http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Maddogstobbe/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Maddogstobbe en-us Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:25:33 +0000 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:25:33 +0000 Over the long weekend in early May we decided to spend our time island hopping in Chungcheongnamdo province. We started our trek on Anmyeondo the largest of the islands. One of my students had written a journal about a beautiful flower festival that was happening on the island so we decided to check it out. Floritopia 2009 turned out to be a collection of different flower displays and a few sh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Chungcheongnam-do/blog-400670.html Here are the long overdue pictures from our trip to Jeju Island in January.After the most terrifying flight of my life which consisted of 3 attempts to land in a snowstorm and an uncountable number of filled barf bags we finally landed in Jejusi the capital of Jeju. After we rented our Matiz a cute teeny Korean car we spent the first day driving around Jejusi. We visited Samseonghyeol the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Jeju/blog-383502.html We arrived in Fulong in early afternoon and found our way to the beginning of the Caoling Historical Trail after a close call with a guard dog guarding an abandoned house. The hike took a few hours and we travelled through a thick forest and ended on a grassy cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately we arrived at the cliff before it got dark although our hike down into the town of Dali http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Tainan/blog-359206.html We awoke early on the second day and caught a train down the East coast of Taiwan to Hualien. Once there we found a scooter to rent filled up with gas and headed to Toroko Gorge National Park about 20 kms away. Taroko gorge was once home to the Atayal people who were known for weaving facial tattoos and headhunting. The majority of the Atayal people have moved out of the gorge but some still r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Hualien/blog-359200.html For our Christmas vacation this year we decided to check out Taiwan. We had 5 days so we needed to cram in as much as we possibly could. We started off in Taipei where we spent the first day parusing through temples as well as paying a visit to Taipei 101. There is a bit of controversy surrounding it's rank among the highest buildings in the world but accoring to our Lonely Planet guide it is th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Taipei/blog-358491.html Weekend trip to Seoul on the second weekend in November. Changdeokgung Palace is a World Heritage site and definitley the most amazing Palace I have seen since being here. Most noteworthy was the Secret Garden which was filled with stunning fall colours. Changgyeonggung Palace was another pretty palace although not as nice as the previous and definitely had way too many gs. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-346883.html A hodgepodge of photos from our second month in Daejeon. Early in the month we went to watch a Hapkido Korean martial art tournament where we saw some of the craziest Korean children yet. Jeff's Hapkido school was competing so we saw some familiar faces as well as the only white person in the whole tournament take a roundhouse to the head Note He later was admitted to the hospital where he u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/blog-343457.html Weekend excursion to Suwon to see the Korean Folk Village Hwaseong Fortress and the lovely Heather Mullett http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Suwon/blog-343667.html Our school had a holiday so we hiked this mountain in Daejeon. Daejeon is surrounded by mountains and this one is located southeast of where we live. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-343659.html On the first weekend in October we hopped a bus and headed down to Busan to spend the long weekend on a beach. After a couple setbacks in Daejeon wrong bus terminal missed bus we finally ended up at our destination just in time to catch the last few rays on Haeundae beach as well as a beautiful sunset. The boys went for a quick dip while I opted for beachcombing. After we got some dinner at a l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-331718.html On the second last weekend in September we took a trip to Danyang a city north east of Daejeon. The bus ride took about 4.5 hours since we accidentally took the intercity bus which stops at all the tiny towns along the way. We did get to see some of the countryside which was beautiful. The caves were 1.7km long and followed narrow twisting metal staircases and catwalks some of them which we coul http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-328799.html Photos taken on our hike up Mt. Bomunsan. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-328952.html Photos From our hike on Mt. Gaphasan in Daejeon. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-328956.html So our first month in Daejeon South Korea has come and gone and what a month it has been After a very long flight 15 hours we hopped a bus at the airport and bussed to our city of Daejeon. The city has about 1.5 million people and is known as Korearsquos science and technology capital. It has one subway line which connects some of the important areas our apartment the main train station t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Taejon/blog-328393.html