad. Ilocos is not that far too. Going to Sagada by public transportation isn't that hard also. There are two ways to get there, via Baguio and via Bontoc. The bus terminal for Baguio is in Cubao (Victory Liner) it takes 6 hours to get to Baguio.  The fare is around P450 or $12, from Baguio take a cab to Dangwa Bus Terminal where you can take Lizardo bus.  That can take you straight to Sagada. Please take note that the last bus from Dangwa to Sagada is 1:00 in the afternoon. Via Bontoc, there is Cable Tours.  It will take you straight to Bontoc.  The travel time is 12 hours and the bus fare is around P700 or $16.  From Bontoc, take a jeepney that will bring you to Sagada for around P60 or $1 and 50 cents.

 Tourists need to register at the Tourist Registration Center in Sagada town proper.