Hiking up crazy extinct volcanoes

05.07.2013

I hopped a boat to ulleung do, an island 200km off the east coast of Korea. I slept overnight in Pohang on friday night and caught the ferry the next morning. I heard that it was usually sold out so I showed up VERY early to be first in line for a ticket. I got one of the last ones.

Before boarding the boat however, I was politely informed that the police wanted to talk to me. He had a photocopy of someone else's ID. "It's not me!" I cried with astonishment, and I shoved my ID in his face. He wanted to take a photo of my ID and I grabbed it back before he could, then I told him to get it from the ferry company. I saw them take a photocopy of my passport this morning. If possible, I'd like to keep my face out of police databases, thank you. <br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The boat was full of Middle Aged Korean people picnicking and feeding me food and wine. That's all fine and good, but I was tired and not in the mood. I didn't have breakfast, so on the other hand it sated my hunger for the upcoming 3 hour trip. You gotta take the good with the mildly irritating around here.

I met vanna from Las Vegas and Jen from Long Beach on the ferry, the two women who I was falsely identified as by the police. I wanted to know who they were so i introduced myself. Apparently the police were looking for english teachers who might be going to Dok Do, the island that is disputed by Japan. Of course, we weren't going there. Dok Do is literally a few rocks in the middle of the ocean.

We had a little chat and agreed to hang out on the island. After unpacking, we went for a late lunch and then tried to find the path for the mountain. One of the four English speakers on the island saw us looking lost and helped us find it. <br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal;">A little dirty dog followed us about half the way up, to a little shack where they served drinks and snacks. The fact that there might be someone hauling any quantity of liquid up such a height to sell for minimal profit astounded me. <br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Vanna unfortunately didn't make it to the top, but Jen and I kept trucking and made the journey in maybe 2.5 hours. I fell in the mud on the way down, so I was done hiking for the day. I was very glad that Jen pushed me to reach the peak, but I was completely exhausted. I wouldnt have done this hike if I didnt meet her. She continued on down to the beach and I went back to the room for Popsicles, ice cream and soju. Seriously that was dinner, and it was amazing. Vanna came back as i was devouring my treats and left to go meet Jen. I fell asleep pretty fast after that. I know, I'm old, I can't help it.

Dodong Ri