Pao VS The Lovely Island

"Saint Paul, the persecutor, was a cruel and sinful man. Jesus hit him with a blinding light, and then his life began."
Saint of Me, by The Rolling Stones

It has recently been named one of the world's most amazing places to visit. It is an island that boasts an entertaining neon-lit capital and hides awe inspiring ecological wonders. It is an island of conflicting interest, with one side embracing growth and urbanization and another fighting to preserve nature. I've just now come back from an exhilarating adventure in Jeju Island, a volcanic marvel 40 minutes away from Busan by plane. Most of my foreign friends have already visited Jeju Island on their first year in Korea, so I said screw you and decided to backpack this by myself. I was completely depended on the locals and my embarrassingly broken Korean. It's me versus the world, after all.

Firstly, the locals were amazing. When I assured them I wasn't Japanese or Chinese, they all beamed and gladly received me like one of their own. I was given local food (oranges, soup, noodles, rice, you name it), given a night tour on dangerous cliffs, and given unsolicited advice on how to get rid of my double chin. Fun was had by most.

The island has a lot to offer to wandering tourists. Volcanoes, mountain Buddhist temples, breathtaking beaches, and vaginas. Yes. Vaginas. Right in the middle of Jeju Island is what they call Love Land. It is an homage to (what else?) love. Unfortunately, rain plagued most of my vacation, so it got pretty wet on Love Land (side note: I laughed for five minutes after I wrote that). Bastos.

I have to warn you that some of the pictures are rated R...

Art Street near down town Jeju City.

Jeju grandmothers are known for their scuba skills.
This Jeju grandmother slash scuba ninja yelled at me and the local I was with to help her carry her net full of shells. She runs a small seafood restaurant. She does the cleaning, the preparation, the cooking, and the HUNTING. How Chuck Norris can you get?

One of Korea's most beloved and respected artist lived here. However, instead of taking a picture of her house, I took a picture of this puppy running around on her yard. Shows where my priorities are.

On my second day on Jeju Island, another local suggested I visit Sun Rise Peak, which was on the east side of the island. I found myself on a bus full of old Korean grandmothers. Next to me was a post grad lad who helped guide me towards Sun Rise Peak . The grandmothers had overheard us speaking English and their curiosity got the best of them. With the post grad translating, the old women asked me various questions like "Are you a journalist?" "What country are you from?" "You're not scared of traveling alone?" and "Are you Japanese or Chinese", because no other Asian countries exist.

The picture above is the picture near the base of the Mountain, and below is from the top. Amazing.

I circled my way around the island and stayed at an inn, with very accommodating locals, and lastly, the KAL hotel! If you play the timing game correctly, you can get some neat discounts.




The following pictures may not be appropriate for people under 18 and baptized Christians.
Viewer discretion is advised.

As I've stated in the beginning, I got the opportunity to visit Love Land, one of the more infamous sites on the island. It is distasteful and probably crosses the line between art and pornography. It was great.

All in the name of art.
The two gift shops parallel to each other were also shaped like boobs.
Clever.













It's safe to look now if you decided to skip over the naughty things.











No, I lied.


Here's another one.






Symbolic goodness.





Overall, Jeju Island was an adventure I was needing since the monotonousness of the urban jungle was getting quite boring. For me, it wasn't really the mountains or the scenic beaches or even the sexually suggestive art that made the trip. It was eating oranges with the locals, the getting lost in dark caves, the Buddhist temples glowing atop the nightly horizons, the paths less traveled, and the Jeju natives telling me their story that made it ... lovely.