Ulleungdo - Day 2 (Hiking and Cable Car)

On our second day, we slept in a bit, so by the time we were up and at 'em, everyone had already left on their adventures for the day. Which was nice. Sometimes, when you go in a big group, it's a bit tough to get some alone time. Fortunately, Katrina and I were able to spend most of the weekend by ourselves. It was a bit overcast when we stepped outside but that didn't deter us from taking a hike.

Let me tell you, our hike was a hike. We went pretty much everywhere that was possible in Dodong, the area of Ulleungdo where we were staying. There was a mountain, but we didn't quite make it up the peak. In fact, we couldn't even see the peak because of the clouds/fog. So, we went up quite a ways and still got a great view of that part of the island. From there, we headed back into the little fishing village and got some pizza.

After pizza, we decided to see if we could find the cable cars. We had seen them at various points, from various places during the day, but were unable to find them on the way down the mountain. Luckily, we were able to find the cable cars, which were nestled in Yaksu Park. We rode up the cable cars, had another great view, had a possible sighting of Dokdo, and had a great time. I would highly recommend taking the hike as well as going up the cable cars if you find yourself in Ulleungdo. However, my favorite part of the trip was the hike we took on our third day, which will be in my next post. Until then, enjoy...

(Chickens on the lam, first interesting sight we had during our hike)


(Me hiking)


(If you blow this picture up, you can see the cable car on the mountain to the right. Also, the village in the valley, Dodong, is where we stayed.)


(Another shot of the coast line)


(During our hike, we kept seeing these tracks. Katrina and I were talking about it and we knew it had something to do with the crops, but we weren't quite sure what.)


(3 sets of tracks in the background)


(Finally, when we were off the beaten path, trying to make our way down, we found this guy and all our questions were answered.)


(Saw these little girls as we were walking down the street and they said goodbye to us and followed us for quite a ways. Pretty cute girls though.)


(After pizza, we made our way to Yaksu Park. This was the temple in the area.)


(Fat Buddha and stone statue to greet you as you walk up the hill)


(Another close up of the statue)


(Katrina with a squid/ocean themed statue)


(It's cable car time!!)



(View of the island as we rode up the cable car)


(Katrina and I from the observation deck at the top)


(The fishing village below)


(What could be out there?)


(Why it's Dokdo! Just a little information about Dokdo... Japan and Korea are currently disputing over who controls the island. Korea has two inhabitants and a police force currently living on the island. The claims, at least in my opinion, are more about the fishing rights, although Korean are very prideful when you discuss Dokdo with them. We did have the chance to visit the island but I'm glad we didn't. It was a two and a half hour ferry ride for 10 minutes on the island, in choppy seas. I heard half of the group that went couldn't keep their breakfast down. Maybe next time, but probably not...)


(View of the temple from the cable car as we came down)


(Dokdo Museum we went to as we came down - quite interesting)


(Katrina in front of a Dokdo mural)


(Replica of Dokdo)

(Interestingly, every city, town, area, has a little mascot. In Ulleungdo, it was the pumpkin and squid, the main resources for the tiny island. And well, here they are.)