Escape to Treasure Island

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be invited on a trip with four others to Namhae.  Namhae is a small island of the coast of Korea.  It is about a 3 or 4 hour drive southwest.  There was a bridge built in 1973 so that it could become accessible to more people and cars.  There are two things that are very common on this island: garlic and fish.  There is a big fishing industry there and you can see all forms of fish farms and ways to catch fish.  Most of the ways are a little prehistoric.  Sometimes you would see a bunch of large old mangled pieces of wood sticking out of the water that formed a large "v" shape.  I believe that is one way they catch fish.  So, thats when you stare out into the sea, what you find on land are a number of rice patties and garlic fields.  There are many other things growing here too.  It appeared that there were mostly farmers who lived on the island and then some rich people who probably just come for summer.  There were some fun attractions like a German Village, and to our surprise and American Village.  They also have garlic festivals and many other random attractions.  Also, many of their public buildings and restrooms all were built to look like boats.  One thing i love about Korea is their play with architecture.  Buildings are all sorts of shapes and sizes, especially when the buildings are near any kind of water.

Also, since most of the people living here are farmers, they don't seem to make a lot of money.  I would say most of the people living here are on the poor side and some of the houses looked a lot like Haiti or Mexico.  Not so run down nor did they appear to be in despair, it was merely the shape and the way it was built.  I found it odd that the houses were so similar.

So, the group was rather diverse, but fun.  There were two guys and three girls.  Adam, (who is from the UK) was able to get a car from his work for the weekend so we were able to take a sweet little road trip!  Awesome!  And, then there is Franklin, who is Nigerian and goes to a university in Louisiana and is doing a research project here in Korea.  Then Elana, who you just met at the baseball game and Maggie.  Maggie has been in Korea on and off for about three years now, and is from Minnesota/Wisconsin.  Im definitely the youngest of the bunch.  Everyone else is in their early 30s or late 20s.  But i dont mind, it made for some great intellectual conversation.  I met them all from church.

Korea doesn't really have hotels (i will have to inform you more about that later).  But they do have pensions.  A pension is like staying in a condo.  It has a kitchen, a bathroom, a main room, and then one bedroom.  The place we stayed was super nice.  Here is a link to what the place looked like: swanky
It looked just like that except the colors weren't so enhanced.  Most of the time during the weekend, I had a hard time believing that this is really my life.  It was so beautiful and I can afford it even though Adam was more than generous to pay for it.  Please, don't get any thoughts, he's engaged.  But really, I was almost in shock believing that the weekend was really happening.  I might have to go on more mini holidays to get through the year.

So here are some pictures of our lovely retreat:

We went to go see some special rocks.  A man and woman rock.  On the way there were a ton of plants from home: mint, rosemary, aloe vera..... i wanted to take them all back to my apartment.  

I could have stayed all day.  The water wasn't too cold either.  

Adam, Maggie and Elana

Why, of course there is a pencil on the beach.  

ps: Franklin is the one in the green shirt in the background.

pictures don't do it justice

Me, Maggie, and Elana (shes much happier in person, i think its the sun)

Boat shaped restaurant.  This stop was incredible random, like so many others on the island.  And again, I can't get away from Solvang.  

From what i have seen, it appears that the shape of the light pole tell you what is special about that area.  They are different in every city.  For example: Ulsan has dolphin shape light poles.  Why?  i dunno.  I haven't seen a dolphin yet.    

they have garlic drying everywhere. 

Favorite picture :)

Oh, and apparently Namhae is really part of of an undersea mountain.  So we are really just seeing the peaks of a giant beast.  If you would like more info on Namhae you can read more about it here: click me