We got into a luxurious van.
All we did was get into a van, but for some reason I felt puffed up.
The people heading back after their tours watched us with intensely curious eyes, wondering what on earth we had booked
for a car like that to show up.
I think we chose the right tour.
Up close, the van looked even cooler.
The seats were huge and looked incredibly soft.
It was in a completely different class from the car we’d been riding in just moments ago.
There was no comparison at all.
Luxurious.
Was this really right? We headed toward the car with that doubt in mind.
Beside the car was the man who had called us over.
Alex was still holding a megaphone and shouting.
“Those who booked Candy Tour, please come this way.”
“Candy Tour, this way.”
“Candy Tour, this way!!”
Alex saw us, smiled, and opened the car door for us.
Inside the car, four young women were already seated.
Even at a glance, they seemed Korean.
We awkwardly greeted them and took our seats.
.
.
.
The car was clearly full, and there weren’t any empty seats.
But Alex kept shouting over and over for Candy Tour guests to come this way.
Why was he doing that?
Were we supposed to tell him we’d already gotten in?
As I was thinking that, Alex came over to the car.
The crowd of tourists from before was no longer in sight.
Had he been shouting through the megaphone to promote Candy Tour to the tourists?
“You waited a long time, right? Now let’s really get going. To the real itinerary of our Candy Tour.”
The car set off smoothly.
As we moved along in the car, Alex explained.
“This is Emerald Canyon, operated exclusively by our Candy Tour. Where is this?”
“Emerald Canyon!”
A woman answered energetically.
“Good. You there... your name?”
“Bak Hyeyeong.”
“Yes. Hyeyeong, tonight we’re going with beef instead of pork belly.”
“Waaaah~~~”
She was genuinely excited; her real excitement burst out.
“If your reactions are good, not only beef, but even more precious things may appear.”
“Waaaaaaah~~~~~~”
Everyone cheered.
At the word “beef,” the atmosphere heated up in an instant.
“Great. To briefly introduce the course first, Emerald Canyon is a canyon made of limestone. Limestone canyons are extremely rare worldwide, and this is the only place where a river flows through one. In particular, when the limestone meets the river water, it gives off a strange emerald glow, and it’s incredibly beautiful. That’s why it’s called Emerald Canyon. You’ll be traveling along that river by boat. We’ll go slowly, so please enjoy this amazing sight to your hearts’ content. See it with your eyes, capture it in photos and videos. The tropical plants here and there are charming too, so it would be nice if you looked carefully.”
Soon, the luxurious van stopped, and when we got out, an insane sight unfolded before us.
Was this the Grand Canyon?
A magnificent canyon stood before our eyes.
It wasn’t quite the Grand Canyon, but it was an impressive canyon.
After going down a little, a small dock-like place appeared where we could board a boat.
It seemed we would ride a boat from there and travel down between the canyon walls.
The boat was small, but very high-end.
It was clean and well maintained.
The seven of us boarded the boat, and as we began sailing between the canyon,
everyone on the boat had no choice but to gape.
It was so beautiful.
It was so fascinating.
A shiver ran through my entire body.
Even with nothing else, simply looking at the scenery made it impossible to stop feeling excited.
Was this what real travel was?
It wasn’t even my first time traveling abroad, but somehow it moved me especially deeply.
The emerald river and the enormous canyon.
And the unusual tropical plants seemed like a road leading to another world.
It felt as if this place were saying it was a different world just for us.
I completely lost myself in the scenery and stared blankly.
All seven tour guests had the same expression.
Alex spoke.
“There’s a good swimming point up ahead. Those who want to can enjoy the water for a little while.”
Only then did they return to reality.
There was a small waterfall, and in front of it was a place perfect for playing in the water.
The seven of us jumped into the water without anyone needing to go first.
The water was cold, but incredibly refreshing.
It was so clear and transparent.
It held an emerald hue, but when you scooped it up in your hands, it was perfectly clear.
When we got out of the water, Alex handed us thick beach towels.
Our bodies, chilled from the water, warmed up.
This one place alone wiped away all the complaints we’d had until now.
I praised myself for choosing Candy Tour.
Leaving behind the fantastical scenery of Emerald Canyon, the place we headed to next was Lumina Lake.
“Lumina Lake here is beautiful in itself, but at night, it becomes extremely mysterious because of naturally glowing plankton. However, if we’re too brightly lit, it becomes hard to enjoy Lumina Lake one hundred percent, so Lumina Lake uses only the bare minimum lighting. Please be careful.”
“Yes!!!!”
The atmosphere inside the car was completely different now from the beginning.
The awkwardness from before had disappeared, leaving only the excitement and joy of travel.
Though we were strangers, a sense of familiarity had begun to sprout.
We arrived at Lumina Lake around sunset.
We were assigned tents and unpacked our things.
At first, it was easy to see, but as the sun went down and darkness settled, a mysterious light began seeping out from Lumina Lake.
“Waaah~~~”
A small cheer first burst from the female tourists who saw the sight.
Lumina Lake shone alone on the dark mountainside.
It was truly secretive and dazzling.
At the sound, the people who had been organizing their luggage came out too and looked at Lumina Lake’s dreamlike scene.
We stared, utterly captivated, to the point that it felt like this was what it meant to have your soul stolen.
As we were staring at Lumina Lake in a daze, a scent tickled the tip of my nose.
I looked behind me and saw Alex grilling meat.
Come to think of it, all we’d eaten was lunch at the Loboc River.
Suddenly, I swallowed hard.
Before he knew it, without even realizing, Sin Seungheon had gone over to Alex.
“You came? There are plates and chopsticks over there, so please help yourself comfortably.”
Alex welcomed him with a smile.
“Yes. Thank you for the food.”
“There’s alcohol and soft drinks here too, so have some. There’s ice over there.”
As Sin Seungheon was setting plates and chopsticks for the tour guests he’d come with,
before long, all seven tour guests had gathered in front of the barbecue grill.
“Thank you. We’ll enjoy it.”
“I’m grilling beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and even shrimp, so eat as much as you like. Tell me if it’s not enough.”
“Yes. It looks so delicious.”
Everyone picked up plates and began eating.
Bak Hyeyeong put a well-grilled piece of beef in her mouth, and her eyes went wide.
“Wow~~ This is seriously good. Totally insanely delicious. You try it too.”
“Really? Then me too, wait. What is this? There was meat here, but now it’s gone. Where did my meat go?”
“What kind of meat is this? Why is it so tender?”
People fussed excitedly while eating meat in front of the barbecue grill.
Alex watched them for a while, then said,
“You’ve come on a trip, so we can’t leave out alcohol. I’ll mix you a really delicious somaek.”
“Sounds good~~~”
Alex poured an appropriate amount of soju into a cup, then made a hole in a beer bottle cap, blocked it with his finger, and shook it.
Then, when he slightly moved his finger to the side, white foam burst out with a whoosh.
The pure white foam filled the cup.
Just looking at it made you feel refreshed.
“Now, everyone, have a nice cold drink.”
Gulp, gulp.
“Wow~ This is seriously the best. It’s really the best somaek I’ve ever had.”
“Boss, sorry, but could I ask for one more glass?”
“Of course. I’ll make as many as you want.”
Was it because they’d had a drink?
The tour guests grew even closer.
When they first got in the car, everyone had sat in separate individual seats,
but now they sat on the same bench, and their bodies brushed lightly from time to time.
“Boss, sorry, but do you have gochujang too?”
“Of course I do. Of course.”
Alex brought out gochujang from the icebox behind him.
There were also leafy vegetables for wraps and pickled alpine leeks.
What is this, a restaurant?
“Does anyone want naengmyeon?”
“Naengmyeon?”
“Mul-naeng? Bi-naeng?”
“Mul-naeng, of course.”
“You know your stuff.”
Alex took naengmyeon out from another small icebox behind him.
Naengmyeon covered in thin ice.
It was amazing that the naengmyeon was still cold,
but it was even more amazing that things kept coming out of that little icebox.
“Boss, we really can’t eat anymore. We’re too full.”
“Why not? There’s still a lot of meat left. Eat more.”
“We can’t. We’ve already eaten too much.”
“Hahaha. All right. Then from now on, you can just focus on simple snacks. The alcohol is here, and I’ll leave the snacks here. There’s firewood here, so if the fire gets weak, put one in at a time. Then have a good night. If anything happens, my tent is the one over there inside. You can come there.”
“Yes. Rest well.”
After Alex went into his tent, only the tour guests remained.
Lumina Lake after the barbecue became even darker.
That was because the overall lighting had been kept very low so we could see the sparkling Lumina Lake.
On the mountainside, where a cool breeze blew,
while looking at Lumina Lake emitting its mysterious light,
I drank a glass of beer.
Behind me came the sound of firewood burning,
and when I looked up at the sky, it seemed as though the stars would spill down.
It was so peaceful and refreshing.
This was what healing should be.
Even the person sitting next to me looked pretty for no reason.
Feeling shy, I tried striking up a conversation for no reason.
“Did you come with your friends?”
“Ah! Yes. We’re college friends, and this is our first trip together since graduating.”
“Really? We came with college friends too. What class are you?”
“Class of ’17.”
“Wow, we’re class of ’15. Nice to meet you. I’m Bak Namseon.”
“You know my name, right? I’m Bak Hyeyeong.”
“Yes. I know. You said your name so boldly earlier. By the way, isn’t this place amazing?”
“It is. At first, we were going to book a tour to see monkeys, but Alex said we’d absolutely never regret this, so we came. If we hadn’t, we really would have regretted it. I’ve been to Southeast Asia several times, but this is truly my first time seeing a place like this.”
“Really? This is my first time in Southeast Asia...”
“I can say for sure, there’s absolutely nowhere like this. The scenery is one thing, but what are we supposed to do with this atmosphere?”
On the mountain where darkness had settled, only Lumina Lake shone.
Like music, the sound of the wind and crying insects drifted faintly.
“You’re right. The atmosphere is... really... While preparing for the trip, I had a bit of an argument with a friend, and now I feel sorry to that friend for no reason.”
“Me too. On Friday before getting off work, I got scolded like crazy. They said I’d done work like that and was still going off on a trip. Those words had been sitting heavy in my chest throughout the trip, but here, it feels like they’re all being blown away. Here, any worries or emotions feel meaningless.”
“My heart feels at ease too.”
The deeper the night grew,
the deeper the conversations became.
At some point, the people who had been chatting in groups of two and three disappeared somewhere.
.
.
.
On the way back.
Namseon said to his friends,
“The trip was good, right?”
“Good doesn’t even begin to cover it. It was seriously amazing. Lumina Lake, seriously. Wow~ It was incredible.”
“Thanks. For bringing us to a place like this. I admit I complained a bit. I’ve been under a lot of stress at work lately, there are things going on at home, and things haven’t been going well with the girl I was introduced to, so I think I was really on edge. I apologize again. Instead, when we get back to Korea, I’ll buy a huge round of drinks.”
“Forget it. Everyone has times like that. By the way, how about we come back here next year?”
“I don’t think that’ll work.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t think I can wait until next year. Let’s come back this winter.”
“Call!!!”
*******
[If you go to Bohol, you absolutely have to do Candy Tour.]
This isn’t an ad, I didn’t get paid, and it’s not sponsored.
I paid with my own money.
Even so, I highly recommend it.
It’s worth the money.
Other travel agencies don’t have this tour.
Only Candy Tour has it.
I heard from the guide
that the owner here saw Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake, fell in love at first sight, and started a travel agency.
Apparently, because he was afraid the place would be ruined if too many people came, the owner just bought it outright.
So there’s even a daily visitor limit.
That’s how unreal it is.
It’s the best scenery I’ve ever seen in my life.
I did the tour for 200,000 won,
and honestly, Emerald Canyon alone is worth the money.
You’ll gain one intense memory you’ll never forget for the rest of your life.
If not, seriously, come find me.
I’ll buy you a bowl of sundae-guk.
And Lumina Lake, where you camp, really isn’t of this world.
Even the air is different there.
No matter who you go with, you’ll soften up.
You know that person you’re flirting with?
If you go, it’s one hundred percent.
I also had a thing there with a woman I met for the first time.
Of course, I got rejected the very next day, but that’s how powerful that place is.
If you go there, anyone becomes defenseless.
It’s a place where even an ugly squid like me can have hope.
So you guys should definitely go too.
I recommend it.
I’m uploading photos of Emerald Canyon.
Lumina Lake was hard to photograph well with my skills.
Please understand when you look.
- FR, I went too, and it’s seriously no joke.
- I heard Bohol’s going crazy because of this place lately?
ㄴ Whenever you open your mouth, it’s lies...
ㄴ Sir, please use the internet a little. That place is seriously no joke.
- Another ad? I’m sick of this.
ㄴ He said it wasn’t an ad.
ㄴ Of course he’d say that. I’ve never seen a bastard doing an ad call it an ad.
ㄴ If you think it’s an ad, thank you, actually. One less competitor.
- You did it for 200,000? I went and asked, and they said 400,000. But the waitlist is no joke.
- They have a Korean website too. But everything is sold out.
- I want to go too. You’re the winner for having gone for 200,000.
- Enough. Stop posting recommendation posts like this. It’s already crowded enough.
ㄴ Right. I wish the kids who posted photos on Instagram would take them down too.
Candy Tour’s Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake tour caused an explosive response.
Whether it was thanks to shouting “Candy Tour” at every tourist coming down from Chocolate Hills,
the inquiries kept coming,
and the photos posted on Instagram stirred people’s curiosity.
The response from those who participated was also tremendous.
Ninety-nine percent answered that they would want to go again anytime.
The remaining one percent were only people who said they wanted to leave it as a memory because they feared this happiness might be broken.
And so Candy Tour was growing little by little.