Trotamundos: grasshopper

Sometimes thing just work out really well for us...

Thursday night; it had been raining constantly for 7 days (ever since the Taean soaking) and we were facing a weekend indoors. Checking the weather however, a two-day window of sunshine was forecast for Saturday and Sunday; so, at 10 o'clock at night, we hastily packed a backpack ready to set off on an adventure straight after work on Friday.

Motel essentials

Friday night; taxi straight to the train station after work, Lotteria burgers bought and we jumped on the first train to Boryeong with barely a minute to spare. Arriving at Boryeong at 10.30pm we were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of wandering the streets in the rain trying to find a cheap and conveniently located hotel, when, in the station, we were approached by a Korean man offering to take us to his hotel. Now in South America this is completely normal; at every bus, train or plane you get off you're met by a dozen or so people waving leaflets at you and offering to take you to their hostel. In Korea however, this just doesn't happen. Naturally we were sceptical, and when he led us to the back of a mini van and his bandana-wearing accomplice joined us I decided it was either going to work out very very well or very very badly.
Fortunately for us, it work out very very well. He took us to a motel by Daecheon beach, saving us the 10,000won taxi ride there. The room was basic but did come with half-used bottles of massage oil, lotion and a toilet roll next to the bed - classy. Having saved ourselves heaps of time looking for a hotel, we took a romantic stroll on the beach, and just as we sat down on a rock to watch the ocean, a firework display began just 50 meters down the beach. Perfect.

The stormy waters of our outward boat trip

At the ungodly hour of 6.30am we were up and on our way to the ferry terminal to catch the 8am ferry to Oeyeondo island. Oeyeondo is one the 3,000 islands surrounding the Korean peninsula and is the furthest island away from the mainland.

Spoiling the view....

Although the rain had ceased the sea was still in storm mode and I lasted all of 25 minutes before I was throwing up at the back of the boat. I wasn't alone though, half of the passengers were there with me and even Ric looked a little green! We passed countless islands, each one as beautiful as the last with golden beaches, unspoilt greenery and rocky cliffs. We stopped at two islands before finally reaching Oeyeondo two and half hours after setting off.

Oeyeondo fishing village, volcano in the background

Now I'm not going to lie, the small fishing town in the centre is a hideous contrast to the beauty of the island. There's a slight waste disposal problem: rubbish lines the streets and bright blue septic tanks provide an eyesore on the outskirts of town as well as a stomach-turning smell. My first impression of Oeyeondo was far from enchanted.

Basic?!

Our bed for the night was in a minbak, a traditional Korean guest house. I was expecting basic but when an old lady led us to our room I was still a little surprised - 4 white walls and little else, the shower was a bucket with a hose pipe.

Oeyeondo island is amazing though. To the left is an overgrown dormant volcano and to the right a towering mountain. It's a trekker's paradise. Some parts of the island have had wooden paths installed - part of Korea's initiative to turn everything into a "national monument", other parts have sort-of rocky paths and elsewhere, the volcano for instance, there is no path at all.

We did a fairly easy 4 hour trek, mainly sticking to the paths as we were both wearing shorts and didn't fancy having our legs ripped to pieces by nettles and tree roots. We didn't miss out on any wildlife though: the insects on Oeyeondo are HUGE. Every couple of yards we walked I'd jump out of my skin as a kitten-sized grasshopper jumped across our path, or we'd have to stop dead in our tracks to avoid a head on collision with a tarantula casually building its web across the walkway. We saw snakes, beetles, butterflies - all gigantic! We even got a video of a tarantula making it's web. It was incredible to watch.

One of the more civilised paths

The weather was perfect, warm but still cloudy so the sun didn't fry us (although I still managed to get burnt shoulders). After our trek we went down to one of the rocky coves and swam in the crystal clear sea; there was no one there but us - it really was like having our own little island.

The thing about going to the furthest Korean island from the mainland is that it doesn't get too many tourists, lest still westerners. In a town with a population of 300 people I'd say we met half of them in the evening when we went looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Everybody wanted to talk to us, regardless of the fact that we didn't understand what they were saying. We gathered, from mimes, my broken Korean and their broken English, that the previous week's storm had had a devastating effect on the island. As a fishing village, if the fishermen can't go out to fish, the whole island is affected. As a result, many of the town's restaurants were closed and finding dinner was no easy feat.

Grasshopper mating season, so passionate...

Eventually, with half of the town tasked with finding food for the westerners, we had a tasty meal in a family home turned restaurant. I even made a courageous effort to eat the fish they brought us.

Away from the neon lights, traffic and drunk teenagers of Cheonan, sleeping in our room/cell with nothing but the sound of crickets (/GIANT grasshoppers) was wonderfully soothing, even if we were sleeping on a mat on the floor.

Praying Mantis

The next morning we were rushed out of the room at 8am by two old ladies speed-chattering away to us in Korean. They wouldn't even let us brush our teeth before we left! We'll never know why the wanted shut of us so promptly but it was by no means in malice, maybe they wanted to make sure we didn't miss our ferry... (which wasn't until 10!)

The sea was forgivingly calmer on the trip back to Boryeong and the boat ride was almost pleasant. Back by midday, we spent the rest of the afternoon on Daecheon beach. Without the thousands of mud-covered morons the beach was lovely, the sea warm and the sun was out in full force.