Jeju 1

This past week we had our summer vacation. We decided last minute to head to the Korean Island of Jeju which was only a 50 minute flight. We arrived there on Sunday July 29th and had planned to leave the following Friday, but we were enjoying it too much and decided to stay two extra days. It worked out really well because our flight didn't cost anything to change and our hotel gave us the same internet deal for two more nights in the same room. The island was created by a volcano that is in the center and because we stayed two extra days we were able to hike to the top of the volcano. I'm planning to write about that in the next day or two. It was quite the experience.  I actually will split the one week into three posts because there are almost 500 photos and I narrowed it down to about 60 :) This island was full of tourist traps and we took advantage. I wish I could show them all to you, but here are some of the highlights.

We went to "the worlds biggest mirror maze" supposedly. Who knows if that's true or not, but it was really fun. We had to wear gloves so we wouldn't leave smudges on the mirrors as we felt our way through. It really did look like you could go four different directions but when you put your hands out in front of you there was only one. It was an awesome illusion. The camera doesn't do any justice because the flash bounces off the mirrors, but it was a blast. We got lost a few times. You get so turned around cause everything looks the same. It was great.

It looks like you can go all over the place, but actually those are two mirrors in this picture...you can only go about three feet.

A little bit of mirror fun. I can float and Jon has two heads.

We did an interactive CSI thing where you look at three crime scenes, take notes, and then go into a fake lab and use the evidence to figure out how these people died. It was really interesting and fun. We solved all three cases. Then again I think it was aimed at kids, so it wasn't terribly difficult :)

This is Ilchulbong, created by volcanic activity. It looks really cool from the air! We didn't see if from the air, but we did hike up to the top of it and have lunch up there.

At the edge of the bowl. Jon wished he could have run down into it and up the other side haha.

We also went to a Maze park which they said is the longest or biggest in Korea once again. It was pretty good. We got a little turned around and went out the entrance, but then made it to the end. It was a good time.

 Next we went to Manjanggul cave - the biggest lava tube in the world that you can go into. It was really pretty awesome down there. The lava from the volcano created this lava tube and it was sooo cold down there. About 40 degrees colder than it was outside. Natural wonders are really amazing.

Behind Jon is a lava icicle which was lava that hardened as it was flowing down into the tube. It looked really cool.

Another place we visited was a miniature theme park. In our guide book we read that it took three years to build and several million dollars. There are a bunch of famous structures that have been scaled down and reconstructed as exact as possible. You've probably seen this one a lot on TV lately with the London Olympics.

White house

I love Batman.

This Chinese man looks so familiar.

It was a lot of fun walking around and seeing about 100 different structures. 

A couple other memorable things ...like adjummas, or old women who wear terribly mis-matched clothes and giant hats and visors and cover every inch of their skin in summer time to protect it from the sun, despite it being 95 degrees. I will miss seeing this.

We made it to VIPS and though quite pricey, we enjoyed some good old American cuisine!

This is the outside of the mirror maze building. It's Snow White and the dwarfs in front of their cottage. But they got it wrong.. there are 8 dwarfs, Dorky is wearing the red shirt. 

Do you get the message Jon is trying to express here? Because I 100% do not agree with it. I will testify that it is false advertisement.

Stay tuned for Jeju installment 2 - the Trick Art Museum.