Korea's Famous Island: Jeju

So this past weekend I went on a trip with my friend Sonja. We originally wanted to go to Taiwan, but prices went too high too fast and we couldn't afford it. Then we thought about Jeju. It was closer and cheaper. We didn't think that it was going to be possible because this was the Korean thanksgiving (or Chusuok, I think that's how it's spelt). On the holiday Koreans travel to their families and have a special celebration.
So we went to Jeju. We had a later flight and when we arrived we had to take a bus to the place where we would be picked up. When we were picked up we went to the hotel and left our stuff there. After we went for dinner. We met a thrid member who would be touring with us. His name was John and he was a Canadian also. We had dinner at a little Korean restaurant. After dinner we went for a little shopping/walking around on our own. It was nice.
The next morning we were off at 9:30 AM. First we went to the ocean. We walked to a rocky ocean side and walked on this hill made of rock. The water was beautiful! It was an awsome aqua blue colour.
This is Sonja and I at the ocean shore on the rock hill.
From there we went to pick up 2 more people coming on our tour. They were 2 Russian men who were in Korea to train Koreans to work Russian helicopters. Once we picked them up we went to another ocean shore to look at what they call hexigonal rocks. They were formed from lava flow a very long time ago. The rockside looked like the lava flowed down a hill over and over again after cooling each time. It was very interesting to see. There was also a cave that we were not supposed to go into because the rocks from the top could fall down at any time. It didn't look too stable anyways.
This is the hexigonal rocks that were made by the lava flow.
After that we headed to a crator of a volcano that had erupted hundreds of years before. It was interesting to see because it was all over grown with foilage and it was so deep. We stood at the top of it and were able to look into the crator. Very cool!
From the crator we went to the ocean side again and we were able to go swimming. The water was so warm and beautiful. The white sand and the black lava rocks made it seem that we were in the tropics. We were given goggles and snorkels to use and we could see the small fish and little creatures on the bottom. It was very nice. I, however, tried to get from one area to another and slipped on a lava rock and cut my toe pretty bad. It is okay now, but at the time it hurt like crazy. After swimming for a while I looked around at the tiny crabs walking around and at the shells on the shore. It was nice and relaxing. We all ended up getting too much sun and got sun burns.
This is the area that we went swimming at.
After swimming, we went to a botanical garden. We were able to see all kinds of plants, trees, rocks, caves, and birds. What was very interesting to me were the tangerine trees. Even though they were out of season and the oranges were green, it was my first time to see an orange tree of any kind. The kiwi trees were also very interesting because I've never seen them before. We walked around and talked about different things and between discussing the surroundings, we talked about various things. It was nice to be able to talk with other people speaking English from Canada.
The caves were really cool, literally. It was very nice and refreshing to walk through the caves because they were cold. I had never been in a cave before, so this was really neat for me.
After the caves we had dinner. It was Korean food, but Sonja and I shared something that wasn't spicey hot. It was good. After we looked at the birds and then headed back to the hotel. I was beat so I just stayed in and rested.
The next morning we were off again. This time the Russians were not with us, but we had some people from Malaysia and Singapore. We first went to a waterfall. It was the only waterfall on Jeju that falls at the ocean shoreline. It was a fresh water waterfall going into the ocean. It was very pretty.
This is me by the waterfall.
After the waterfall we went to another shore that had black sand. The black sand was from crushed lava rock. It was really cool looking. We walked along the shore and came to a raft that was to be pulled by a rope. We got on and enjoyed a nice little ride. The water was a jade green.
This is the black sand. All the rocks that you see are different colours. I found pink, red, black, grey, purple, and yellow. It was very interesting. I was told it was because of the different minerals in the rocks.
From the little raft ride we went to a bonsi garden and looked at all the different bonsi trees. There were also tangerine trees, all out of season still. We joked that when the tour guide brings other people here he should tell them that the oranges are limes and not oranges at all until they turn orange.
This the green tangerines. It's too bad that they were out of season. It would have been a nice little treat.
After that we had lunch, Korean again. This wasn't bad at all because it was one of my favourites, galbi, pork with seasoning.
After lunch we went to what is called the lonely rock. It's a huge rock that looks like a woman praying. The story goes that the woman is praying for her husband to come back and he ends up dying at sea and he is the flat rocks close by. It really does look like what the story is if you look at the rocks just right. We walked around and got some really cool pictures on the rocks.
This is our tour group. John is on the left, behind him is our tour guide Victor (a Russian who speaks Korean and English and does these tours), then me, and Sonja on the right.
After the lonely rock we went to a green tea farm. We were able to see the green tea fields and try some green tea. I don't fancy it too much, but it was okay.
After the green tea place we went to the mysterious road. This road is one of those roads that pulls you uphill when you should be going the opposite way when you turn your car engine off. It was neat to see. I have never been to the one in Canada.
After that our last stop was the rocks that look like a dragon along another shoreline. It was made of black lava rock. It was interesting to see. From there Sonja and I headed to the airport to catch our flight. That ended our trip to Jeju. It was nice, but I wouldn't call it too relaxing because of all the walking and going places.