Geumodo Island - Island Hop and Hitchhike

Geumodo is little island off Yeosu. Its shape has been likened to the terrapin, which resembles nothing to the island's name which translates to 'twilight island'

#squad

Fellow hopper/hitchhiker Dwayne Wiese and I started off at Yeosu Terminal at 15h00. Because of the vacation schedule we had missed the last ferry to Geumodo from Yeosu Terminal. We subsequently bused 65 stops to Dolsan Ferry, which would accommodate our transport needs. 

We eventually made it to Geumodo at 18h30. We worked our way down the western edge of terrapin island. The better hiking trail is down the east but we just said 'bugger it' and went west along the tar road. The aim of our mini-hike was to reach Ando Beach on Ando Island. It was approximately 15km of trapping away. 

Side note: The 'a' in 'trapping' is like the 'u' in 'up', originating from the Afrikaans 'trap', or 'walk'.

20h30 and a few kilometers or so later came around and the heat got to us. Buggered, we would have camped right there next to the road. Luckily one of the drivers, a local farmer, noticed our out-stuck thumbs and hitched us to the nearest (and only) 7Eleven. A few beers and a chicken burger later and we were back on the road. Another hour and a bit of hiking and the owners of Sunny's Pension (Guesthouse/B'nB/Backpackers) made us feel like old friends. We never planned to sleep at a camp-site or a pension, but Misu and her family cooked us chicken and served us beverages efore coaxing us into sleep in their campsite. A highly recommended place to stop off for anyone who's interested. A genuinely warm, kind and humorous family even after hosting welcoming us in close to midnight. Misu's English skills were well above average.

We hit the hay thereafter. Were it not for the bugs (we didn't have a tent) and the yapping dog in the hills behind us (protecting the rice paddies and pumpkin patches, no doubt), I would have gotten more than an hour's sleep. 

We were on the move at the crack of dawn. It wasn't long before our clothes were sticking to our skin. That bleddy heat got up as early as we did. Things got a little sweatier later when we came shoe-tongue to fork-tongue with a snake. My slithering reptilian count in Korea has now notched up to two.

We reached Ando Beach, and although I wasn't expecting much, its lack of impressiveness came as no surprise. Was not worth taking photos nor talking about because of the plastic and eyesore buildings/scaffoldings. 

Ultimately we reached our goal before ferrying back to Yeosu that evening. On that note, good times.