Deokjeokdo

So here's the thing about living in Korea, when there is a holiday it is either extremely expensive to get off this peninsula, or everyone goes to the same domestic destinations so things are sold out, crowded and more expensive. This past weekend was Buddha's birthday which is one of the biggest holiday weekends of the year. People had been telling me for months that if I planned to go anywhere this weekend to book in advance. Well Erin and I decided on an island vacay one week prior. After a false invite and the fact that I am putting all my money towards Mom's visit in July I really wasn't planning on doing anything. Then Erin suggested going to an Island. There is a chain of islands near Incheon (where the main airport for the greater Seoul area is) on the western coast of Korea. It was a slightly arbitrary choice as there are many islands so we just took a suggestion from a local and made the decision. We (meaning Erin) booked accomodations. Note: I hate booking hotels and whenever given the opportunity am happy to let my travel buddy take the lead. She found a fantastic split level place that was available for the first two nights, but sold out the third. The rest of our choices looked like they had bed bugs so we went with the best of those which ended up having moldy walls, 21 soju shot glasses and only one regular cup in it's kitchen, and not enough buckets to catch the rain seeping through for 24 hours. NBD I have stayed in worse. With our accommodations booked and pick up times set we headed off early Thursday morning to catch the 9:30 am ferry. As I mentioned it is near the airport which usually is about 45 minutes by bus from Ilsan. We left our apartments at 7:15 and had to take a bus to dongincheon station and then a cab from there to the ferry port, or so we thought. About an hour into the bus ride the driver told us to get off at a random stop and get onto another bus, to go to the station, to catch a cab. We knew we were in Incheon so decided to just get a cab. Keep in mind the scale of Seoul, so even though we were in the vicinity it was still quite a distance. Hailing a cab proved to be very difficult in this particular area and we spent a good 20 min trying to flag one down. Finally Erin asked a local woman to help us and we managed to catch a driver's eye. This was at about 9am. We were relieved and figured we would still make the ferry in time. Wrong. Traffic was gnarly and we arrived at the port at 9:40 am. We missed the boat. Already knowing the next ferry was at 3pm we bought tickets and stored our things in a locker. While buying our tickets we discovered that all the return ferries for Sunday were sold out besides the first leaving at 9:40am. Then we discovered that all the ferries for Friday were sold out as well. Our good friend Michael aka Buddha was supposed to come join us Friday to Sunday as he had to work on Thursday. It was a big bummer to find out that there was no way he could come, and a reality check that we should have booked everything in advance. The day prior our Chinese teacher at school had randomly mentioned to me as I was leaving work that there is a China Town in Incheon. Lucky we had this convo because with 5 hours to kill Erin and I hopped in a cab and spent the morning wandering around it. Turns out it is very quaint and has a beautiful park at the top of the hill with a temple that overlooks the area. We had a nice lunch at a very friendly local joint and headed back to the port with plenty of time to spare. The journey to the island was only an hour and ten minutes and a breeze. We were picked up by the woman who runs the hotel we were in. We got checked in, stopped by the local store, took a walk down on the beach, and settled in for the night. The next day we had planned to take a boat trip to see the smaller surrounding islands and some beautiful rock formations that Deokjeokdo is known for. Heading down to the dock at 9 am we expected no problems booking a tour or chartering a boat for the morning. Wrong again. We arrived only to find out that every boat and tour had already been booked for Friday and Saturday and we were out of luck. Well our lovely hostess was not having it. She began running around frantically talking to all the locals and captains trying to get us a spot on a boat, any boat. She even flagged down two foreigners who were leaders waiting for their own tour group to arrive and had them explain the situation to us. A bit defeated but willing to just roll with it, we decided we would hit up another beach on the way back. I had to make a pit stop and as I closed the stall door Erin came running into the bathroom hollering at me that we were being summoned. We ran down the dock and boarded a ferry with two Korean men waiting. There was a lot of conversation back and forth and we finally gathered that she had convinced them to let us on by just paying the regular passenger rate each way (W11,500), about 12 bucks. We were told we would arrive back at 4:30pm and there was something in there about 3pm but we didn't really understand. We didn't care. We were just stoked on it and along for the ride. We boarded and were given a coffee for free which in Korea they call "service." The ferry filled up and about 20 min after we departed one of the men came down and showed me his phone which read "I will show you calibration." I had no idea what this meant but he wanted us to follow him, so we did. He took us up into the deckhouse and introduced himself as Mr. Yun, second officer. The other man's name was Mr. Lee, first officer. The captain never said anything he just chain smoked and gave us a few wayward glances. We were given more coffee and as Mr. Lee handed it to us he said, "Coffee, American style." We giggled and were excited to have such a great view from the top of the ship. They showed us all the equipment, gave us snacks and binoculaurs and we talked about the NY Yankees. Around noon we were summoned down to their cabin where they had prepared to share their lunch with us. Unprepared for an entire day on a boat we were hungry and grateful. We were almost finished eating when we were rushed off the boat onto a practically uninhabited island and told we were getting a "free tour" and to be back at the dock by 3pm for pick up. With no hesitation we gladly obliged and as the boat pulled away a small group of men were loading camping and fishing gear into the back of a pick up truck. We decided to stand and wait to see if anyone said anything as we had no idea if there was a plan. They offered us a ride just as they pulled away and we hopped on in. We drove for just a few minutes until they stopped in town. I use that term loosely as it consisted of a handful of houses and a goat. They informed us they would be going on to the other side of the island to go fishing and "hilling" (hiking). One man said we should walk along the road and turn back after an hour to make the ferry in time. We thanked them and waved as they drove off. This is when we realized where we were. A beautiful isolated island with emerald waters, rocky shores and no tourists in sight. I think most of the first hour was spent conversing about how amazing it was. We made it to the end of the road on that side and headed back catching our ferry with no problems and plenty of photos. The trip back was a bit silly we met a 50 year old man who would not take no for an answer on the offer to buy us a beer, and told us how to say island and seagull in Korean about 46 times. By the time we made it back to our hotel it was almost 6pm and our little quiet peaceful town was overrun with drunken sunburned foreigners. The decision was made to eat dinner and stay in for the night. We were both exhausted and only in the mood to socialize with each other after so many new friends on the boat. Plus Erin got me hooked on the first season of Homeland. The two officers from the ferry had invited us to meet for beers and we were able to move the plan to the next night. Saturday morning we got up and packed up to move to the next hotel. Our wonderful lady drove us there even though it turned out to be just down the road. We thanked her profusely for everything and plan to send her a translated thank you note. Check in was a little confusing but we ended up with a bed for the night. The plan for Saturday was to hike the peak and then lay on the beach as a reward. We asked the man at the hotel where to go to find the trail head and he mumbled something in Korean and pointed to the top of the mountain. I simultaneously mumbled some smart ass remarks in my own head and we set off to find the trail head unassisted. The hike was about an hour and absolutely beautiful. You get a 180 degree view of the island and surrounding smaller ones. We took our time and eventually headed down and stopped for some lunch. After a nice chat with some people from the large tour group it started to rain and we knew the beach wasn't going to happen so we went back to the room for a nap feeling satisfied with our accomplishments. Later that evening we met the guys from the boat for a beer and some Chinese. The entire weekend all I wanted was fresh seafood and every single meal was Chinese or kimchi something. It was alright though because there was this very round man who ran the restaurant in town and he was exceptionally talented. Some of the best handmade noodles and sweet and sour I have ever tasted. We spent about an hour exchanging broken Korean and English. Mr. Lee played us some Celine Dion from YouTube and we were on our way. The rain never let up and the next morning we realized the buckets were insufficient for catching the rain water which had made various puddles among cords and furniture. Everything went smoothly getting on the ferry. Even misty and rainy the island was beautiful. Arriving back home in Ilsan about 1pm on Sunday we promptly got cheeseburgers and indulged in laying in our own beds for the afternoon. I am excited to live in a country that is a hidden gem in itself. Next trip is Jeju Island with Mom and possibly China or the Phillippines. For now I will take a weekend away anywhere in our region. I didn't realize how much I needed a break from the city until I took a 7 am walk our first morning. The birds, fresh air, and even roosters which I always hated in Thailand, made me smile. A little simplicity can do wonders for our sanity and it turns out I needed the reminder.