Canada day. In the morning we have booked the 11:00 departure for the
Western Brook Pond Boat Tour. Around a 30 km drive north of Berry Hill
and then a 3 km hike on a trail so wide it is on Google Streetview.
Dozens of people hike the 3 km to join the boat tour, but it is still a
nice nature experience with a boardwalk passing through swamps. The boat
tour itself is also nice. The Western Brook Pond is like a fjord, but it
is no longer connected to the sea. Like the other "ponds" in the area, it
was a fjord until the land rebounded post-glacially, and now all those
"ponds" end in coastal flatlands that area some 30 metre above sea level.
For the rest, it looks exactly like a fjord elsewhere in the world.
There are probably some 50 people on the boat. The tour lasts almost two
hours. A tour guide points out natural features on both sides, points out
that the water is very clean, but does not say that one could drink it if
one would drink water. Nor is there any demonstration of an echo.
Unfortunately we can't get off at the end of the fjord. I'd love to head
off into the mountain wilderness, but this may remain for another time.
After we get back we sit on the lake beach a bit before heading back with
a detour. We're going to walk on the trail to the Western Brook and then
another route back to the main trail. Two backpackers report that they
have been to the campground at the end of the trail. They have forded the
Western Brook. It would be nice to camp there. Western Brook used to
have a seasonal bridge, but not any more. Instead a rope is attached
between both ends of the river, to ease the fording.
After we get back to the car we transfer to the lighthouse trail near the
village of Cow Head. A nice and easy little coastal trail with nice views
over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Friday, 4 July 2014
June 30: a day without entering the car
Waking up without an alarm clock at 830-ish. Today we need to do neither
driving nor moving, so we have all time for hiking. We will do the three
hikes from the campsite. Today it is cloudy and there is some rain.
A day without entering the car, great!
First hike to Baker Brook Falls. Over boardwalks and clear trils to some
nice waterfalls. On the way out there are some other people walking
around the same place at around the same speed. At some point there
appears to be a parellel trail, so we take it in order to avoid the
people. The trail diverges quite a bit from the main trail and leads to
the pretty little lake called Little Pond.
At the end, the map has a trail going to the Baker Brook pond. We briefly
explore it but it is too overgrown and we return to the trailhead. Maps
are quite unreliable in this area. Just like elsewhere in North America,
trails are often not drawn on the map, and features that are may or may
not be there. The topography itself is correct, though.
After we get back te climb Berry Hill. A short climb with steep stairs up
a hill, perhaps 50 metres up from a place near the campground. Nice view
from the top. On the descend I am once again reminded how big of a
success the hiking poles are for Catherine. Makes the hiking much easier.
Finally we hike around Berry Pond. On this hike we pass along some places
that were clearly campsites before, but seem to be no longer. Should be
nice to camp directly at the lake, except for the mosquitoes.
driving nor moving, so we have all time for hiking. We will do the three
hikes from the campsite. Today it is cloudy and there is some rain.
A day without entering the car, great!
First hike to Baker Brook Falls. Over boardwalks and clear trils to some
nice waterfalls. On the way out there are some other people walking
around the same place at around the same speed. At some point there
appears to be a parellel trail, so we take it in order to avoid the
people. The trail diverges quite a bit from the main trail and leads to
the pretty little lake called Little Pond.
At the end, the map has a trail going to the Baker Brook pond. We briefly
explore it but it is too overgrown and we return to the trailhead. Maps
are quite unreliable in this area. Just like elsewhere in North America,
trails are often not drawn on the map, and features that are may or may
not be there. The topography itself is correct, though.
After we get back te climb Berry Hill. A short climb with steep stairs up
a hill, perhaps 50 metres up from a place near the campground. Nice view
from the top. On the descend I am once again reminded how big of a
success the hiking poles are for Catherine. Makes the hiking much easier.
Finally we hike around Berry Pond. On this hike we pass along some places
that were clearly campsites before, but seem to be no longer. Should be
nice to camp directly at the lake, except for the mosquitoes.
June 29
Started with exploring Port aux Choix. First to the visitor centre. Like
all federal localities in Canada, everything is bilingual. This is a
national historic site because four cultures have been here in the past:
Dorset, Maritime Indians, recent Indians, and Europeans. We hike a nice
little coastal trail, including some sculptures glorifying seal slaughter.
But the nature is nice, and it is amazingly another sunny day.
Then, we drive south to Table Point Provincial Park. We leave the car
just before Bellburns. There is no sign along the highway, and our most
detailed map here, 1:250,000, is not detailed enough. I open a more
detailed map that I have stored on my laptop, in 1:50,000. To help in the
navigation I want to get my GPS-receiver. After some ten minutes of
searching I give up. My GPS-receiver must have fallen out in Port aux
Choix. That is a disappointment, although the on/off-switch had become so
worn out it took a sharp key or a small screwdriver to operate it...
Next, Arches Provincial Park. A very small park, really just a picknick
place between the road and the sea. It consists of some arches and rock
formations that are exactly at the shore, with a stony beach directly
above. Many people are walking here. No wonder, it doesn't take any
hiking to reach. I find a spot to climb on top of the arches, walk
around, climb down again. With my sandals I walk into the water, on the
rear of the arches. I decide to pee. A few minutes later a woman
approaches me saying, “I have three small girls and what you just did
there was entirely inappropriate.”. Confused, I ask if she means climbing
on the arches. “No, I mean that thing you did just now, just there.”.
Ok.
Next, old mail road near Shallow Bay. Our old map has a track that
appears to correspond to the old mail road according to the description,
so we try to be smart and park at its northern extremity. Indeed we see
some nice dunes on the other side of the meadow. After a few minutes
walking, though, we reach a river that we can't cross. There is not race
of the old track. Driving around we start from the southern end instead.
Here is the official trailhead, and there are many people. As soon as we
start walking we are attacked by small mosquitoes (blackflies) and quickly
take out the insect repellent. Rather than continuing the trail to the
end, we decide to spend some time on the beautiful beach.
Finally we drive to the Berry Hill campground. The campground is many
kilometres inland from the main read, and more than a kilometre before the
actual campground starts is the reception, which is just a kiosk along the
road. The campground itself is large and surprisingly empty. Based on
reports from others, I had expected the campground to be completely full.
Each individual campsite is huge and surrounded by dense forest. This
makes it almost impossible to see our neighbours in any direction, in
particular since the sites immediately next to ours is empty. Really
nice.
There appears to be no chocolate on the island of Newfoundland. None of
the supermarkets we have been so far sell it.
all federal localities in Canada, everything is bilingual. This is a
national historic site because four cultures have been here in the past:
Dorset, Maritime Indians, recent Indians, and Europeans. We hike a nice
little coastal trail, including some sculptures glorifying seal slaughter.
But the nature is nice, and it is amazingly another sunny day.
Then, we drive south to Table Point Provincial Park. We leave the car
just before Bellburns. There is no sign along the highway, and our most
detailed map here, 1:250,000, is not detailed enough. I open a more
detailed map that I have stored on my laptop, in 1:50,000. To help in the
navigation I want to get my GPS-receiver. After some ten minutes of
searching I give up. My GPS-receiver must have fallen out in Port aux
Choix. That is a disappointment, although the on/off-switch had become so
worn out it took a sharp key or a small screwdriver to operate it...
Next, Arches Provincial Park. A very small park, really just a picknick
place between the road and the sea. It consists of some arches and rock
formations that are exactly at the shore, with a stony beach directly
above. Many people are walking here. No wonder, it doesn't take any
hiking to reach. I find a spot to climb on top of the arches, walk
around, climb down again. With my sandals I walk into the water, on the
rear of the arches. I decide to pee. A few minutes later a woman
approaches me saying, “I have three small girls and what you just did
there was entirely inappropriate.”. Confused, I ask if she means climbing
on the arches. “No, I mean that thing you did just now, just there.”.
Ok.
Next, old mail road near Shallow Bay. Our old map has a track that
appears to correspond to the old mail road according to the description,
so we try to be smart and park at its northern extremity. Indeed we see
some nice dunes on the other side of the meadow. After a few minutes
walking, though, we reach a river that we can't cross. There is not race
of the old track. Driving around we start from the southern end instead.
Here is the official trailhead, and there are many people. As soon as we
start walking we are attacked by small mosquitoes (blackflies) and quickly
take out the insect repellent. Rather than continuing the trail to the
end, we decide to spend some time on the beautiful beach.
Finally we drive to the Berry Hill campground. The campground is many
kilometres inland from the main read, and more than a kilometre before the
actual campground starts is the reception, which is just a kiosk along the
road. The campground itself is large and surprisingly empty. Based on
reports from others, I had expected the campground to be completely full.
Each individual campsite is huge and surrounded by dense forest. This
makes it almost impossible to see our neighbours in any direction, in
particular since the sites immediately next to ours is empty. Really
nice.
There appears to be no chocolate on the island of Newfoundland. None of
the supermarkets we have been so far sell it.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
June 28: ice!
In the morning, we wake up at 07:00 to another sunny day. The weather forecast predicts 23°C. Apparently, the highest temperature ever recorded in St. Anthony is 24°C. For a locality (52°N) with the summer climate of Hammerfest (70°N; St. Anthony winters are much colder, though), we couldn't be much luckier.
At 9:00 we leave for the Northland Discovery boat tour, to see the
icebergs up close. Although we can see them from the coast, most icebergs
are somewhat out at sea and to see them up close should be worth it. At
our previous two boat trips — one from Andenes and another from Kvaløya —
both Catherine and I got seasick, so we ask if they recommend and have
seasickness tablets. They think we should be fine. The ocean is calm
today.
We are around 25 people on a somewhat small boat. The main reason for the
trip is to see icebergs up close, but if we spot whales we will look at
those too. There is some music on the boat; it's probably Newfoundlandish
folk music, but indistinguishable from Irish. Even I recognise a melody.
As we approach the first iceberg, the music is replaced by the well-known
melody from the Titanic movie.
Indeed, from up-close the icebergs are truly immense. The boat makes a
trip around two icebergs. The first one has a very nice shape, and the
second one is huge. And only 1/9th is above sea level. That means the
total height is some 250–300 metre, and width and length are of similar
magnitude. A lot of water. For other icebergs, a sense of scale is
provided because they are close to the shore. The guide gives us
educational information about icebergs and other aspects of local life.
After we get back to the shore, we do a little hike up the Santana trail,
from Fishing Point to St. Anthony Hill. There is a warning that the trail
is risky, but it consists entirely of well-maintained stairs. They must
have a different concept of risky here. The weather is lovely and we
spend a lot of time at the summit, watching the icebergs at the Atlantic
Ocean, seemingly stationary. After we get down we have lunch at a picnic
table outside the lighthouse.
Next, Catherine drives to the Burnt Cape peninsula, where we have a hike
on a very barren landscape.
The drive to L'Anse-aux-Meadows is very long. I didn't fully realise how
empty this land is, but the area between St. Anthony and Eddies Cove is
emptier than almost anywhere I've been in Sápmi/Lapland.
The days are too short. By the time we arrive in Port aux Choix it's
20:45, and by the time I write this it's after midnight. And this morning
we get up at 07:00. Time to sleep now.
Sunburnt among icebergs.
Photos on Fecesbook.
At 9:00 we leave for the Northland Discovery boat tour, to see the
icebergs up close. Although we can see them from the coast, most icebergs
are somewhat out at sea and to see them up close should be worth it. At
our previous two boat trips — one from Andenes and another from Kvaløya —
both Catherine and I got seasick, so we ask if they recommend and have
seasickness tablets. They think we should be fine. The ocean is calm
today.
We are around 25 people on a somewhat small boat. The main reason for the
trip is to see icebergs up close, but if we spot whales we will look at
those too. There is some music on the boat; it's probably Newfoundlandish
folk music, but indistinguishable from Irish. Even I recognise a melody.
As we approach the first iceberg, the music is replaced by the well-known
melody from the Titanic movie.
Indeed, from up-close the icebergs are truly immense. The boat makes a
trip around two icebergs. The first one has a very nice shape, and the
second one is huge. And only 1/9th is above sea level. That means the
total height is some 250–300 metre, and width and length are of similar
magnitude. A lot of water. For other icebergs, a sense of scale is
provided because they are close to the shore. The guide gives us
educational information about icebergs and other aspects of local life.
After we get back to the shore, we do a little hike up the Santana trail,
from Fishing Point to St. Anthony Hill. There is a warning that the trail
is risky, but it consists entirely of well-maintained stairs. They must
have a different concept of risky here. The weather is lovely and we
spend a lot of time at the summit, watching the icebergs at the Atlantic
Ocean, seemingly stationary. After we get down we have lunch at a picnic
table outside the lighthouse.
Next, Catherine drives to the Burnt Cape peninsula, where we have a hike
on a very barren landscape.
The drive to L'Anse-aux-Meadows is very long. I didn't fully realise how
empty this land is, but the area between St. Anthony and Eddies Cove is
emptier than almost anywhere I've been in Sápmi/Lapland.
The days are too short. By the time we arrive in Port aux Choix it's
20:45, and by the time I write this it's after midnight. And this morning
we get up at 07:00. Time to sleep now.
Sunburnt among icebergs.
Photos on Fecesbook.
27 June
Last night we walked out of our cabin in Wiltondale around midnight. For our bodies that was only 22:30, so we weren't sleeping yet. Immediately, the starry night was immense: the milky way showed in full glory. The cabins in Wiltondale are indeed in an isolated spot.
This morning, the alarm clock at 08:30. A fully blue sky but the grass is wet from last night's dew. Breakfast on a picnic table on the grass outside the cabin. Around 10:30 we're off. Catherine is driving; it's her first time since she got her license. Today we'll have a long drive, first 400 km from Wiltondale to l'Anse aux Meadows, then 40 km to St. Anthony. And we still want to make some stops in-between for lunch and sightseeing. It's a pity to hasten through the spectacular Gros Morne National Park, but we'll be back later and spend 5 days here. Possibly not in as nice weather, though.
As we overtake an official vehicle parked along the road, I notice a bear in a cage in a trailer behind it. The bear is moving. Presumably officials had to take care of it for some reason.
We stop in Bellburns to have a picknick at the shore. At some point, we see and hear something moving in the water. After watching a bit more, it is clearly a whale.
More driving. As we are approaching the northern part of the Northern Peninsula, we start to see ice bergs. First small ones, but they get larger and larger as we go on. We're tempted to stop for photos, but we know they'll be better further on and that we are short on time. We want to go to l'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, and the visitor centre closes at 18:00. We can probably just about make it by 17:00, which is just good enough.
More driving over the empty roads of Newfoundland. The population density appears similar to Lapland (indeed: 1.2/km²). The landscape is somewhat different, mountains have different shapes. There are boreal forests, swamps, midgets (they call them black flies), and the ocean, but the shape of the coast is different from Scandinavia.
At 17:00 we reach l'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. Although the visitor centre closes at 17:00, the outside remains open until 23:00, so we have plenty of time to explore. We watch a surpringly informative 15-minute video introducing the site, the history of the vikings in North America, Vínland, etc. Quite interesting. Then we hike through the sites. Some reconstructed viking huts, and the actual archeological remains. The oldest European structures in North America.
We're unsure about how late we can arrive at the cabin, so we keep the hiking at l'Anse aux Meadows short. When we do arrive it turns out the cabin is next to a convenience store, so we could have arrived later. However, the landlady recommends us to drive to the Fishing Point at the end of the road, to watch the icebergs before the sun sets. We follow her advice and indeed, they are spectacular here. The setting sun is just behind us, so the light conditions are excellent. It is, however, really chilly here. We may be at a latitude south of Amsterdam, but the microclimate at this spot is not unlike Hammerfest. A chilly wind from the icy sea, with the air temperature probably not above 12°C or so. We walk around, take photos, and head back to the cabin.
A long day indeed.
(Photos on Facebook)
Thursday, 3 April 2014
A week in Jeju-do
From 26 March to 1 April, I attended the 19 International TOVS Study Conference on Jeju, Korea. I arrived two days prior to explore Jeju. The first day I described in a previous blog post. Here I describe the rest of the trip.
Unlike yesterday, I decide to try the (expensive) hotel breakfast at Hana hotel. They have many different things, that I would consider rather lunch or dinner than breakfast, and most things are not vegetarian. They do have corn flakes and milk, and I settle for that.
Today I follow Jeju-olle in the opposite direction, heading east from the hotel. It has started raining softly as I depart from the hotel in the morning, and the forecast has intensifying rain in the afternoon. I still wake up early due to the jet-lag, so I can start in good time with the hike. I hope to eat lunch in Gangyeong, so I should be there on time.
Eastward, Jeju-olle soon descends into the Jungmun valley, and I cross the river flowing down the gorge on a set of stepping stones. On the other side I momentarily lose the trail, as I am passing along "Pacificland", an entertainment park with "Dolpin and monkey shows". This is the kind of sadistic torture sell against any refrain from direct, ALF-style action should be considered immoral. What a shame that this exists. Is it because I'm in Asia, or do torture shows exist in "The West" still?
The difficulty of Jeju-olle is highly variable. One moment it's tarmac, the next moment it passes along a somewhat tricky rocky passage, tricky enough for me to momentarily use my hands. It's good hiking, although even in the rain I meet a lot of other hikers. As far as I can tell, they are all Korean. Overall, Chinese make up a very large share of Jeju tourists, but I have yet to identify Chinese hikers. But I could miss if some are in the crowds of Koreans.
Next, I pass along 주상절리 or the Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff, a famous part of the coast, with spectacular basalt hexagonal columns. To join the queue of tourists bussed in as part of their Jeju trips which may be as short as a day (advertisement encourage tourists to spend the night on Jeju, rather than fly-in fly-out the same day) I would need to pay an entrance fee, which is not my cup of tea. I get a new map from the small tourist station here, and continue along the coast.Suddenly I come across a giant, spectacular, buddhist temple, the 약천사 (Yakcheonsa) temple. It has started raining more heavily, and I take off my shoes (as required) to go in. Inside, buddhist monks are singing while kneeling in front of three huge Buddha statues. I had no clue there was such a temple here, but this must be one of the major sites on Jeju; and one of the few authentic man-made ones. Great to see that Jeju has those too, apart from the plethora of museums for teddy bears, chocolate, sex, greek mythology, hello kitty, "3D alive", "believe it or not", and dozens of others — supposedly there are well over a hundred places calling themselves museum, and under the influx of huge masses of Chinese tourists, their number is growing rapidly. So it's good to see some authenticity on Jeju "Las Vegas" island. The temple has three stories, and I spend quite a bit of time inside, aweing at the work of previous generations. Certainly the most impressive man-made thing I am to see this week.
When I get out it has briefly stopped raining, and I continue on Jeju-olle in the direction of Gangjeong. The rain intensifies again, and large amounts come flowing off the tangerine greenhouses that dominate this area. They remind me of the banana plantations on La Palma; although not as tropical, they are a genuine non-touristic local source of income. And they block the view. There are less people hiking here, but that could also be due to the heavy rain or the proximity of the Gangjeong naval base, a Korean base built for US ships that is under construction, and which has destroyed a part of the coast. A small number of peace activists still live permanently in Gangjeong, which they are turning into a peace village. Indeed, Jeju-olle abruptly turns inland as the beautiful Jeju coastline suddenly makes place for walls and cranes.
In Gangjeong, I'm not paying attention terribly well, and at first miss the peace village while passing straight through it. After walking around for 20 minutes and asking for help, it turns out that the peace center is right in the middle of the village, and that I should have seen it straight away. I don't see anybody inside, but decide to enter and greet. Someone rises from a sofa and calls me welcome in OK English. Moments later, a man enters who later introduces himself as Mario from Japan, where he spends a good deal of his time in Okinawa. Coincidentally, we have arrived at roughly the same time.
I am brought to the peace restaurant, which turns out to be right by the Jeju-olle. It's rather a shed, but inside some 20 people are finishing their lunch. There is still food left for me, and they have plenty of vegetarian alternatives. I am introduced to an American activist who has made this his home. Finally someone with whom I can talk "normally". He explains the history and the background of the peace village to me. The navy base is built by the Koreans, but the design is fully American, and the official story of the base motivations simply doesn't hold. It's supposed to be for the Korean navy and motivated by the conflict between South and North Korea, but this is as far from the North as one can get, so it makes no sense. It's also supposed to be able to welcome civilian (!) cruise ships, which again doesn't make sense for a military base; it would be a world first, and what giant cruise ship would call at a small village turned into a navy base? Rather, every corner of the design echoes US military aircraft carrier ships, and the strategic location for the South China sea. It's really about China, no matter how much the government denies it.
We continue our conversation in the Peace Library, near the Peace Center. The activists aim to turn Gangjeong into a peace village. It is clear that the base is being built and can't be stopped anymore. But activism might still have an effect in the longer term. By turning Gangjeong into a peace village, with a peace center, peace library, peace restaurant, and frequent peace-related events, perhaps they can influence visitors, perhaps even military soldiers coming off the base. And there are rumous that Korean political plans are not limited to this one military base, but that they might plan more. To turn Jeju into Okinawa. Locals and peace activists want to prevent that, so this activism is a long-term effort. Every morning, they get up before sunrise to perform 100 bows at 7:00, in front of the base. And at 11:00, they have a catholic mass. This detail, I find the most surprising element of the protests. In Korea, the catholic minority is a progressive force, not a conservative one like in Europe and North America. Activists and villagers are trying to get the pope to visit Jeju on his Korea visit later in 2014, but it appears that no Jeju visit is planned in the preliminary programme. In the evening, I take the bus back to Jungmun Resort and move from Hana Hotel to Lotte Hotel. From now on, my stay is financed by the International TOVS Working Group (ITWG), where TOVS is TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder, and TIROS is Television Infra-Red Orbital Satellite. But ITWG includes microwave and sub-millimetre. Lotte Hotel is incredibly luxurious. As I enter, at least a dozen employpees are standing in a huge lobby, directing us (a large number of conference-goers just arrived by bus) to the check-in reception. ITWG pays my stay and my breakfast, which is not included by default.
The entrance is on the 8th floor, and my room is on the 10th. As often in luxurious hotels, it seems the assumption is that everybody takes the elevator; the stairs can only be recognised by the "emergency exit" sign. As I enter my huge room (with two beds, one seems to be King Size, the other Full Size), a bathroom with a bath /and/ a shower, electronic controls for everything, and excellent wired internet, I hear a growing noise (some would call it music) from outside. I enter the balcony and below me is a huge show ongoing, that I later learn to identify as the nightly Volcano Show. 10 floors down, in the garden surrounded by the hotel's three wings, is a big pond with artificial rocks and an artificial waterfall behind. The waterfall operates daily until 22:00, and in the evening is the Volcano Show. Holographic projections have monsters (dinosaurs?) coming out off the water and the rock, and big flares of fire are meant to destroy those. Or perhaps it's a fight between different monsters. All of this show is performed under quite loud music, and an increasing racket from the artificial waterfall. From my large balcony, I have a good view of the show.
Considering that the hotel advertises with this, there must be people who like it.
The next morning is the beginning of the conference. There is a large selection of food for the breakfast in the "Italian Restaurant", for which my coupons are valid (there is also a Korean Restaurant, and a Japanese Restaurant). But even in the "Italian" one, there is abalone porridge, squid soup, and many kinds of meat. I'm not convinced that Italians eat that for breakfast. An army of hotel employees walks around to ensure nobody needs to wait more than 30 seconds for tea or coffee, and that any food nearing completion is replaced promptly. The one thing I'm looking for first — bread with cheese — seems to be the only food imaginable they do /not/ have. I settle for muesli with milk, along with one of the six different kinds of juices (banana, pineapple, tangerine, and some others.
The conference is quite relevant to the work I used to do, but less so for my new project. I still most of the talks interesting, so I'm not bored. It is held in the same hotel, and — in my view — as severely overstaffed as the hotel itself is. Quite a contrast to the previous edition of the conference, at Météo-France 2 years ago. We have Jeju chocolates and Jeju biscuits for the breaks, which also serve as poster-viewing sessions, and lunch is Korean. My lunch coupons say Vegetarian, and on delivering the coupon I get a large notice which says Vegetarian, which I am to place in front of me. Every day, lunch consists of various kinds of Kimchi (pickled vegetables, of which there are many many kinds), some kind of soup, and a main dish. They care well for my vegetarianism, and are not confused by what it means. And by the end of the conference, I'm fluent with chopsticks.
After the last talk but before dinner, there is some spare time. Signs in the hotel point to the private hotel beach lounge at Jungmun beach. It's only a few minutes walk down some stairs full of signs warning guests to be very careful and not fall of the stairs. The beach is pretty, it seems natural as the sand is not really white. There are waves, shells, and tourists, and the cliffs around the beach are quite steep. It really gives a secluded area, and if it wasn't for the various private beach lounges belonging to various luxury hotels, one might momentarily forget one is in the middle of what must be one of the most touristic development peaces of coastline in east-Asia.
The evening has a welcome dinner hosted by KMA, with a (professional?) Korean toastmaster (toastmistress) speaking flawless English. She announces the VIPs one by one, and every time there is a music jingle as they walk to the stage where they are volunteered to say some words. Most of the words are not terribly interesting.
The food is a buffet, and all vegetarian choices are in green. The food is very fancy, and there are not a lot of vegetarian options. In fact, the only vegetarian option is the sole non-Korean food. My meal consists of pasta with sauce and salad. I'm really quite happy with that.
Mostly conference. In the evening I find some time to walk around, before we meet up for dinner. There are a number of people whom I know from before, and we're five heading out of the resort for dinner. We go in to the first restaurant we find. Most restaurants in the area are Korean style, which means sitting on the elevated floor with tables barely large enough to put ones legs below. Locals generally sit with their legs crossed. We start off with a severe faux pas, namely by entering the elevated floors with our shoes on. The waitress frantically gestures us that we should absolutely not do so, that the elevated area is to be entered on socks only. At the middle of each table, there is a stove.
The menu is only in Korean, but there is a picture-menu. I brought my phrasebook, and I try the sentence for "I'm vegetarian" (FIXME korean phrase). To my pleasant surprise, this is succesful, and I order a nice vegetarian meal. It comes, of course, with kimchi and soup; those are not even listed on the menu, they are simply coming with every meal. That is to remain so for the rest of my stay.
The others order a large plate of food to be shared with four people. I think they had no clue /what/ they ordered, except from looking at the pictures. As the food arrives, the waitress lightens the stove on our table. The sea snails that the others are eating are still crawling in their shells, cooked alive minutes before being eaten (alive?). We're in Korea now. After dinner, we go to a bar called Monkey Beach, next to the hotel. This is where the social events for this conference happen. I am introduced to a game which is apparently similar to curling. Two teams need to shove a flat cylinder over a course approximately 4x longer than wide, where there are zones numbered 1, 2, and 3, followed by an abyss implying 0. The team closest to the abyss wins, with the number of points depending on the exact configuration. I'm having fun, but I'm tired and don't stay late.
Today I get up early, because I want to visit the Gangjeong navy base for the daily peace protest. At 6:30 I ask the bell desk to order me a taxi to Gangjeong. At first they don't understand where I want to go. Gangjeong? Navy base? Yes. They're too polite to ask why. Gangjeong is not a tourist destination, or at least not anymore. The taxi is very cheap, just 8500 ₩ (FIXME €) for some 10 km. Impressive.
As I arrive, nobody is in the peace center, so I head for the peace restaurant, expecting people eating breakfast. They aren't, so I continue on my own to the navy base. As I walk along the road, I recognise one of the people (an older Korean person) who I saw last Tuesday. He speaks a little bit of English. We soon arrive at the base, where the wall is full of pro-peace banners, and across the road is a permanent stand with peace-related literature and art. We get some mattresses from the floor and lie them next to the wall. We are three doing the peace bows this morning, and some others are walking around doing other things. Exactly at 7:00, a loudspeaker starts saying things in korean. During every paus, we bow: from standing, down to kneeling on the mattress, while bending down to the ground. And then we stand up again. After a few iterations, I recognise that each sentence ends with the same words: "Jeju-ro olimnida". Perhaps this means "Bow for Jeju"? The 100 bows last more than 30 minutes in total. It certainly is a good morning exercise, here in the Jeju morning sun, and a unique experience. Too bad it's so early in the morning that I won't manage to come every day...
I head back to the hotel (by bus) for breakfast. After a long conference day, Viju and I decide we don't feel like eating Korean food /again/, and head into town searching for western food. This is a failure. After walking for more than an hour, we've probably passed some 50 restaurants, of which 90% or Korean and the rest either Chinese or Japanese. Finally we give up. Later we learn there's a pizza place moments later. Back at Jungmun Resort there is a pizzeria in the hotel, but this one is very expensive, the cheapest pizza costs 5x more than a full meal in one of the Korean restaurants. The other alternative are burger places, but they serve no vegetarian food. I end up eating only a small portion of untasty fries, just before the last restaurant closes. Attempting to find western food here is a guarantee for failure.
I briefly join to the Monkey Beach bar, but I'm tired so I head back to the hotel.
Now it's weekend, but in the morning we have working group sessions. Not everybody has arrived. In particular, the co-chair of our working group is apparently still sleeping, after having stayed at the Monkey Beach bar until 06:00-ish. I have apparently missed a lot.
After lunch, two excursions are planned: first a visit to the 만장굴 (Manjangul) lava tubes, then a visit to a spectacular rock in the sea. Today it's raining and it's raining hard. The bus was ordered to drive the mountain road, so he does, but there is nothing to see due to heavy rain and dense fog. At least it's dry in the cave.
The lava cave is spectacular, well worth its status as a Unesco world heritage. It's also full of buses full of tourists. We're one of those busloads now, and as the others, we get too little time to explore properly. We have time to run to the end, take pictures, and run back. Today we get the impression what Chinese tourists bused through Europe must be experiencing.
The second trip is cancelled due to the intense rain, and replaced by a visit to the women divers museum. This starts with an incredibly uninformative 7-minute video in a room where we barely fit, and then we have 20 minutes to explore the 3 floors of the museum with over a 100 people. Unique to Jeju, it is traditionally a women's job to dive for seafood (FIXME NAME) This is done without any special diving equipment, even though they might dive 10 metre below the surface. The museum honours those divers, but is not incredibly informative. Fortunately, I discover that one of the tour guides has some personal stories to share, from her own family. She took the women divers diploma, but not many young people do. Most of the women divers are in their pension age, but still on-going. The oldest is more than 80 years old.
Today we have excursions all day. We were supposed to do a long hike on Halla-san, the major volcano of the island, but even though it's stopped raining, it's foggy and the tour guides have decided to change the plan. Later I hear from someone who hiked to the summit on his own, and the fog cleared up so it was finally great; but this opportunity I have missed this week.
Halla-san has hundreds of side-volcanoes, according to the tour guide, more than any other volcanic island in the world. We hike the Eoseungsaengak to the summit of one of them. We're with more than a hundred people, and clearly other busloads of people hike the same route, so there's a continuous queue of people walking both up and down the volcano on the steep stairs. It's perhaps an elevation difference of 100-150 metre, so although the hike is short, it's not nothing. For some people it's at the edge of their abilities. All of this in a fog so dense we completely miss the crater lake.
Next, we go down to the coastal columns I hiked by last Tuesday. Here it's sunny, and I zip off my trousers. With the three buses, we join with the countless of others down the wooden path to take pictures of the lava columns before being herded back into the buses.
We eat sandwiches at Jungmun beach. Both on the bus and at the beach, I sit with a Russian environmental activist with whom I share a passion for the tundra, so it's a quite interesting day. I ask about what it's like to hike and camp in the Russian wilderness, and I'm told that one should be careful. Locals from rural areas are wary of Muscavites and in particular of foreigners, and when they are in large groups and get drunk, they could be dangerous. Being away from civilisation is no guarantee that this won't happen, as they might be driving around on their quads. I also learn about Powershift, a grassroots campaign to shift from fossil fuel to renewable electricity. We share stories about our experiences in the environmental and the peace movement, respectively. An interesting day. Not many people are thrilled by seeing a vast and desolate tundra landscape, and not many people do sustainability activism. I think I know only three who do both. I've certainly never met any from Russia, where many people are apathetic at best. When we depart at the end of the conference, I feel a bit sad; I should try to make new friends in Toronto, where I've been a bit lonely until now. Why should I meet people with whom I share so many interests only when we're travelling to a place thousands of kilometres from both our homes? Oh, and I do miss the tundra a great lot. I should go there this year.
After lunch, we join another set of bussed people in hiking the easiest part of Jeju-olle. One the way there we pass through Gangjeong, and I point my new friend at the banners. In Russia, the military certainly wouldn't tolerate banners and peace activists at a military base. In Russia, the government is more actively dangerous. The new hike is nice and near the end some of us go down to the shore, where waves break on volcanic rocks. It really reminds me of La Palma, and it's sad that I have so little time here. Such a beautiful island, and so unknown in the west. And most tourists don't even take the time to see the spectacular nature, whether it's the coast, the volcanoes, or the ecologically unique forests in the inland. A superb island.
The last full day of the conference, including my talk. I start off a little bit difficult but then it becomes more smooth, and the timing is quite good. Afterward, several people say they thought my talk was good: well-structured and good slides. Good to hear.
In the evening, before the closing dinner, one more time to go to the beach. I collect some shells to take home as a souvenir present. I've found some good ones!
The gala dinner is similar to the welcome dinner, but without a professional toastmaster. Buffet food, the only vegetarian options are western, which is okay. I eat several plates of tortellini with salad. The dinner includes prizes for the three best posters and three best presentations. An insider from the jury tells me I was really close to making it to the top three presentations. The winner is the same as last time.
After dinner, we go to a bar. The Monkey Beach bar is closed, but there is another one. Our party takes all seats. I talk to some new people and some people I already know.
I try to find yoghurt at the airport, for breakfast, but I fail and eat a muffin instead. Today is the long flight back. This time I have pre-ordered vegetarian food. There are electrical outlets at every seat. So plenty of time to write my blog.
As I'm writing this it's 17:08 in Seoul, the local time is 22:08, and it's 04:08 in Toronto. But we've passed the international date boundary, so it's actually 22:08 on Tuesday 1 April, although we left at 10:00 on Wednesday 2 April. Time travel 2.0.
Tuesday 25 March
Unlike yesterday, I decide to try the (expensive) hotel breakfast at Hana hotel. They have many different things, that I would consider rather lunch or dinner than breakfast, and most things are not vegetarian. They do have corn flakes and milk, and I settle for that.
Today I follow Jeju-olle in the opposite direction, heading east from the hotel. It has started raining softly as I depart from the hotel in the morning, and the forecast has intensifying rain in the afternoon. I still wake up early due to the jet-lag, so I can start in good time with the hike. I hope to eat lunch in Gangyeong, so I should be there on time.
Eastward, Jeju-olle soon descends into the Jungmun valley, and I cross the river flowing down the gorge on a set of stepping stones. On the other side I momentarily lose the trail, as I am passing along "Pacificland", an entertainment park with "Dolpin and monkey shows". This is the kind of sadistic torture sell against any refrain from direct, ALF-style action should be considered immoral. What a shame that this exists. Is it because I'm in Asia, or do torture shows exist in "The West" still?
The difficulty of Jeju-olle is highly variable. One moment it's tarmac, the next moment it passes along a somewhat tricky rocky passage, tricky enough for me to momentarily use my hands. It's good hiking, although even in the rain I meet a lot of other hikers. As far as I can tell, they are all Korean. Overall, Chinese make up a very large share of Jeju tourists, but I have yet to identify Chinese hikers. But I could miss if some are in the crowds of Koreans.
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| 주상절리 (Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff) |
Next, I pass along 주상절리 or the Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff, a famous part of the coast, with spectacular basalt hexagonal columns. To join the queue of tourists bussed in as part of their Jeju trips which may be as short as a day (advertisement encourage tourists to spend the night on Jeju, rather than fly-in fly-out the same day) I would need to pay an entrance fee, which is not my cup of tea. I get a new map from the small tourist station here, and continue along the coast.Suddenly I come across a giant, spectacular, buddhist temple, the 약천사 (Yakcheonsa) temple. It has started raining more heavily, and I take off my shoes (as required) to go in. Inside, buddhist monks are singing while kneeling in front of three huge Buddha statues. I had no clue there was such a temple here, but this must be one of the major sites on Jeju; and one of the few authentic man-made ones. Great to see that Jeju has those too, apart from the plethora of museums for teddy bears, chocolate, sex, greek mythology, hello kitty, "3D alive", "believe it or not", and dozens of others — supposedly there are well over a hundred places calling themselves museum, and under the influx of huge masses of Chinese tourists, their number is growing rapidly. So it's good to see some authenticity on Jeju "Las Vegas" island. The temple has three stories, and I spend quite a bit of time inside, aweing at the work of previous generations. Certainly the most impressive man-made thing I am to see this week.
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| 약천사 (Yakcheonsa) temple |
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| 약천사 (Yakcheonsa) temple |
When I get out it has briefly stopped raining, and I continue on Jeju-olle in the direction of Gangjeong. The rain intensifies again, and large amounts come flowing off the tangerine greenhouses that dominate this area. They remind me of the banana plantations on La Palma; although not as tropical, they are a genuine non-touristic local source of income. And they block the view. There are less people hiking here, but that could also be due to the heavy rain or the proximity of the Gangjeong naval base, a Korean base built for US ships that is under construction, and which has destroyed a part of the coast. A small number of peace activists still live permanently in Gangjeong, which they are turning into a peace village. Indeed, Jeju-olle abruptly turns inland as the beautiful Jeju coastline suddenly makes place for walls and cranes.
In Gangjeong, I'm not paying attention terribly well, and at first miss the peace village while passing straight through it. After walking around for 20 minutes and asking for help, it turns out that the peace center is right in the middle of the village, and that I should have seen it straight away. I don't see anybody inside, but decide to enter and greet. Someone rises from a sofa and calls me welcome in OK English. Moments later, a man enters who later introduces himself as Mario from Japan, where he spends a good deal of his time in Okinawa. Coincidentally, we have arrived at roughly the same time.
I am brought to the peace restaurant, which turns out to be right by the Jeju-olle. It's rather a shed, but inside some 20 people are finishing their lunch. There is still food left for me, and they have plenty of vegetarian alternatives. I am introduced to an American activist who has made this his home. Finally someone with whom I can talk "normally". He explains the history and the background of the peace village to me. The navy base is built by the Koreans, but the design is fully American, and the official story of the base motivations simply doesn't hold. It's supposed to be for the Korean navy and motivated by the conflict between South and North Korea, but this is as far from the North as one can get, so it makes no sense. It's also supposed to be able to welcome civilian (!) cruise ships, which again doesn't make sense for a military base; it would be a world first, and what giant cruise ship would call at a small village turned into a navy base? Rather, every corner of the design echoes US military aircraft carrier ships, and the strategic location for the South China sea. It's really about China, no matter how much the government denies it.
We continue our conversation in the Peace Library, near the Peace Center. The activists aim to turn Gangjeong into a peace village. It is clear that the base is being built and can't be stopped anymore. But activism might still have an effect in the longer term. By turning Gangjeong into a peace village, with a peace center, peace library, peace restaurant, and frequent peace-related events, perhaps they can influence visitors, perhaps even military soldiers coming off the base. And there are rumous that Korean political plans are not limited to this one military base, but that they might plan more. To turn Jeju into Okinawa. Locals and peace activists want to prevent that, so this activism is a long-term effort. Every morning, they get up before sunrise to perform 100 bows at 7:00, in front of the base. And at 11:00, they have a catholic mass. This detail, I find the most surprising element of the protests. In Korea, the catholic minority is a progressive force, not a conservative one like in Europe and North America. Activists and villagers are trying to get the pope to visit Jeju on his Korea visit later in 2014, but it appears that no Jeju visit is planned in the preliminary programme. In the evening, I take the bus back to Jungmun Resort and move from Hana Hotel to Lotte Hotel. From now on, my stay is financed by the International TOVS Working Group (ITWG), where TOVS is TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder, and TIROS is Television Infra-Red Orbital Satellite. But ITWG includes microwave and sub-millimetre. Lotte Hotel is incredibly luxurious. As I enter, at least a dozen employpees are standing in a huge lobby, directing us (a large number of conference-goers just arrived by bus) to the check-in reception. ITWG pays my stay and my breakfast, which is not included by default.
The entrance is on the 8th floor, and my room is on the 10th. As often in luxurious hotels, it seems the assumption is that everybody takes the elevator; the stairs can only be recognised by the "emergency exit" sign. As I enter my huge room (with two beds, one seems to be King Size, the other Full Size), a bathroom with a bath /and/ a shower, electronic controls for everything, and excellent wired internet, I hear a growing noise (some would call it music) from outside. I enter the balcony and below me is a huge show ongoing, that I later learn to identify as the nightly Volcano Show. 10 floors down, in the garden surrounded by the hotel's three wings, is a big pond with artificial rocks and an artificial waterfall behind. The waterfall operates daily until 22:00, and in the evening is the Volcano Show. Holographic projections have monsters (dinosaurs?) coming out off the water and the rock, and big flares of fire are meant to destroy those. Or perhaps it's a fight between different monsters. All of this show is performed under quite loud music, and an increasing racket from the artificial waterfall. From my large balcony, I have a good view of the show.
Considering that the hotel advertises with this, there must be people who like it.
Wednesday 26 March
The next morning is the beginning of the conference. There is a large selection of food for the breakfast in the "Italian Restaurant", for which my coupons are valid (there is also a Korean Restaurant, and a Japanese Restaurant). But even in the "Italian" one, there is abalone porridge, squid soup, and many kinds of meat. I'm not convinced that Italians eat that for breakfast. An army of hotel employees walks around to ensure nobody needs to wait more than 30 seconds for tea or coffee, and that any food nearing completion is replaced promptly. The one thing I'm looking for first — bread with cheese — seems to be the only food imaginable they do /not/ have. I settle for muesli with milk, along with one of the six different kinds of juices (banana, pineapple, tangerine, and some others.
The conference is quite relevant to the work I used to do, but less so for my new project. I still most of the talks interesting, so I'm not bored. It is held in the same hotel, and — in my view — as severely overstaffed as the hotel itself is. Quite a contrast to the previous edition of the conference, at Météo-France 2 years ago. We have Jeju chocolates and Jeju biscuits for the breaks, which also serve as poster-viewing sessions, and lunch is Korean. My lunch coupons say Vegetarian, and on delivering the coupon I get a large notice which says Vegetarian, which I am to place in front of me. Every day, lunch consists of various kinds of Kimchi (pickled vegetables, of which there are many many kinds), some kind of soup, and a main dish. They care well for my vegetarianism, and are not confused by what it means. And by the end of the conference, I'm fluent with chopsticks.
After the last talk but before dinner, there is some spare time. Signs in the hotel point to the private hotel beach lounge at Jungmun beach. It's only a few minutes walk down some stairs full of signs warning guests to be very careful and not fall of the stairs. The beach is pretty, it seems natural as the sand is not really white. There are waves, shells, and tourists, and the cliffs around the beach are quite steep. It really gives a secluded area, and if it wasn't for the various private beach lounges belonging to various luxury hotels, one might momentarily forget one is in the middle of what must be one of the most touristic development peaces of coastline in east-Asia.
The evening has a welcome dinner hosted by KMA, with a (professional?) Korean toastmaster (toastmistress) speaking flawless English. She announces the VIPs one by one, and every time there is a music jingle as they walk to the stage where they are volunteered to say some words. Most of the words are not terribly interesting.
The food is a buffet, and all vegetarian choices are in green. The food is very fancy, and there are not a lot of vegetarian options. In fact, the only vegetarian option is the sole non-Korean food. My meal consists of pasta with sauce and salad. I'm really quite happy with that.
Thursday 27 March
Mostly conference. In the evening I find some time to walk around, before we meet up for dinner. There are a number of people whom I know from before, and we're five heading out of the resort for dinner. We go in to the first restaurant we find. Most restaurants in the area are Korean style, which means sitting on the elevated floor with tables barely large enough to put ones legs below. Locals generally sit with their legs crossed. We start off with a severe faux pas, namely by entering the elevated floors with our shoes on. The waitress frantically gestures us that we should absolutely not do so, that the elevated area is to be entered on socks only. At the middle of each table, there is a stove.
The menu is only in Korean, but there is a picture-menu. I brought my phrasebook, and I try the sentence for "I'm vegetarian" (FIXME korean phrase). To my pleasant surprise, this is succesful, and I order a nice vegetarian meal. It comes, of course, with kimchi and soup; those are not even listed on the menu, they are simply coming with every meal. That is to remain so for the rest of my stay.
The others order a large plate of food to be shared with four people. I think they had no clue /what/ they ordered, except from looking at the pictures. As the food arrives, the waitress lightens the stove on our table. The sea snails that the others are eating are still crawling in their shells, cooked alive minutes before being eaten (alive?). We're in Korea now. After dinner, we go to a bar called Monkey Beach, next to the hotel. This is where the social events for this conference happen. I am introduced to a game which is apparently similar to curling. Two teams need to shove a flat cylinder over a course approximately 4x longer than wide, where there are zones numbered 1, 2, and 3, followed by an abyss implying 0. The team closest to the abyss wins, with the number of points depending on the exact configuration. I'm having fun, but I'm tired and don't stay late.
Friday 28 March
Today I get up early, because I want to visit the Gangjeong navy base for the daily peace protest. At 6:30 I ask the bell desk to order me a taxi to Gangjeong. At first they don't understand where I want to go. Gangjeong? Navy base? Yes. They're too polite to ask why. Gangjeong is not a tourist destination, or at least not anymore. The taxi is very cheap, just 8500 ₩ (FIXME €) for some 10 km. Impressive.
As I arrive, nobody is in the peace center, so I head for the peace restaurant, expecting people eating breakfast. They aren't, so I continue on my own to the navy base. As I walk along the road, I recognise one of the people (an older Korean person) who I saw last Tuesday. He speaks a little bit of English. We soon arrive at the base, where the wall is full of pro-peace banners, and across the road is a permanent stand with peace-related literature and art. We get some mattresses from the floor and lie them next to the wall. We are three doing the peace bows this morning, and some others are walking around doing other things. Exactly at 7:00, a loudspeaker starts saying things in korean. During every paus, we bow: from standing, down to kneeling on the mattress, while bending down to the ground. And then we stand up again. After a few iterations, I recognise that each sentence ends with the same words: "Jeju-ro olimnida". Perhaps this means "Bow for Jeju"? The 100 bows last more than 30 minutes in total. It certainly is a good morning exercise, here in the Jeju morning sun, and a unique experience. Too bad it's so early in the morning that I won't manage to come every day...I head back to the hotel (by bus) for breakfast. After a long conference day, Viju and I decide we don't feel like eating Korean food /again/, and head into town searching for western food. This is a failure. After walking for more than an hour, we've probably passed some 50 restaurants, of which 90% or Korean and the rest either Chinese or Japanese. Finally we give up. Later we learn there's a pizza place moments later. Back at Jungmun Resort there is a pizzeria in the hotel, but this one is very expensive, the cheapest pizza costs 5x more than a full meal in one of the Korean restaurants. The other alternative are burger places, but they serve no vegetarian food. I end up eating only a small portion of untasty fries, just before the last restaurant closes. Attempting to find western food here is a guarantee for failure.
I briefly join to the Monkey Beach bar, but I'm tired so I head back to the hotel.
Saturday 29 March
Now it's weekend, but in the morning we have working group sessions. Not everybody has arrived. In particular, the co-chair of our working group is apparently still sleeping, after having stayed at the Monkey Beach bar until 06:00-ish. I have apparently missed a lot.
After lunch, two excursions are planned: first a visit to the 만장굴 (Manjangul) lava tubes, then a visit to a spectacular rock in the sea. Today it's raining and it's raining hard. The bus was ordered to drive the mountain road, so he does, but there is nothing to see due to heavy rain and dense fog. At least it's dry in the cave.
The lava cave is spectacular, well worth its status as a Unesco world heritage. It's also full of buses full of tourists. We're one of those busloads now, and as the others, we get too little time to explore properly. We have time to run to the end, take pictures, and run back. Today we get the impression what Chinese tourists bused through Europe must be experiencing.
The second trip is cancelled due to the intense rain, and replaced by a visit to the women divers museum. This starts with an incredibly uninformative 7-minute video in a room where we barely fit, and then we have 20 minutes to explore the 3 floors of the museum with over a 100 people. Unique to Jeju, it is traditionally a women's job to dive for seafood (FIXME NAME) This is done without any special diving equipment, even though they might dive 10 metre below the surface. The museum honours those divers, but is not incredibly informative. Fortunately, I discover that one of the tour guides has some personal stories to share, from her own family. She took the women divers diploma, but not many young people do. Most of the women divers are in their pension age, but still on-going. The oldest is more than 80 years old.
Sunday 30 March
Today we have excursions all day. We were supposed to do a long hike on Halla-san, the major volcano of the island, but even though it's stopped raining, it's foggy and the tour guides have decided to change the plan. Later I hear from someone who hiked to the summit on his own, and the fog cleared up so it was finally great; but this opportunity I have missed this week.
Halla-san has hundreds of side-volcanoes, according to the tour guide, more than any other volcanic island in the world. We hike the Eoseungsaengak to the summit of one of them. We're with more than a hundred people, and clearly other busloads of people hike the same route, so there's a continuous queue of people walking both up and down the volcano on the steep stairs. It's perhaps an elevation difference of 100-150 metre, so although the hike is short, it's not nothing. For some people it's at the edge of their abilities. All of this in a fog so dense we completely miss the crater lake.
Next, we go down to the coastal columns I hiked by last Tuesday. Here it's sunny, and I zip off my trousers. With the three buses, we join with the countless of others down the wooden path to take pictures of the lava columns before being herded back into the buses.
We eat sandwiches at Jungmun beach. Both on the bus and at the beach, I sit with a Russian environmental activist with whom I share a passion for the tundra, so it's a quite interesting day. I ask about what it's like to hike and camp in the Russian wilderness, and I'm told that one should be careful. Locals from rural areas are wary of Muscavites and in particular of foreigners, and when they are in large groups and get drunk, they could be dangerous. Being away from civilisation is no guarantee that this won't happen, as they might be driving around on their quads. I also learn about Powershift, a grassroots campaign to shift from fossil fuel to renewable electricity. We share stories about our experiences in the environmental and the peace movement, respectively. An interesting day. Not many people are thrilled by seeing a vast and desolate tundra landscape, and not many people do sustainability activism. I think I know only three who do both. I've certainly never met any from Russia, where many people are apathetic at best. When we depart at the end of the conference, I feel a bit sad; I should try to make new friends in Toronto, where I've been a bit lonely until now. Why should I meet people with whom I share so many interests only when we're travelling to a place thousands of kilometres from both our homes? Oh, and I do miss the tundra a great lot. I should go there this year.
After lunch, we join another set of bussed people in hiking the easiest part of Jeju-olle. One the way there we pass through Gangjeong, and I point my new friend at the banners. In Russia, the military certainly wouldn't tolerate banners and peace activists at a military base. In Russia, the government is more actively dangerous. The new hike is nice and near the end some of us go down to the shore, where waves break on volcanic rocks. It really reminds me of La Palma, and it's sad that I have so little time here. Such a beautiful island, and so unknown in the west. And most tourists don't even take the time to see the spectacular nature, whether it's the coast, the volcanoes, or the ecologically unique forests in the inland. A superb island.
Monday 31 March
The last full day of the conference, including my talk. I start off a little bit difficult but then it becomes more smooth, and the timing is quite good. Afterward, several people say they thought my talk was good: well-structured and good slides. Good to hear.
In the evening, before the closing dinner, one more time to go to the beach. I collect some shells to take home as a souvenir present. I've found some good ones!
The gala dinner is similar to the welcome dinner, but without a professional toastmaster. Buffet food, the only vegetarian options are western, which is okay. I eat several plates of tortellini with salad. The dinner includes prizes for the three best posters and three best presentations. An insider from the jury tells me I was really close to making it to the top three presentations. The winner is the same as last time.
After dinner, we go to a bar. The Monkey Beach bar is closed, but there is another one. Our party takes all seats. I talk to some new people and some people I already know.
Tuesday 1 April
End of conference. Taxi to the airport. Flying to Seoul. At the Seoul Gimpo Airport railway station, I meet a group of Koreans flyering for Greenpeace. I wish them good luck and take the subway to Incheon airport, then a shuttle bus to my hotel. I eat an incredibly cheap (5000 ₩) vegetarian meal next to the hotel, fix some errands, and sleep. My flight is at 10:00, and getting up at 7:00 is good, with the shuttle bus leaving at 7:30. I'll eat breakfast at the airport.Wednesday 2 April.
I try to find yoghurt at the airport, for breakfast, but I fail and eat a muffin instead. Today is the long flight back. This time I have pre-ordered vegetarian food. There are electrical outlets at every seat. So plenty of time to write my blog.
As I'm writing this it's 17:08 in Seoul, the local time is 22:08, and it's 04:08 in Toronto. But we've passed the international date boundary, so it's actually 22:08 on Tuesday 1 April, although we left at 10:00 on Wednesday 2 April. Time travel 2.0.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Even the birds sing in Korean
One can spend a long time figuring out what things are. I haven't found a supermarket yet, here at the Jungmun Tourist Complex, but at 7-eleven I did find 우유 (milk). Often I give up deciphering what hings are after a coulpe of characters. Although I can tell apart the Hangul characters, I don't quite know the order yet, which makes using a dictionary very slow. But still, I found chocolate, peanut cookies, cheese, and something resembling bread. The bread is too sweet, though.
Breakfast was too fishy so I ate an apple. I will try the breakfast again on Wednesday and ask with my phrasebook. Food is a serious issue here, all characters are Hangul, most restaurants have menus only in Korean, and vegetarianism seems to be very, very rare. In the flight here they had beef, chicken, or fish. A friendly flight attended replaced the main dish for me with salad from business class, and helped me pre-order vegetarian food for my flight home. But I haven't eaten any proper meal since Friday night, when I was still in Toronto. Perhaps I will have better luck today.
The coast of Jeju is very beautiful. I hiked 32 km on Jeju Olle. The terrain varies from beach to cliffs to forests and some inland valleys. The sound of the birds is very different from Europe. I could say that even the birds sing in Korean, with the end of a single song being the longest sound, similar to the Korean melody.
Parts of the coast are highly developed with huge hotels, other parts are quiet, but everywhere are many small guest houses. I think I must have passed 20 or 30 guest houses. And one moment you're hiking along spectacular cliffs, the next one you find yourself in the middle of a Hendrik Hamel-themed theme park. Or passing along one of the many boat tours, including one with submarines. Some boat tours have very loud loudspeakers, and as they pass along the coast, it doesn't really get quiet. Fortunately it's quiet at the memorial for the Moseulpo massacre, which commemorates a few hundred executed people. It doesn't commemorate the many others, though. I eat my lunch at one of the nice beaches I've passed by, only to discover the bread I bought is not really bread, but rather some sweet pastry. And the cheese tastes of nothing. The milk and chocolate are fine, though. I should have brought my dried fruits from Canada...
I ended my hike in Moseulpo, and finding a bus back was difficult enough. A small but crowded city with lots of small stores and restaurants, most of which have aquariums on the outside. Nothing is written in English and most people don't speak English either. I try to find my way to the bus terminal (bus is beuseu according to my phrasebook) and find another stop on the way there. I'm told I need bus 700. Finally it works. The bus is old and has only one door and is very shaky. You really need the seatbelt even when no accidents happen, because acceleration and deceleration are very intense, as are corners. The only Latin characters on the bus are CCTV. It gets dark while I'm on the bus, but I succeed in getting off at the right stop.
In the evening I try to find vegetarian food. I do not succeed. I don't find a supermarket, and the only restaurant I find is called Louisiana Kitchen. They don't serve any vegetables, only burgers and fries. I settle for fries but I'm not satisfied. I will need to find proper vegetarian food, as I've not eaten a proper meal since Friday night.
There are incredibly many theme parks and museums on this island. Just to name a few, there's a Teddy Bear museum and a Chocolate museum next door, as well as a Believe-it-or-not-museum. Few if any of the museums have anything to do with the location. Museum of Greek Mythology, of video games, of African Art, of sex (several of those), Nexon Computer museum, and many, many others. Apparently there are more than 100 museums on this island. And that doesn't count all the "experiences"... how about a teddy bear safari?
Photos will follow
Breakfast was too fishy so I ate an apple. I will try the breakfast again on Wednesday and ask with my phrasebook. Food is a serious issue here, all characters are Hangul, most restaurants have menus only in Korean, and vegetarianism seems to be very, very rare. In the flight here they had beef, chicken, or fish. A friendly flight attended replaced the main dish for me with salad from business class, and helped me pre-order vegetarian food for my flight home. But I haven't eaten any proper meal since Friday night, when I was still in Toronto. Perhaps I will have better luck today.
The coast of Jeju is very beautiful. I hiked 32 km on Jeju Olle. The terrain varies from beach to cliffs to forests and some inland valleys. The sound of the birds is very different from Europe. I could say that even the birds sing in Korean, with the end of a single song being the longest sound, similar to the Korean melody.
Parts of the coast are highly developed with huge hotels, other parts are quiet, but everywhere are many small guest houses. I think I must have passed 20 or 30 guest houses. And one moment you're hiking along spectacular cliffs, the next one you find yourself in the middle of a Hendrik Hamel-themed theme park. Or passing along one of the many boat tours, including one with submarines. Some boat tours have very loud loudspeakers, and as they pass along the coast, it doesn't really get quiet. Fortunately it's quiet at the memorial for the Moseulpo massacre, which commemorates a few hundred executed people. It doesn't commemorate the many others, though. I eat my lunch at one of the nice beaches I've passed by, only to discover the bread I bought is not really bread, but rather some sweet pastry. And the cheese tastes of nothing. The milk and chocolate are fine, though. I should have brought my dried fruits from Canada...
I ended my hike in Moseulpo, and finding a bus back was difficult enough. A small but crowded city with lots of small stores and restaurants, most of which have aquariums on the outside. Nothing is written in English and most people don't speak English either. I try to find my way to the bus terminal (bus is beuseu according to my phrasebook) and find another stop on the way there. I'm told I need bus 700. Finally it works. The bus is old and has only one door and is very shaky. You really need the seatbelt even when no accidents happen, because acceleration and deceleration are very intense, as are corners. The only Latin characters on the bus are CCTV. It gets dark while I'm on the bus, but I succeed in getting off at the right stop.
In the evening I try to find vegetarian food. I do not succeed. I don't find a supermarket, and the only restaurant I find is called Louisiana Kitchen. They don't serve any vegetables, only burgers and fries. I settle for fries but I'm not satisfied. I will need to find proper vegetarian food, as I've not eaten a proper meal since Friday night.
There are incredibly many theme parks and museums on this island. Just to name a few, there's a Teddy Bear museum and a Chocolate museum next door, as well as a Believe-it-or-not-museum. Few if any of the museums have anything to do with the location. Museum of Greek Mythology, of video games, of African Art, of sex (several of those), Nexon Computer museum, and many, many others. Apparently there are more than 100 museums on this island. And that doesn't count all the "experiences"... how about a teddy bear safari?
Photos will follow
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