Thursday, May 28, 2009

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

So, the Sanghado Island trip ... what a weekend!
The entire group!

George and I found out about a tour group called Lovable Busan through my friend Juliet and signed up for a trip - a weekend of water sporting activities on Sanghado Island.

We woke up bright and early to be at the meeting place (almost an hour away) by 6:30am. From there we boarded a bus, stopping only at a rest stop and a grocery store (booze and snack run). We arrived at the Goseong Dinosaur Musuem shortly after 10am and spent 2 hours in the museum and hiking the trails on the grounds. My first shock of the trip came when, after arriving at the museum, our guide said, "Ok, we're here. Please leave your things on the bus. Just bring your camera and your beer".

From the museum in was only minutes to the ferry that would take us to the island. The ride was beautiful, but uneventful. Another memorable moment occurred shortly after arriving. We were supposed to be taking a bus to the opposite side of the island to the village where we were staying. Unfortunately our guide had to deliver the following bad news, "The bus driver is drunk", (insert miming of sleeping), "We must wait 30 minutes". We were all a little confused ... 30 minutes until he was safe to drive, or 30 minutes until alternate transportation arrived? Hmmmm....

Luckily alternate transportation was the answer. The girls were transported on a boat, while the guys got to ride in the back of an old truck. Our destination was a tiny village which has a dive/water sport shop, 1 restaurant, a tiny convenience store and a school. We stayed in a Min Bak ( 민 박 ), which is basically an open room where you sleep Korean style on the floor. Blankets and pillows were provided and there was an attached bathroom, but it was not the most comfortable of accommodations.

Our sweet ride!

Activities for the weekend included a rafting trip in the ocean (paddling a dingy about 500m in unimpressive waves), swimming at a pebble beach, drinking around the campfire with the scuba shop staff and an incredibly difficult hike.
Rafting excursion


The facebook invite promised water sports such as scuba diving, snorkeling, water skiing and banana boating, but none of those materialized, I think because everyone drank too much and the dive shop didn't want to risk it. Whatever the reason, I was very disappointed, I was really looking forward to skiing!


Here are some pictures from our hike - it was WIIIIIIILD!


Can't wait for our next trip with Lovable Busan!!!

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