Our ferry trip from Wando to Jeju-do was pretty uneventful: more than 5 hours and not much to see due to the fog (except for the huge - at least 5 ft. wide - brown jellyfish). However, we were shown the worst movie to show on any boat: "Lost in the Bermuda Triangle..." A scary show that seemed quite interesting to me but my folks kept trying to keep me away from the numerous tv monitors. We had calm water so nobody got sea sick. Jeju is the southern most part of the country and the climate is tropical. Everywhere there are palm trees and it is quite dry, so no rice paddies. At the centre there is a 6500 ft. high, extinct volcano: Mt. Halla. Jeju is the main holiday destination for Koreans and during our stay we saw a lot of honeymoon couples. Fortunately we were there at the end of the main season so it was quite OK.
In Jeju City we got great help from the tourist information desk (as always when there was someone who speaks English) and quickly we were on our way to Seongsan on the eastern end of the island (we wanted to stay in a smaller town on the sea). It was very picturesque in the sense that it is located right next to a large volcanic cone with steep cliffs plunging to the sea. We found a minbak (4 clean, Korean style rooms) held by an older couple (the man was
working for the US army during the war). That evening we walked on the black beach, watching ladies harvesting algea and others spear fishing (Jeju is well known for its female divers who can hold their breath for 2 minutes and dive 60 ft. deep).
The next day we did some sight-seeing. Usually most of the morning is spent on getting a breakfast organized and school-time for me. So before setting off we had a great Italian lunch in a very nice restaurant while it poured outside. Then we went to visit the world's longest lava tube (13 km.): you can enter it and walk along for 1 km. The height and width of this black corridor varied between 15 and 60 ft. There were lights all the way and naturally it was
rather chilly. My first time in a cave! Oh, sorry, I should tell you how a lava tube is formed. When a stream of lava flows during an eruption, the outer part cools off faster and becomes hard (as rock...), but the inner part continues to flow and produces gasses, which create a long, tubular cavity.
When we got back to Seongsan we decided to climb the cone: Ilchulbong, or Sunrise Peak (most Koreans like to climb it very early in the morning). There's a path with steps all the way up and I must say that even though it was 6 pm I was leading the way and after a good 1/2 hour climb I got to the top first. The crater is at least 1500 ft. wide and not too deep, overgrown with grass and bush. We had nice views of the sun setting behind Mt. Halla. Going back was easy and we saw horses in the fields below. We finished the day with a fish meal (including abalone porridge), since that's practically all you can get there (again all restaurants had those large fish tanks outside).
My parents being so fond of markets, we just had to visit the 5-day (once every 5 days) market in Jeju City. It was basically a large area of covered stalls selling just about everything: vegetables, clothing, fish, spices, kimchi, live chicken, ducks, dogs and cats (the latter 2 NOT for eating), plants, pots & pans, fabrics, etc. etc. Unfortunately that day there was a heat wave and it was pretty tough going for me (and my folks), but mommy dowsed me with cold water, which helped. She took some photos but we didn't buy anything. Back in Seongsan we went to a small deserted beach for some more cooling off in the sea.
Deciding to move on, we packed our bags and went to the Seong-Eup Folk Village. Like Hahoe it is an authentic village where people live and work and where all the houses are in a traditional style, i.e. made of wood with thatched roofs. It was Jeju-do's former capital and it still had a large fortified wall around it. It was very touristy but we still had a chance to get a good impression of how life was on the island in the earlier days. Later that day we made it to Seogwipo on the south side of Jeju-do and had dinner in a Chinese restaurant.
The main attractions of Seogwipo are (1) the dramatic coast line (twice we had a chance to see large waves hit impressive rocky cliffs, one of which was called "Lonely Rock", but which I've renamed "Happy Rock", cause there were lots of other ones around it!), (2) the mandarin plantations everywhere on the slopes of Mt. Halla (a long time ago a Christian priest of Jeju sent his friend in Japan a sapling of a cherry tree; and this friend returned the favor by later sending him a sapling of a mandarin tree... they are now famous in Korea and truly quite delicious) and (3) the world cup soccer stadium.
On Friday, August 30, we decided to go to Jeju City in order to catch the first ferry back to the main land. Going to the north of the island the weather took a drastic change for the worse. Arriving there we heard that all ferries had been cancelled due to a 3-day typhoon hitting the country (we spent the afternoon visiting the local museum). When we woke up the next morning we understood why: very heavy rain and wind, very few people in the streets and most shops closed. We still managed to go out to our favorite bakery; Papa carrying me on his shoulders - we got soaked! That afternoon I went out with Papa to see the seashore: never have I - nor he for that matter - seen such a rough sea. Large, 25 ft. brown waves were hitting the concrete shore wall and flooding the street besides it. There was some damage in the city, but we found out later that this typhoon (called "Rusa") was the largest in Korea since 40 years and has killed more than 200 people on the main land. Fortunately we only got wet!
The next day turned out to be beautiful, but still no ferries so we decided to fly to Gwangju for our last week in Korea (there goes the budget... no more souvenir shopping for Mommy...).