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.
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.
We walked around and found a lot of interesting insects and some huge frogs.
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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| Empty tents... |
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| My Husband taking a picture of the sun through the thick fog. |
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| Beach recliners, the beach police's patrol jeep, and jet ski..:) |
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| small spider |
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| a tiny dragonfly |
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| a baby snail |
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| a huge spider |
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| a brown praying mantis |
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Photo credit to my husband..:)
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| Photo taken by my husband with his telephoto lens... |
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.
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