Another road trip

I know I haven't written about the first one (participants: Maiko, BC, my dad, and the loudest man in Korea), but here's a rundown about the second road trip of the season. This one took place because Maiko is leaving Korea in about two weeks, at which time I will be horribly depressed, having lost my best friend here. (Insert appropriate gnashing of teeth, sobbing sounds, and nose-blowing honks here.)

Monday was a holiday, so we left that morning and I came back this afternoon (Wed.) in time for work.

For some reason, Maiko has wanted to go to this little town called Mokpo for a while. It's located on the southwestern end of the peninsula, and is known (sort of) for its seafood and... well, nothing much else. Which we discovered when we got there.

Maiko: "I didn't realize that there was nothing here to see! I'm sorry!"

Tourism-wise, Mokpo is the launching point for seeing Hongdo, an island renowned for the reddish tint of its cliffs. It looks quite pretty -- judging from the brochures. Hongdo is 115 kilometers out to the west, and it would have cost about $45 to go, so we decided to ditch that idea.

Instead, we put our stuff in the lockers at the train station (which was kinda cool, since the lock involved an electronic fingerprinting mechanism), and climbed the small mountain in the middle of town. We caught a rather spectacular sunset over the ocean and various islands to the west, as well as a heavy full moon to the east, complete with moonshine gleaming over the water. I also interrupted a couple at the top of the mountain, who were in serious mid-kiss when I scrambled up the last few steps, breathless and encumbered with bag and camera. Oops! Sorry, guys.

That night, pooped out from the impromptu hiking, Maiko slept 12 hours straight. Without waking up once. It's amazing. The girl has a gift. She also falls asleep on violently lurching local buses, as well as herky-jerkily driven jeeps and cars. Put her in a moving vehicle and I guarantee you that she will be asleep in 42 seconds. I timed it. (Well, no, I didn't, but it sounds good, doesn't it?)

Me, I slept well, but woke up after 7 hours or so. Dozed on and off and then lay on the warm floor thinking, periodically glancing over at Maiko with wonder and deep-seated sleep envy. I think I used to sleep really deeply. What happened?

On Tuesday, we headed to Jindo, an island about an hour's drive south of Mokpo that is home to the world-famous Jindo dog. A man on the bus told me that a Jindo dog once found its owner after traveling 12,000 ri, an old unit of distance that means about 393 meters, or 2.4 miles. Wait. Maybe it was 1200 ri? The peninsula's only 600 miles long. Did the dog go round and round the perimeter of the peninsula? No, it must have been 1200 ri. Oh god, I need sleep.

Anyhoo. Jindo is at the southernmost tip of the peninsula and is most famous for its "Mysterious Sea Road," a.k.a. the Moses phenomenon. There are some very strong tides around Jindo, which are responsible for what looks like a Charleton Heston-like parting of the seas between Jindo and Modo island. The resultant curved road is about 2.8 kilometers long. On certain days the path is 10 to 40 meters wide!

Since we were about a month early for the really spectacular annual parting, the path wasn't as wide as that, but the way it sort of "rose up" out of the sea was pretty damn cool. We bought thigh-high yellow wading boots/socks for 5,000 won (about $4.40) and went out about halfway, watching locals and a couple tourists dig through the sand and rocks for shellfish and small octopus. One man showed us two he'd caught that were clinging to his hand; they'd bring 5,000 won a piece on shore, he said.

The cab driver who'd driven us from the bus station patiently waited an hour and a half (free of charge!) while we played in the water, and then, after we merely inquired about lodging, drove us straight to a motel near the station. He was all ready to jump out and inquire about vacancies for us but we managed to convince him that we'd be all right. Jindo people are really nice, we decided.

This was verified that night, when we went out for dinner and asked the restaurant owner, a tall, sturdy man with a tanned face, where the nearest bank was. He said we reminded him of his daughters and insisted on driving us to the bank and then back. He would have driven us to the hotel if it hadn't been right next to his restaurant.

Later I asked Maiko, "Do you think all Jindo people are this nice? Crazy!"

"Um... I think we're just lucky."

This morning I headed back to Seoul, in time for work at 2 pm. Maiko's still sightseeing, in a different town. Though the bus was fairly comfortable for the 4.5 hour trip, I couldn't really sleep. Envy. And also -- incoherence.

Tomorrow school starts -- but not for me. Wah.

Back to work for me.