With spring break looming, and having been sans-vacation off the peninsula for almost a year, we decided it was a good chance to head off on a little spring break vacation. I really wanted to go to Ankara What in Cambodia this year, but flights were terrible (ie redeyes, huge layovers) and it just didn't seem worth it with all the kids in tow.
In the middle of debating what else we could do Tyler sheepishly came home and admitted that he had to go to Jeju for work during a few of spring break. Jeju is a island located about an hours flight south of Busan (150 km). It is a volcanic island with the tallest mountain (Mt. Halla) in all of Korea sitting in the center. Tyler had gone for work before, and when we lived in Seoul we had always wanted to take a family trip. . . but there just never seemed to be enough time. With the kids on break, and Tyler needing to be there anyway we decided to pack up and enjoy our week of vacation in Jeju.
Though Tyler had to work for much of the middle portion of the week, the he had a full day at the beginning and one at the end to enjoy exploring the island. We flew out super early from Busan, got to Jeju after what felt like the shortest flight ever, and picked up a rental car. We started driving across the island towards the hotel and hadn't driven for more than 20 minutes before we came across a dinosaur park. With the girls begging from the back seat to stop, we turned around and enjoyed our first stop. It was a park made with our girls in mind: filled with life sized replicas of dinosaurs.
These kids seriously adore dinosaurs. Top of their list in terms of continuing interest.
Life size(?) apatosaurus. Emily's all time favorite dinosaur. Seriously look at the size of this compared to the small colorful splotches of children at the base. Unreal.
She seriously loves these guys.
Maddie getting in on a little dino loving. She ran around the entire park yelling "rawr!"
Again. . . Emily and a long-neck.
Three pretty girls. I'm still not sure how they are related, they look so different from one another.
After running through the dinosaur park and exploring a very random maze filled with rabbits and chickens in cages (Korea can be so seriously random at times), we finally made it to the hotel and dropped off bags. After grabbing some lunch we headed off for an afternoon adventure. Our first stop was the Dolhareubang Park. The Dolhareubangs are these large fairly primitive statues carved from volcanic rock. They are believed to be the grandfather images and they were set outside villages to guard against evil. They are seriously all over the island, both in ancient and modern forms. It is easily the most recognizable symbol of Jeju.
The park was filled with hundreds of hareubangs in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Traditional dolhareubang.
Emily and a cute little guy.
Just in case people didn't believe I'm pregnant.
Allen girls.
I loved these guys with the flower pots. If I had a big yard, I would so want one of these!
My petite little hareubang.
All you need is love. . .
If completed, this would be the largest hareubang in the world.
After the park we raced off to our final destination of the day, the famed lava tubes. Jeju is a volcanic island, formed millions of years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions. The island is filled with a system of lava tubes, now empty caves where the magma once flowed underground. The system of tubes is extensive, but in a few areas natural erosion has created openings to the caves that you can enter and walk through. Though at first glance just appearing like any cave, upon closer inspection, the entire cave is hardened lava. We could have hiked for kilometers through the lava tubes, but the kids were tired, cold and wet, so after about a half kilometer we turned around and headed back to the hotel for the night.
You can see how huge these tunnels are.
Right up on the wall, you can really see the lava.
How Maddie spent the entire adventure: "plash plash plash" in the puddles. She was seriously soaked by the time we got to the car. She rode home in a diaper and shirt.
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