[Travel] Havasupai / Havasu Falls

Because of my travel loving sister, I found out about one of the top "go-to-before-you-die" places in the world called Havasupai, better known by the most famous waterfall there, Havasu Falls. Havasu Falls is just one of the many beautiful, natural, and amazing waterfalls located in Arizona's Grand Canyon on the Indian Reserve Land of Havasupai Tribe (official website).

Havasu Falls (no editing! None of the pictures you see are edited)

It's kept in such great condition (so far at least) because the tribe limits how many people can go into the area each year. My sister and her boyfriend, my mom, and I all went (my workaholic dad passed on this; HIS LOSS!) in late June, which is one of the hottest times to go, and it was everything and more I could have imagined. However, we did a lot of planning, research, and preparation for this trip so to (hopefully) save you some time, I thought I'd share what I know and experienced. I strongly recommend you do lots of research as well, do NOT take this trip lightly (figuratively; literally you do want to try and limit how much you bring) as it can be potentially dangerous if you are not prepared! Before reading on, here's a short video my sister put together of our trip (please bear with the shakiness as I filmed bits of it and wasn't aware of how steady I had to be!)

Preparation
First, you must obtain a camping permit or a reservation at the hotel lodge before your trip (most people stay at least 1 night there but you can go for a day trip in some non-summer months, this also requires a permit). On their official website, they say they take requests either through email or on the phone (numbers and emails can be found on the website) but from what I read online (and what we did) it's best to call them. If you've done any research on Havasupai, you will know that you will probably have to call multiple times to (1) have someone pick up and (2) have a date available that you can make. They don't give you a time period to call between so we called multiple times a day during regularish business hours 9 AM - 4 PM (we found morning is the most likely to have someone pick up) and would ask if there was any hotel lodge cancellations in the next month until there was an opening available that we could make. We chose to stay at the lodge for the A/C + shower but also because we don't have the compact lightweight camping tents or sleeping bags but if your group is down for camping, I assume you just call and ask for any available camping permits. For the lodge booking, we had to give our credit card information over the phone to put down a $40 deposit (but this is not charged right away) and then received an email confirming the booking. You're supposed to print out the confirmation email and bring it but my sister actually forgot it but it ended up being okay when we got to the lodge and talked to the receptionist (but you should still bring it!!). It costs $145/night to stay at the lodge which has only rooms with 2 queen beds which was perfect for us 4 people.
Once you've got your dates and permit to stay there, you need to start preparing what to bring. You will be hiking a LOT. It will be hot and sunny. You will need water and food. Here's our checklist (bear in the mind that we did NOT camp so we did not include camping gear!):
-Hiking backpacks
-Clothes: Shorts, Sports Bra, Hiking Socks (3 at least), T-shirts (dri-fit), Tank Top, Sleeping Wear - T Shirt / Shorts, Swimsuit, Hats

-Water shoes (4)
-Hiking shoes (4)
-Towels (microfiber ones = light)
-Sunglasses
-Food / Beverages: Protein Bars (at least 5 per person), 3L Camelbak (3), Extra Bottles of Gatorade (2), Gatorade powder
-Camera Related: Waterproof camera (1), DSLR (1), Tripod (1), Drone (1), GOPRO (1), Camera Charger (1), Extra Battery (1)

-Toiletries : Lip balm with SPF, Tissue Packs, Mosquito repellent, Hand sanitizer, Small First Aid Kit (Band-aids, Alcohol Swabs), Wound dressing/wrap in case injury, Medicine - Tylenol, Advil, Claritin), Toothpaste (1) / Toothbrushes (4), Face wash (sample packs), Lotion - face and body, Sunblock SPF 50 (2) 

-Flashlights (1 per person) + head lamp?

-Spray bottle to fill with water to spray while we hike
-Whistle for emergencies
-Poncho/water jacket for possible rain
-Map of Havasu (need to print)
-Confirmation Receipt for Lodge (1)
-Phone Chargers (4)
-GPS? (If the car we rent does not have one built in - Use Phone?)
-Cash? You can pay with credit
-Small Umbrella
-TO BUY IN VEGAS: Disposable Water Bottles, Ice (for initial hike in), Gatorade

As you should be able to see, we had camera equipment which you may or may not be brining. Drones are actually banned in Havasupai so bring at your own risk(?). The important stuff for the hike though is appropriate hiking backpacks, clothes, and shoes, water (at least 3 L), sunscreen, and food/snacks (at least enough for the hike in, you can buy more at the store in the village if you need but keep in mind that prices might be a little more than usual). It is IMPERATIVE that you have the right gear or else you will end up with blisters and a sore back if not more. We didn't own hiking backpacks before this trip but they are MADE for carrying heavy weight for extended periods of time so we asked around and borrowed 2 (though we actually had 6 to choose from) and bought 2. Hiking backpacks have sizes and you should go into your local store to get fitted. REI actually has a very good return policy (hint hint) if you don't already own a hiking backpack. A hiking backpack will distribute the weight on your hips and shoulders and allow you to fit all your goodies. We also bought 3 L waterbladders which I thought weren't necessary at first (why not just bring multiple water bottles right?) but I was actually so grateful that we had them. You need to be constantly hydrating and having the little sippy sippy easily accessible makes this super easy. You should also bring a bottle of Gatorade or some sort of electrolyte/salt replenish-er drink since you will be sweating. Also, if you plan to hike to Beaver Falls or walk around the waterfalls, you should bring water shoes or shoes that you are comfortable wearing in the water as you have to walk through multiple streams.

Getting There
Havasupai is located in the Grand Canyon. We flew into Las Vegas and then drove about 4 hours to get to the parking lot and trail entrance to Havasupai. The Las Vegas airport is actually closer than the Phoenix Arizona airport to Havasupai. The last place to fill up gas is about 2 hours from the parking lot at Peach Springs so plan accordingly. You will also likely lose signal as you get closer so have a print out map of directions or have an offline map saved on Google Maps (I would try setting it to/close to the Havasupai trailhead). I would advise looking up the directions on multiple sites to make sure you don't end up in the wrong place.
From the parking lot (known as the Hilltop Parking Lot), you must either hike down, ride a mule/horse, or take a helicopter in ($85 one way, they take cash or credit card but there is a $10 credit card fee, you need to contact them beforehand if you wish to helicopter in). The same goes coming back out; hike, horse ride, or helicopter. You can ride the horses/mules or have them just carry your things in; this needs to be arranged ahead of time and costs around $85 I think.

Get an early start on the hike!

The Initial Hike In
The total hike from the parking lot to the Havasupai village (which is where the villager live, the hotel lodge, the visitor center, and the convenience store and cafeteria) is approximately 8 miles (this is what it says online and this is also about what we got on our phone pedometers) but if you are camping, the campground is another 2 miles from the village. Going to Havasupai is going down into the canyon but it is only a steep decline for the first 1.5ish miles and then it becomes pretty much flat the rest of the 6.5 miles. For most people, the 8 mile hike takes 3.5-5.5 hours. We took just under 4 hours at a pretty normal pace (we already had too many stops in my opinion). For the spring and summer months, it is imperative to leave early to avoid the heat. When we went in late June, temperatures were already 95-100 F by 9-10 AM and peaking at 112 F at around 4 PM, so we got to the hilltop around 5:15 AM and started our hike at 6 AM (had to eat some food, get our bags ready, go to the last real bathroom you'll see for a few hours, etc). Most people were already starting the hike at 5:30-5:45 though so we were definitely the late stragglers. Luckily, when you leave around that time, you should be hiking in the shade of the canyon and there are only a few places where you'll have the sun directly beating down on you. I'll say that it really wasn't too hot (like when it's so hot the air is hard to breathe) because of the shade and there was also a steady cool breeze throughout (I assume this is due to the rivers + waterfalls located nearby?). The paths are wide and well-defined though it sometimes forks but the forked roads will converge soon after so I don't think you can get lost. The hardest thing about the hike, in my opinion, was that the path is made mostly of little pebbles and rocks. Imagine walking on sandy or rocky beach, not as easy as a treadmill or packed dirt paths! However, the hike down is totally doable and my 50+ year old mom was able to do it so don't be scared! Just be prepared and walk around a bit with your pack stuffed with weights beforehand so you're not completely caught off guard. Hiking back up is another thing though as the, now last, 1.5 steep part will be much harder as you go uphill but it's not impossible (we chose not to hike back out and took the helicopter instead which is another challenge in itself actually, more on this later).

Be aware of the pack mules and step out of their way when they come by!

The Village
The people of the Havasupai tribe live in the village area where, like I said earlier, there is a visitor center, hotel lodge, supermarket/convenience store (limited fruits/vegetables/meats), and a cafeteria/restaurant with a good selection of hearty foods. We ate at the cafeteria for dinner on our last day but it closes around 7:15 PM so we actually missed it on our first day but we had brought packets of tuna and some sandwich thins (more portable than normal bread) so were able to eat that instead. Again, the campground is 2 miles from the village so you can rest up/refuel at the village before going to the campground if you are camping. You can refill your water using the water from the hotel lodge sinks or from a natural spring pipe in the campground.

Filling up our water bladders at the campground natural spring for the long hike!

The Waterfalls
You will reach the village after approximately 8 miles. However, the actual waterfalls are located 1.5 to 5ish miles away. We went to 4 of the main waterfalls but there is at least one other one that we missed. There are 2 waterfalls, Little Navajo and Havasu Falls, located in between the village and the campgrounds (2 mile distance between the two sites). The path from the village to the campground is a bit sandy/dusty but otherwise it's not too bad of a hike and is downhill (going the other way around is definitely a little tiring). Both waterfalls are pretty visible and you just have to go a little off the main path to get to them.

Walking to Havasu!

Little Navajo was actually my favorite waterfall of them all because you can jump off of it (yes I'm very into cliff jumping now haha *__*). It's about 30 ft at the highest point at the main fall but if you walk a bit from it (not on the main path), you'll reach another part of Little Navajo (this is the waterfall we missed) and apparently that part is 50 ft. The rocks aren't very slippery and I just wore lightweight shoes instead of water shoes (my sister and her boyfriend had water shoes though) and didn't have any issues. I would definitely recommend wearing some sort of shoe (and not flip flops) when going on the waterfalls since you'll be stepping on and over rocks. You can choose from multiple places to jump from the waterfall but please please be careful because there are a few rocks so jump wisely. Lots of the local kids and other hikers will be jumping around there so watch and ask where to jump from if you aren't sure.

Lots of people jumping at Little Navajo!

Havasu Falls is located less than 0.5 miles from the campground and is the most famous waterfall. I don't think it's safe to jump from it because it is quite high and the water pool below it is not very deep but I did see someone on Instagram post a video jumping off (not from the very top though). It's a beautiful waterfall and worth the swim around or some time spent there as there are a few picnic benches. Some people even bring tube floaties to play around with.

Casually floating around

There are 2 other main waterfalls that are further out from there, Mooney and Beaver Falls. Mooney Falls is just past the campground edge (the entire campground is a bit less than 0.5 miles in length?) but you have to go through 2 short caves and down a steep set of stairs made partly from the cliffs and partly from wooden ladders and metal chains. Know your limits!

Steep climb down!

Some people only go to Little Navajo and Havasu which is totally fine but since we stayed for 3 days and 2 nights, we were able to go to Mooney and Beaver. The round trip from the hotel lodge (in the village) to Mooney and Beaver and back was about 11 miles total and since we spent time at Beaver eating lunch, we got back around 5 and spent some time at Little Navajo since it was so hot and then returned to the village around 6. I would advise carrying 2-3L of water/person as well because we only brought 3 water bladders that day (3 L each) and actually drank up 1 of them and came down to about 0.5 L in the other 2 bladders when we reached the campground where we were able to refill our water. We also had 4 bottles of Gatorade (made from powdered mix), 1 for each person.

Mooney Falls was maybe my least favorite because it's SUPER tall (not jumpable for sure..) and water sprays out so as you're climbing down the cliffs, you're getting sprayed by the mist. Beware the the water is very high in lime (which is what makes it so beautifully blue) and if you don't wipe it right away from your camera lens, you'll get water spots/stains that are little difficult to get off. Nevertheless, it's still a nice waterfall and there's a large water pool surrounding it including a swing off a smaller water drop!

Beaver Falls is supposed to be about 3 miles from Mooney but the path to Beaver is not very clear in the beginning so it could take your longer. If you want to go to Beaver Falls (which is a collection of multiple somewhat smaller waterfalls), you have to go past Mooney Falls (away from it). You want to leave early if you're going to Beaver to avoid hiking in the heat of day; we planned for 6 but ended up actually leaving at 7 and we were definitely still hiking around when it got pretty hot. You will need to bring your water shoes or wear them instead of hiking shoes (up to you) as you will be crossing multiple streams of water (not super strong current ones that might knock you over). You'll also be walking on paths that are overgrown with plants so if you're antsy about being touched by plants, well either wear long pants and bear the heat or suck it up I guess? You don't have to worry about ticks or anything and the plants aren't sharp/won't cut your legs up. Soon after Mooney, you'll see a fork in the path. If you take a right, the path will end at a stream which we thought meant it was a dead end but on our way back, we somehow ended up crossing a stream and having to follow it while wading in it and ended up back at this supposed "dead end" we had seen earlier. I think I'd advise going this way on your way to Beaver Falls as we took the fork left and went on a path that is pretty narrow and covered in green bushes and vines.

Crossing the river!

It gets kind of confusing from there as there are multiple forks and paths, some of them less defined than others, and we sort of just trampled our way through and ended up at a stream (which I suspect is connected to Mooney's water runoff?). We saw some other people walking around who were coming BACK (and this was only at 8 AM!) from Beaver and they told us to cross this stream so we put on our water shoes and did so. You have to be smart and choose and area that isn't too deep because there are areas of the streams that get relatively deep but you should be able to find a place to cross that won't go past your thighs/get your shorts wet. We had walking/hiking sticks which were super useful in judging the depth of the streams. After that, the path to Beaver is pretty well-defined and doesn't branch off like crazy. We had to cross about 4-5 more streams (2 more big ones and then a few more other smaller ones). You will pass by/see lots of streams with little falls and can stop there to rest/play in the water if you want..

Crossing streams!

When you're close to Beaver (maybe 0.75 miles?), you'll reach a huge palm tree (not tall but just wide) and you can either go left or right. If you go left, you'll have to cross a stream of water and then continue onward to the falls. If you go right, you'll have to climb a ladder and continue to the falls basically walking on a cliff. Some people who had gone to Beaver already told us that that way was more "sketch" and advised we go left (which they took coming back). If you go left though, you will have to cross a few more smaller pools of water (all shallow) when you can see the falls/you're right next to them, you'll actually want to go through them to find a place to put your things. To do so, you have to go down a cliff which has a rope for you to hold onto for dear life, but that last part, you definitely want to be a bit cautious.

This is the bit right BEFORE the sketchy cliff shuffle (remember this is the path if you go LEFT at the palm tree)

Clinging on!

Crossing the pool of water connected to Beaver was difficult because it is initially deep (up to my waist but I'm short so maybe up to the average person's thighs/definitely will get your pants wet) and we had to carry our backpacks over our heads to avoid getting them wet (camera gear remember!). It's only deep for a short bit and then gets shallow and you can cross easily to get to the other side where you can put down your stuff.

This area was shallow!

It felt like a long hike initially though especially when you're not sure when you'll reach the falls but hiking back it really wasn't too bad. You can jump from a few of the waterfalls but you need to be careful because the water isn't super deep so you may touch your feet if you go straight down so I'd advise canon balling or flattening out when you hit the water. Be SAFE!

Leaving Havasupai on the Helicopter?
The helicopter only runs on certain days (Saturday and Sunday for sure, I forget the rest so you should look this up) and costs $85 per person. Cash or credit card is taken (credit card preferred apparently but there is a $10 credit card fee). If you choose to take a helicopter out (which we did since we were sore and tired from hiking 10+ miles for 2 days in a row), you will have to wait at the fence surrounding the helicopter pad (next to the cafeteria) early in the morning the day of, around 4-5 AM. You can only "book" the helicopter flying into Havasupai but no reservations are taken for helicoptering out. Other people will start lining up early as well so it's best to get there early and be first in line even if you can't write down your name until 9 AM (supposedly. We actually didn't have the paper sheet passed out to put your name down until maybe 9:30?) and the helicopter does not start flying until 10 AM. The Havasupai tribe members have priority and do not need to wait in line to take the helicopter out so do not be surprised if you are not the first to leave even if you are first in line. The helicopter ride itself is maybe 5-7 minutes? But it takes 15-20 minutes for one full helicopter trip (loading on, flying out, loading off, flying back) which can hold 4-6 people each time. We got in line around 5:15 AM but unfortunately for us, there was a group of 14 people who had just a few people get up early and get in line around 4 AM or something so this really pushed us back in line (and was quite irritating to be honest). Not including the 14 people in front of us, there were only 2 other people before us so total 16 people before us and we ended up flying out at 1 PM. So yes it would have been faster to hike out but my sister's boyfriend's knee was swollen and hurting so it wasn't an option really.


Last Precautions
It is recommended that you do not hike during peak heat hours which are 10 AM - 4 PM (we did end up hiking during this time on our second day to Mooney and Beaver and it definitely got hot between 12-3)
It is possible there could be flash floods so review safety guidelines on what to do for a flash flood (get to higher ground!)
There are sightings of snakes (we didn't see any) so review what to do in case of a snake bite.
ALWAYS carry more than enough sunscreen, water, and food.
Do not hike alone. Havasupai is an amazing experience to share, go with your friends and you won't regret it.

Lastly, we created a Google doc which you may or may not find helpful. It contains more information on how to get to each fall and other info (courtesy of my sister and online research).  I hope this post (which has taken me quite some time to write!) is helpful in preparing for your trip to Havasupai. It really is one of the most beautiful places you will see and the hike makes it worth that. Treasure the land and keep it in as pristine shape as when you came.

Havasupai you were AMAZING! (taken on top of Little Navejo)

Adventures in Seoul, Korea: Day 5

Day 5 out of 7~! As usual, we woke up a bit behind schedule and quickly ate breakfast in our room (oh the amazing things having a kitchen in your room can do.. warm eggs and toast mhm mhm~!) before we headed off to see the Guard Ceremony at Deoksugung Palace. The palace is located pretty close to the City Hall subway station and wasn't hard to find, so we arrived just on time to see the ceremony starting. It was actually quite cool to watch the guards standing on their horses or in line and it was a pretty elaborate process with a speaker explaining what was going on during each step (in both Korean, Chinese, and English!). After the ceremony, we took some pictures, got a waffle from a nearby shop that's supposed to be pretty popular, and headed into the palace. Admission was only 1000 won for adults and 500 won for children (ages 7 - 18)! I really enjoyed looking around at the palace and the architecture and we took a good amount of photos. There was even an app that my mom downloaded that you can listen to so as to have a self-guided tour - pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

This horse kept derping and moving around and the guy sitting on top of the horse was like super annoyed haha.

The yummy waffle we got from the nearby shop~! It was super tasty and I would definitely recommend you check it out if you stop by :)

City Hall~! Located right next to the Palace (well across the street but still really close). We didn't go look at it but I'm sure it's somewhat interesting haha.

After the palace tour, we moved on to Namdaemun Market! This market is known for it's more traditional items and wholesale products so we didn't buy too much but mostly just looked around. We did eat lunch in the market which was absolutely delicious, but that's about as much of the photos that I got. I think I was too distracted just enjoying myself to take photos :)

Ginseng chicken soup

Traditional Bimbambap

My favorite ... Seafood Pancake~! This was sooo yummy :)

After our lunch, we walked around a bit more before we went to go find "Sillo Fire Pot Sauna JimJilBang".. This is a Korean bathhouse or sauna, however you call it, and was something I had been looking forward to the whole trip. It was a bit hard to find and we did get lost, but thanks to the kind folks who knew a bit of English, we managed to find our way there. It's located behind a supermarket and up a hill and you should see the giant red sign saying "Fire Pot Sauna" from a good distance away. (Sorry I wish I could give better instructions but I don't remember exactly sigh -_-) The sauna was a great place to relax in the indoor hot spas and the "hot room" or "cold room" or "marble room".. there were just so many different things to try out! Okay, sorry if that makes no sense at all but basically the Sillo Fire Pot Sauna is a bath house with separate shower rooms for men and women where you can stay overnight (!!) if you want. There are also lots of different special rooms where you can take naps in that are supposed to be good for your health or skin (ie. a salt room that was literally filled with huge chunks of salt and you could rub yourself with it and it felt superr good :D). If you're interested, click here to get linked to their website. We spent the rest of our afternoon at the sauna, relaxing and resting our tired feet and bodies from all the walking we had been doing on the earlier days. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos because well you have to be completely unclothed and naked in the shower rooms and everywhere else I didn't want to carry my camera around so I had locked it up in a locker. However, I think their website has a ton of great photos and probably a much better description haha. You could even get your nails done or get  massage (kind of awkward since you're naked imo, but hey if you're cool with it then go for it!) but you had to pay extra for those things so we passed on it.

After our relaxing time at the sauna, it was basically night time so we headed off to Seoul Square to check out the famous giant LED screen building and eat dinner. Turns out the LED show really isn't that cool.. I'm not even sure what it was supposed to be since it jut showed faces of a bunch of random people.. (you'll see in the photo below) so we quickly got bored of it and went into the shopping mall. The mall is pretty nice, but more importantly, has an awesome food court haha! You order your food a registrar and then they give you a number and you pick up your food from a certain "booth" when your number shows up on the screen. I was really craving Kimbap so I ordered that and my sister ordered an omelet while my mom ordered another soup (didn't get a good picture of it though D: )

After dinner, we decided to get an early night's sleep and headed back to our hotel in Myeongdong. Day 5 was definitely one of our more relaxed and chill days, but I'm glad we did have a more calm day to rejuvenate our bodies for the last upcoming days of our trip! Sorry if this post wasn't as interesting as the others (I know I'm lacking in photos sigh), but hey, the spa took up a good chunk of time and was fun fun fun~! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed and come back for Day 6~!

Adventures in Seoul, Korea: Day 4

For day 4, we had planned to start off by going to the War Memorial of Korea before heading off to Lotte World, but we came across some unexpected bumps early on. Day 4 of our trip was actually a Monday and due to some accidental slip-up, we didn't realize that the War Memorial is actually closed on Mondays! -o- Therefore, it was an unpleasant surprise as we walked up the stairs towards the entrance to realize that the doors were locked. It was quite disappointing as the War Memorial is supposed to be one of the top places to check out in Korea and admission is free! Luckily, there are quite a number of attractions outside of the museum itself such as actual planes that were used during the war that you can take pictures of/with so we had a good time looking around the outer perimeter of the museum.

Main entrance of the War Memorial of Korea

One of the many planes surrounding the War Memorial that you could take pictures with!

Because the War Memorial was closed, we finished looking around it before we ran out of our "allotted time" in our itinerary so we decided to stop by the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market (aka Noryangjin Fish Market) and eat lunch there. The place was huge and not too far from the subway exit - though we did have to go into a GS-25 to ask someone for directions - and the fishy smell tells you you're going the right way. The bad thing about the fish market is that if you're a tourist or don't speak Korean fluently, you're bound to get ripped off. We went in knowing that, but we didn't realize how badly we would be jipped until it had already happened! Q.Q We walked around looking at all the seafood items they had displayed out in the water or on ice until one lady who spoke in Mandarin managed to convince my mom to buy her items. Most of the sellers have the same thing so it's hard to really decide where to buy anything, but it's best to walk around and see who's willing to give you the best deal. Most of the sellers also speak Mandarin quite fluently (like the lady we bought our food from) so it wasn't hard for my mom to communicate with them. We ended up getting sucked in and buying a enormous King Crab for 50,000 won (something me and my sister strongly advised my mom NOT to do but she wanted to try it out -_-;), three live octopus for about $3000 each (if I remember correctly), and 3 abalone. The lady was nice enough to give us some free clams too! After we purchased our live seafood, the lady directed us to a restaurant right outside the fish market where they cooked our food for us. She had told us it was only going to be like 5000 won per person (a "dining" fee) but our total bill turned out to be like 35,000 won!!! Total rip off and we were super confused why and when we asked them to explain, they couldn't really because (1) their Mandarin/English was definitely not up to par or (2) THEY DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD REASON >:( It wasn't like they even really did much when they cooked it.. they just grilled the abalone, chopped up the octopus (you eat it just raw o_o), and steamed the octopus.. sigh so yea we were definitely not happys. But what could we do? So we payed them and went on our way back to the fish market to go back to the subway station to our next stop. Luckily for us though, the lady who had sold us our seafood asked us what we thought and my mom, feeling ripped off, mentioned how it was way too expensive! Haha it was kind of funny because once my mom explained how much it cost, the lady got super upset too and actually ended up calling the restaurant owner and convincing him to give us 5000 won back LOL. Not that much but it was better than nothing. Walking back into the restaurant to get our money back was SUPER awkward though. The owner was soo mad and since the fish lady wasn't with us and he couldn't speak Mandarin, he was just glaring at us and blabbering away. Some of the workers there did speak some Mandarin and attempted to translate to us/him but we got our money and walked out of there. Ain't going back there anytime soon. So yes, lesson learned, go somewhere else and cook your own seafood unless you want to pay for a $100 mediocre meal.

The view from the second floor right when we walked in. Endless seafood shops~!

My sister and the giant King Crab we ended up buying for 50,000 won. You think it's worth it?

Fresh cooked clams!

The tiny octopuses we bought all chopped up .. yea not that pretty of a sight. They still moved too! Not because they were alive, it's something to do with the neurons firing still which makes it move but it's dead so yea. Still.. THE SUCTION CUPS STICK TO YOUR TONGUE BLECCCK. It's a weird feeling =3=

After our less than pleasant lunch experience, we headed off to Lotte World. By the time we arrived it was just past 4 PM so we were able to get the discounted price 21,00 won for people over 18 and 18,000 won for "children" (18 and under, if only America was like that). I didn't realize that Lotte World was an indoor amusement park but it was really quite amazing just stepping in and ..well basically a giant playground. I would HIGHLY recommend Lotte World to anyone visiting Korea. My mom is definitely not a rollercoaster person but Lotte World is filled with lots of younger kid/older adult friendly rides that are more gentle and has lots of shows and things to look at it. You think that might be boring but don't worry, there are definitely a good amount of those thriller roller coasters, water rides, and there's a sort of "Drop-Zone" ride if any of you know Great America. The lines for some rides weren't that long but the more adventurous/exciting rides like the roller coasters, we had to wait about an hour or so. There is even an outdoor portion of the park (so it's not entirely indoor) which is really quite nice but we didn't go out until late at night (we stayed until 9 or 10 PM I think) so we didn't get to see all the rides since some of them had already closed (including one of the roller coasters sigh)

THERE'S EVEN AN ICE SKATING RINK! But it's like a separate part of the park so I think you have to pay extra for it.

 

THIS WAS THE RIDE THEY WENT ON IN RUNNING MAN WHERE THEY HAD TO DO KARAOKE. It's really not that bad LOL but it was fun knowing that I was riding the same ride Yoo Jaesuk or Song Jihyo went on haha <3

The water ride! This line took quite a while but it was definitely fun. There's like two crazy drops!

View of the whole indoor park from the air balloons that circle the entire indoor park.

There's even an area that's like a mini Trick-Eye Museum (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go read my Day 3 post~!)

The outdoor portion of the amusement park! They have a castle that's lit up like Disneyland! Super pretty :)

After we got kicked out of Lotte World (they literally were like "Thank you for visiting us but it's time for you to go now!" hahaha) because it was closing time, we headed back home. I think it was the earliest we had gotten back to our residential home since all the previous days we had gotten home superr late. It definitely took a bit of time though since Lotte World is so far from Mapo, but it was well worth the trip. If you couldn't tell from the pictures, Lotte World is definitely a must go to stop on any tourist's itinerary and I would lovee to go back next time I visit Korea :)


Anyways, that's it for Day 4. Past the half way point :'( But keep out for Day 5 where we explore a palace and Namdaemun~! <3

Adventures in Seoul, Korea: Day 3

Day 3.. almost half way through our trip yet still so many more things to do~! The first thing on our itinerary was Trick Eye Museum located in Hongdae! It was a bit of a walk from the subway station but not too hard to find. It's located in a somewhat shop street area so I stopped by a Holika Holika while my mom and sister picked up some bread with baked cheese on top from one of those street food carts before we went into the museum. The museum has an a large section that you can view for free but there is also a huge other part of the museum that requires purchase of a ticket to go into. Tickets cost 15,000 won for adults and 12,000 won for kids (18 and under) but if you look on the web, you might be able to find some discount coupons. We spent quite a long time in the museum because there are so many places that you just HAVE to take a photo of (I have included just a few of the many we took). There is even an Ice Museum which is reaaally cold in order to keep all the structures frozen in the right shape (but they provide a blanket for you to wear while inside). The Trick Eye Museum is definitely a place to stop by when in Seoul!

The famous eye illusion (Amber from f(x) has a photo in here! :D )

You can slide down a slide!

After we finished going through the museum, we were quite hungry and moved onto our next location in Hongdae - the Hello Kitty Cafe~! (The address is: 358-112, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea) It was actually very close to the Trick Eye Museum so it wasn't hard for us to find, especially since it's a giant pink building. The inside is SO cute and everything is nicely decorated with pink cushions and Hello Kitty photos all over the walls. The menu items are also super cute and delicious - though a bit on the more pricey side but understandable since anything related to Hello Kitty is always quite expensive. The chocolate and banana waffle we had (shown in picture below) cost 6000 won (if I remember correctly) and there was this like Hello Kitty shaped mini cake that was 10000 won! However we also ordered a pink slushi (tasted like strawberries I think) and a sweet potato hot drink which was superrr good and actually tasted like sweet potato!

 

After our little Hello Kitty cafe break, we walked a bit more around the Hongdae area and visited the Free Market (also known as the Hope Market) in Hongdae Park which is only open in the afternoons after 1 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. The Free Market features artist who make jewelry, paintings, and other artsy craft items that you can purchase to support them. We looked around there for a little bit (it's not a very big area) and then continued on into the rest of the area until we got hungry enough to eat lunch. The whole area has many restaurants so there were plenty of eating locations for us to choose from but we settled on one that looked interesting from the windows (well open windows with the delicious smell of food floating out didn't hurt either) and we weren't disappointed. The restaurant was bustling with people but we were quickly seated. There were only like 5 options on the menu.. two A and B sets (one of the A and B sets included squid, the other didn't.. the difference between A and B was that A had less of something that I forget). We ended up choosing the 5th option which I'm not sure if it was a special but it was on a separate menu by itself and the waiter told us it was the not spicy option so we chose that (though it was meant to be split between 2 people not 3 but we knew it would be more than enough for us. The only problem with choosing it was that they only gave us 2 scoops of rice). The way all the dishes in the restaurant was set up was that each table had a mini burner (like at a Korean BBQ restaurant) and then they would bring out a giant square metal dish that held your raw meat, noodles, and vegetables in some sort of sauce/marinade, and then you would let it cook. It wasn't exactly Korean BBQ though since the style was a bit different (you'll see in the pictures) but it was DELICIOUS! Of course the dish was actually a bit spicy but not spicy enough to cause us a problem. The sauce was actually some sort of sweet soy sauce? I'm not totally sure but it was gooood. If only I could remember the name of the restaurant we went to.... -__- Either way if you find a place that has menu items that look like my pictures in Hongdae.. go check it out haha!

Before...

...After! (After we devoured most of it haha!)

Once we finished our satisfying lunch, we headed off, once again, to explore the area. My sister had looked up some special cafes she wanted to go to because Hongdae is famous for its many cafes. We passed by so many interesting ones but didn't have the room in our stomachs to go in. Some of the cafes we saw included a whale cafe, piano cafe, cat cafe (these and dog cafes are supposedly quite popular), and many more! We finally found the cafe my sister was looking for which was ... the Hongdae Mustoy Doll Crafting Café (located on 344-6 Seogyo-dong,Mapo-gu, Seoul) !! It's a cute cafe that has these blank white dolls that you can draw on and decorate. Many famous celebrities have gone there and made a doll and you can see the pictures of which celebrities have visited that cafe. We were a bit behind schedule though so we didn't actually make a doll but going to see the cafe was a fun trip! There are some REALLY nicely made dolls *amazed at the talent of some folk* There was also another cafe in the area called Coffee Prince cafe where a popular Korean drama was filmed at (forgot the name of the drama exactly since I've never watched it but apparently it's pretty popular because they have a sign that specifically says if you're here to take pictures, please only stay outside" haha).

Mustoy Doll Crafting cafe - from the outside you can see all the dolls on the shelves that people have made. If you look closely on the top shelf you can also see pictures of the celebrities who have visited this cafe.

Coffee Prince cafe from the outside

To my mother's relief, we finally left Hongdae and all it's tempting cafes to go to Ewha Women’s University. Of course my sister and I weren't too interested in the university itself but more the shopping areas around it buut for my mother's sake, we walked around the campus for a little while, until the sun set. The campus is actually quite nice (well on the outside, who knows about the classrooms, dorms, etc) but the shopping district around it is even nicer~! We picked up some shoes from the markets and shopped around until we got hungry enough to find a place for dinner. We picked a random restaurant on the streets of Ewha that I shall post a picture of as soon as I can (haha sorry don't have all my photos with me atm >__<). I would definitely recommend it though it wasn't exactly your typical traditional Korean food. It was a mix of Korean and Japanese style food in my opinion? But it was absolutely delicious and scrumptious :)

Udon (typical but delicious!), deep fried pork cutlet with rice and the yummy sweet sauce LOL, and a small bowl of salad that was SOO good. It had the Japanese miso dressing that's like sweet? Soooo good :)

Spicy seafood fried rice. It was delicious but definitely spicy haha!

Omelet over rice with a sausage patty? I don't remember exactly what the meat was but it was superrr yummy~!

After dinner, we finally had enough time and energy to go to Dongdameun - the place to go for nighttime shopping and street food~! The cool thing was that there weren't just street markets like you might expect at a night market area but there were actual department store buildings that were 12+ stories filled with little boutiques that sold shoes, hats, clothing, jeans, and everything for males and females! There were definitely some good deals at some of the shops and a few Kpop shops that sucked my sister and I in (though we resisted and didn't buy anything *super proud*). I must mention though, there was this one floor that was all denim material and the jeans were.. I'm not kidding.. Abercrombie Kids sizes!! Like they were seriously THAT skinny - I didn't even bother looking at them because I knew they wouldn't fit haha >__>'. The shop owners are all really nice and welcoming though. If you have time at night, you should definitely check out Dongdameun because there is an endless amount of shopping to do there. ^__^'

One of the many story-high buildings in Dongdaemeun

Alrighty.. that concludes day 3! I must say, writing our entire trip out is taking me a lot longer than I expected haha. I hope you guys are all finding this helpful and interesting and feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or just wanna say hello C; Hope you all have a wonderful day~!