The Wind is Blowin': Jeju Island

Showing posts with label Jeju Island. Show all posts

9/21/2010

Last few days of Jeju

So the third day of Jeju island was spent doing "culture" stuff. We went to a few museums (Chocolate, Botanical Gardens to name a few) and went to one more nice beach. We also went back to the special spot that I mused on in the last blog. Finding out that our flight left the next day earlier than I had thought we went to bed early, woke up early and made our way home exhausted. Here are the pictures from the last few days of our little vacation together.

But before that there is one thing we didn't get to do before we left that I was really hoping for. Loveland. Here is a friend's blog which gives much better detail on this subject with NSFW photos of Loveland.

The Botanical Gardens of Jeju Island

Inside the gardens. They had 4 different tropical zones to explore

The middle of the gardens. You could go all the way up and view the surrounding area

The tropical area

Al trying to understand Engrish

In the middle of nowhere we found this museum

All lies. I didn't like this place

I would love to live in it though

The lady who opened it collected weird figurines

ahhhh now we are talking my language

Crystal clear water

Those are lava rocks

These guys were all over the island. They are grandfather statues who are said to protect the island from harm

Now they have been reduced to feeding me deliciousness

And nothing says Jeju like rape flower

Now I can finally be done with the Jeju updates and post things way more fun to do than this.

9/07/2010

Jeju Island Day 2

Day 2 of Jeju Island is the one I will remember for as long as I have left on this earth. After seeing some of the photos and video I think you will understand why this is so.

The day started with Alison and I getting up relatively late and still sore from yesterday. We decided a day on the beach would fix this problem and wake our bodies up. Armed with nothing more than a towel and sunscreen we caught a taxi and headed to the nearest beach. Prior to this I had never swam in the Pacific before so I knew not what to expect of the water and sand.

The first sight of the Pacific. It's going to be a good day

I was kicking myself that I didn't book a room at that hotel

Where we walked down

The water was slightly cold but crystal, and I mean crystal, clear

Me for most of the day

So we stayed at this paradise until we could not stand the heat anymore. I had done a little research prior to going to this island and though digging deep, asking some of the locals and pure hunting I had heard of a little spot off the beaten path. We took our top secret directions and finally found the place.

Words can not describe this place. Ice cold blue water, three waterfalls and very few people there. This is the place that wombs legends. I have no more words to describe this place or the feeling it gave me.

We bathed under those waterfalls

Perfect

Alison

Breathtaking

We stayed there for god knows how long. Time seemed to have no meaning at this place. When there was not a single ray of sun left in the sky we decided it was time to go. Even writing this brings back a ghost of the memory gained by this place and leaves me.....speechless. We went back to our hostel and slept well that night knowing but not fully understanding what we had experienced this day.

9/02/2010

Jejudo Island (Jeju Island) Day 1

I was unsure about how to write these entries for the past two weeks due to the sheer amount of material involved. I have finally decided that some things are better not put into words and better left to the imagination of the person reading this. I will, however, give some basic information about this marvelous trip to one of the more beautiful tropical paradises I have been to in my life,

To start off Jeju Island is a small island off of the southern coast of South Korea. The Koreans call it the "Hawaii of Korea" but even after a breathtaking time I am not sure if I would go as far as to call it that. I would go as far as to call it the "Honeymooners Island" as it is also referred to by the Koreans. On this island one can find breathtaking beaches, mountains, museums and plenty of unique food. In the middle of the island itself there is a large mountain which is actually a crater as the mountain is an inactive volcano. It exploded a while ago so much of the island's topography is uniquely filled with bedrock left over from the eruption.

Alsion and I bought our plane tickets through KoreanAir, during peak season, for 315,000 Won for a round trip for both of us. Most of the hotels are pretty pricey ( the average price I found was 300,000 Won for 3 nights) but there are plenty of hostels if you know how to look. I finally found one for 30,000 Won a night (Hiking Inn) with our own room and restroom. We arrived at the airport and were greeted promptly by a wave of humidity unknown to me even coming to Korea from Florida. The airport is in the top Northern part of the Island so we caught a airport limosine (5,000 Won per person) and went on the hour trip to the Southern most city where our hotel lied.

After grabbing a bite to eat and taking a small nap around 2:00PM (as we had been going since 8:00AM) we went to a waterfall that was in walking distance from our hostel. I heard Jeju is famous for it's waterfalls, as they have plenty of myths surrounding the island, but didn't know what I was getting myself into. After seeing one we took a taxi and saw a few more that were in our area.