I slept in til 8 or so and decided I wouldn't do any more temples. I had a leisurely morning and walked around looking for a place to have breakfast/brunch. I picked a cafe and had an omelet. After brunch I did some more gift hunting in the markets. I wasn't too hungry, but was going to be horseback riding at 2 so I decided I'd get a snack and found a really nice cafe-I wished I had room to actually try a meal there, but instead I ordered a juice and lemon bar. The cafe was started by two sisters from Australia. Their mission was to help provide jobs for locals so they could afford to go to school and get higher education.
I returned to the guesthouse ready to go for my ride. I was supposed to be picked up at 2 and I stood outside from about 1:50 waiting. By 2:25 I decided to call the ranch to tell them I didn't have a driver. I called and they told me to wait outside. I went back outside and the driver said he had been there since 2. I was kind of upset because originally I had signed up for a 3 hour ride but I wasted 30 minutes just waiting. I got to the ranch and decided I would do a 2 hour ride instead. I did the paperwork and then met my guide, Sophie. My horse was Paris, a 3 year old. We rode through some villages and along farms. We ended up trotting a couple times and also cantering. It was a lot of fun. I really miss riding. Once when we were cantering, Paris spooked and he took off. I was able to stay on even though I lost my stirrups. Thank goodness for all of those riding lessons.
After the ride I returned to the hostel and waited to meet Olivia and Brett for dinner. They got lost trying to find my hostel again and were a little bit late. We found a restaurant for dinner. The service was slow and the food wasn't that great. But we enjoyed the company and hanging out. After dinner I returned to the hostel to get my bag and take a tuktuk to the airport. I said goodbye to my Aussie friends and 20 minutes later arrived at the airport. I checked in and then waited in line through security. An American travel group was behind me in line and the woman commented that my bag was so big and I had a lot of stuff in my backpack. I told her that my backpack was all that I had used to travel for the last 16 days and she was so shocked! I chatted with them a little bit as we moved through security and immigration. While we were in line, a Korean woman ahead of us turned and started talking to me as well. She was in Cambodia on a missions trip with some other members from her church. She asked why I was Korean but couldn't speak Korean. I explained I was adopted and she told me her daughter had volunteered one summer helping international adoptees. After speaking with me a bit she told me she wanted me to meet their Priest so he could give me a blessing. It was very sweet of her.
In the departure area, I saw a sight for sore eyes: DAIRY QUEEN! There aren't any Dairy Queens in Korea and I decided I would get a blizzard before getting on the plane. Instead of a regular flavor, I tried the green tea blizzard with chocolate chunks. I was going to get a small size, but the young man working told me I should get a bigger size to save money. It didn't take much to convince me. We chatted a little bit in English before I left with my ice cream. I sat down near the gate and ate my ice cream. As it got closer to boarding time I saw people lining up, but recently I don't like waiting in the line and wait til the end so I don't have to stand in line so long. I was sitting and waiting kind of oblivious when I realized they were making a FINAL CALL for my flight! I jumped up and went to the gate-I was THE LAST PERSON to have my ticket taken and the last person on board. I was seated around the group of Americans I had talked to earlier and also the Korean woman was a few rows behind me. She said, "Oh, I was wondering where you were!" The return flight was only 4 hours, and we left around midnight. After a few hours we were served breakfast. It was weird eating at 2am...
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