Mi-gook in Jeju

Wow, it's certainly been a while since I last updated my blog, so I'll have to fill you in on my more mundane adventures later this week. In the meantime, I just got back from Jeju. It's a volcanic island that is the southern-most portion of Korea, and it is gorgeous. I only spent two whole days there, but in that period, I managed to trek to five waterfalls (well four because one wasn't falling...but I walked there!), visit a botanical garden, and discover a lava beach. oh yeah, and I rode on a submarine!

The waterfalls were amazing and everywhere. The middle of the island is of course the inactive volcano which has a lake in its crater. You can climb Hallasan, but I was too exhausted after my first day of exploring to hike the eight hours round trip, and I wouldn't have had time for my lava beach. So because the middle of the island is essentially a volcano, the terrain is completely uneven from the way the lava cooled and everything slopes down from the middle. Hence all the waterfalls...and the sore walking muscles. :)



Volcanic soil is apparently pretty fertile, so there were flowering trees, shrubs, plants everywhere you looked, and the botanical garden is the largest in Asia (or so it boasts). They had pretty neat displays of everything from cactus to tulips, and my favorite bougainvillea and flox were ubiquitous. I was a bit of a tourist attraction at the botanical garden. It must have been a school visit day because kids kept coming up to try out their English on me, and I was the center of a number of photos. But I shouldn't be surprised by a culture that grafitties plants. Check this succulent out closely. :)


The submarine ride was pretty cool too. I'm not sure it was truly a "submarine" but we certainly went 40m under water. We saw lots of fish and cool marine plants and even an old sunken boat. I was the only mi-gook on the tour, so the guides even took a picture of me, and pulled me protesting to the front of the line. They said something in Korean that made the crowd saw "aww" but I have no idea what. Folks were really friendly though. This will be my first trip by myself that I'll actually have pictures with me in them. I think it is very strange in Korea for a woman to travel by herself, so people kept coming up and offering to take my picture for me. Maybe that's why they were "aww"ing me. Who knows?

So coolest for last: the lava beach. The grounds of my hotel were gorgeous, and they ended at what from my balcony appeared to be some black rocks. Well, it turns out that it was one solid black rock that solidified into a crazy maze of ridges and lumps, and stretched quite a ways out into the ocean. It was a total moonscape! I spent hours climbing around on it, and I found lots of sea treasures. I guess when the waves get big, sea creatures wash up on the rocks, but they are too convoluted for things to wash back out. The sea treasures just get stuck in crevices. And boy did I have fun treasure hunting. I only brought a few things back and left the rest for others to find. The best part was how peaceful it was out there. You are so far from all the hotels and roads, and it is so hard to get out there, that there weren't any tourists or any noises other than the wind and waves. I did see a couple fishermen, but that was it.















I'll save my cultural learnings for my next blog. Koreans are truly intriguing.