More hiking and hiking and hiking

06.07.2013

In the morning, I woke up at 5:30 and quietly snuck out. I brought all my stuff with me in case I needed to leave quickly, and I did. Vanna told me to wake her up if I was leaving no matter what time it was but I didn't believe her. They were out till at least 1 a.m. last night, I heard them come in.

So, I let them sleep and went to the coastal trail, where there are dramatic volcanic mountains and the sea crashes at your feet. I walked along the coast to the next town over, then took the bus to a really nice waterfall.

From there, I caught another bus to the cable car, where you can see Dokdo on a clear day. It wasn't a clear day at all. After coming down from the mountain, I filled my bottle up with mineral spring water, which tastes like seltzer. It was really awesome.

I headed toward the ferry for a leisurely lunch. I thought I had a few hours left, but when I looked out, there was a huge boat in the dock. I ran as fast as possible to the ticket booth to get a ticket and then ran again to the ferry terminal. I caught it just in time.

A few hours earlier I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to get home in time if my ferry left at 3:30. The ferry that I saw and ran to was a different one, leaving at 1 p.m., but it would give me many more hours to work with. Plus I was done with this island already anyway. The ferry I took went to mukho, which is closer to Seoul. If i took the ferry to pohang i would have still had to go to seoul, but i would be further away and later. not good.

From Seoul, it should not be difficult to get a bus home tonight. A kind American stranger helped me figure it all out while still on the ferry. Oh modern technology, so amazing. <br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal;">At the bus terminal, the ticket lady tried to get me to go to daejeon and I was pretty sure that would not get me anywhere near home. So I called tourist information and they saved me again. They told me to definitely go to Seoul, but I would have to catch my bus to Iksan at another terminal. Kind of a bummer but it's only 11 stops on the subway. I made it home at 1 a.m.! Hurray! Another successful epic adventure for Louise. I literally circumnavigated the entire country in 2.5 days.

The ferry home.