Oblong Travel: Docho-do - Camping madness

In May this year I was invited by some friends to go camping at the South-Western Island of Docho-Do at the end of the Korean Peninsula. What resulted was one of the most ridiculous and rained-out trips I have ever experienced - and also a great amount of help from some of the friendliest Koreans around.
It all started on the Friday night of a long weekend when I made my way to Gwangju at the Southern end of the peninsula and then after a bit of sleep onto Mokpo by bus, right at the country's south.

We were fortunate to meet a very hungover (by his own admission) Korean gentleman named Mr Kim who lived in the city and after a bit of conversation he said he would help us find the ferry terminal for our trip to the island.

Upon arriving at the ferry terminal we discovered one of our troop would be arriving late so bidding farewell to the rest of the party who grabbed seats on the earlier express ride, and a quick dash to the store for food and essentials like tents, we set about trying to find tickets. It turns out you can't book ahead for the ferries like you can with other Korean transport, so there was nothing to do but wait until our time was on sale and panic to see if our last adventurer made it in time.

But, it all worked out and then it was just a case of enjoying the view on the nearly three-hour ride to the island - but my God, what a view.

The thing about Korean ferries is that they are just big rooms with awesome heated floor, so everyone camps out in groups and there are always some characters to meet along the way.

And then, after nearly getting off on the wrong island - twice - we arrived at beautiful Docho-do in the early evening.

Where we were camping was on the other side of the island to the ferry drop-off and after asking around and looking a bit sad and lost, someone was able to help us call a cab, and just as it arrived, a friendly local scooped half our group into the back of his pickup and offered us a ride across. In one of the kindest gestures I have ever seen, we offered the man 20,000 Won ($20NZD) for his troubles and he flatly refused saying it was his pleasure and then took off when we arrived.

Then, there was nothing to do but camp - all the usuals - pot noodles, sausages, songs a drinks by the camp fire, fairy princess tents.

The next day bathed us in golden sands, warm (ish) seas and lashings of sunlight for beach sports and a lot of sitting in the light.

As the afternoon continued it became apparent we might be in for a bit of rain. What we got was a torrential downpour which washed out all of our tents and gear. Leaving us freezing and seeking refuge under the concrete camp kitchen and huddled on the floor for what was a boozy, hilarious but mostly sleepless night.