Sightseeing in Korea

On our drive down to the beach we pass his beautiful bridge. Since I can't communicate with our Korean drivers and ask them to pull over...I had to take this photo out the window while we were moving.

We swam from the public beach around an outcropping of rocks into a beautiful cove. The coaches jogged along a trail and met us in the cove (and took photos).

From the cove, we spotted this tiny rock 'island' so we headed out to swim around it (except everyone decided to SPRINT...that's why my little pink cap is at the back of the pack:) and then back to the beach.

Nate, Cliff, Matty, and Julie checking out the lava columns (and contemplating perfect places to cliff jump into the water).

These are the 'lava columns'. We aren't entirely sure how they are formed (lots of signs in Korean only) but it was something about how the flows of lava cool in hexagonal shapes when they get to the water.

On one of the first clear days that we had here in Jeju, I finally saw the top of the island. It's a volcanic crater, 6000 feet high. The roads (that cross the island) go up to about 4000 feet and then you can take a hiking trail the rest of the way to the top. (Unfortunately, we are NOT doing that adventure 5 days out from the Beijing race!)

This is "The Mysterious Road". On our trip to the LoveLand park, we came to this section of road that is about 150 meters long. All the cars and buses in front of us were just inching along the road with their hazard lights flashing. It took a bit of hand gestures from our Korean driver and a demonstration with the van before we understood the Mystery.

The road appears to be going UPhill...but our driver put the car in neutral, turned off the engine and pulled out the keys...and we coasted DOWNhill. It is a crazy optical illusion that I would not have believe if I had not experienced it myself! People were out of their cars rolling soda cans along the ground and they appeared to go UPhill!!

Here are some 'family friendly' photos from our trip to LoveLand. If you are curious about what the park is REALLY about...google "LoveLand". But I know that many youngsters frequent my blog so I am going to keep the photos G-Rated. This photo is of Nate and Sarah (husband and wife) copying the kissing statue.

That's Scott and Matty peering into the LoveLand car. At random intervals, sounds would come out of the car and it would rock back-and-forth:)!