Go big or go home

I am sitting in the hotel room, having a nice stiff drink after a long, long day. I earned it.
We set out this morning at 8, we are on a full tour bus now, no longer just the six of us. There are about 40 of us. The weather is delightfully perfect. Sunny, but with a cool breeze.
Our first stop is along the coast. Lava has formed these black, hexagonal shaped rock columns, and the water is a lovely turquoise color.
Next a tangerine farm/bed and breakfast/ginseng biolab. Yes, all in one. (No, I don't know why.) We end up in what appears to be a sales pitch on the benefits of ginseng and how it will help you live forever. (A downside of guided tours: you are at the mercy of the guides.) They are growing ginseng in labs, very futuristic.
Then another boat tour. It is relaxing, there are so many little islands, some basically just rocks jutting up out of the ocean all around Korea.
Lunch is served, then on to Yongduam Mountain. It is an area of volcanic lava rock formations and is quite amazing. Here is where it gets interesting.
We are walking along admiring the scene, with our original tour group, and we come across some ladies cutting up sea cucumbers, octopus, conch and sea squirt (yes, that is the name of it and it is the orangey looking one on the plate.) They are selling it, and before we know what has happened, the couple with us has bought a plate full. They invite us to join them.

Fresher than fresh

Now, I just watched these ladies sitting on this rock, hacking up these things and rinsing them off. The only thing cooked was the octopus. I am handed a pair of chopsticks and a cup of gochujang (essentially Korean ketchup) and told to dig in. I don't think they thought I would. But, well, this is why I came here. I dig in.
First, the cucumber (btw, not so much vegetable as sea slug). It is chewy, verging on crunchy. But I get it down. No taste really. Then the squirt. It is gnarly looking, but it too has not much taste. It looks worse than it is. Slimy. I drown it in gochujang. The octopus, by contrast, is really good. The conch is tough, and probably the hardest to eat.

Mandy vs. the Sea squirt

But I do it! I am sitting on a rock off the coast of Korea in the middle of the ocean eating something that 5 minutes ago was swimming around in the water.

Who needs chairs, a table or a restaurant?

The food consumed, we move on. Another downside of the guided tour: having to be on a time schedule. We  hustle to make it back to the bus.

So happy we found the way out!

The next mountain is Songaksan, and we walk up the mountain and look down over the cliffs of insanity (hee!). More volcanic activity has created these great formations. Joe tries to climb down the side of the mountain where very rustic steps have been carved out and I try not to have a heart attack.

And dinner. I thought, naively, having eaten what I just ate would be the last great hurdle in my Korean food quest. Until I sit down to dinner and come face to face with my supper. Which is looking back at me. In the soup pot, live clams. Moving. I can't look.

Low country boil, South Korean style

They turn the heat on under the pot and the bubbling soup does its work to cook all of the seafood in the dish. I don't, just can't, eat the clams, but I do eat the squid, prawn, and abalone, which are good. Joe eats the clam and says it was delicious. So there you go.
When I get home, I am going to eat pizza every day for a week.