Today started with a Korean breakfast - rice, many side dishes including kimchi and pork cutlet, and somehow I managed to get squid on my plate (and into my mouth) unknowingly. It is good to avoid asking questions until after you have eaten.
We hired a taxi to take us around the sights in the southern portion of the island. Our first stop was Yeongsil Trailhead in Hallasan national park, but before we got there our taxi driver wanted to show us the mysterious road. As we drove through the countryside, we arrived at a back up of mysterious origin. As we inched closer, I could see a sign clearly marking the starting point of the mysterious road. Ahead of us was a bus, which, presumably was put into neutral and rolled UP the hill. When it was our turn I checked to make sure the taxi driver was not playing tricks on us, and sure enough our car mysteriously rolled up the hill.
At Yongsil we took a short walk through beech and maple forest and found some pretty views of the surrounding cliffs and mountains. There was so much more to see, though, so our walk was cut short.
As we drove down the mountain towards Seongwipo, the cool air got hotter and soggier, and the sun hotter. We went straight to Cheonjeyon Pokpo, a series of waterfalls near the coast. We took the long set of stairs deep into a chasm and found at the bottom a cliff wall with tall rectangular rocks and a dribble of water falling into a big blue pool of water. The air was cooler by the river, so the hike back up the stairs was not altogether unpleasant. As we looked down on the river from above, we could see a rainbow formed from the spray from the second waterfall. Down a second long staircase we found a second big pool of blue water, but into this one fell a wide cascade. Back up the stairs and over the Bridge of the Seven Nymphs, an impossibly arched footbridge like a rainbow over the chasm, we found out taxi driver on the other side.
Our taxi driver found us a place for lunch. Jeju is famous for its seafood (especially abalone) so it was a good thing to have an opportunity to try it. Nikki and I ordered the abalone soup to share. Often you will find in restaurants in Korea dishes that must be ordered in two or more. Often it is because it is a meat dish that you cook yourself at your table. We were perplexed why this was the case for this seemingly simple seafood noodle soup. It all became clear with the waitress brought a large golden bowl filled with broth and set it on the cooker on our table. She dumped a bowlful of abalone and clams into the pot and we watched them squirm as the broth came to a boil. We were also furnished with a platter of noodles, vegetables, and mushrooms, which we added ourself. Once the noodles were cooked, we cut the long noodles with the scissors provided and dug in. It was delicious!
Later in the day we went to the Yongmeori Coast, a famous stretch of coastline on the southern coast of Jeju. We walked down the hill from a temple and large golden Budda to a large crevice in the rocks. Down the large stone steps was the coast. The South Sea came up to a walking area a few yards deep then cliffs carved into pockets rose up to the sky. There were many tourists, but also fishermen and some people with shallow buckets who seemed to be processing shellfish that they had caught.
At the end of the walk there was a replica of a ship that had crashed on this coast leaving a Dutchman stranded for 13 years. After he made it home, he published the first book about Korea published in the western world.
The last stop of the day was a tea plantation. We wandered the tea fields and tasted green tea ice cream. Yum!
We hired a taxi to take us around the sights in the southern portion of the island. Our first stop was Yeongsil Trailhead in Hallasan national park, but before we got there our taxi driver wanted to show us the mysterious road. As we drove through the countryside, we arrived at a back up of mysterious origin. As we inched closer, I could see a sign clearly marking the starting point of the mysterious road. Ahead of us was a bus, which, presumably was put into neutral and rolled UP the hill. When it was our turn I checked to make sure the taxi driver was not playing tricks on us, and sure enough our car mysteriously rolled up the hill.
At Yongsil we took a short walk through beech and maple forest and found some pretty views of the surrounding cliffs and mountains. There was so much more to see, though, so our walk was cut short.
As we drove down the mountain towards Seongwipo, the cool air got hotter and soggier, and the sun hotter. We went straight to Cheonjeyon Pokpo, a series of waterfalls near the coast. We took the long set of stairs deep into a chasm and found at the bottom a cliff wall with tall rectangular rocks and a dribble of water falling into a big blue pool of water. The air was cooler by the river, so the hike back up the stairs was not altogether unpleasant. As we looked down on the river from above, we could see a rainbow formed from the spray from the second waterfall. Down a second long staircase we found a second big pool of blue water, but into this one fell a wide cascade. Back up the stairs and over the Bridge of the Seven Nymphs, an impossibly arched footbridge like a rainbow over the chasm, we found out taxi driver on the other side.
Later in the day we went to the Yongmeori Coast, a famous stretch of coastline on the southern coast of Jeju. We walked down the hill from a temple and large golden Budda to a large crevice in the rocks. Down the large stone steps was the coast. The South Sea came up to a walking area a few yards deep then cliffs carved into pockets rose up to the sky. There were many tourists, but also fishermen and some people with shallow buckets who seemed to be processing shellfish that they had caught.
At the end of the walk there was a replica of a ship that had crashed on this coast leaving a Dutchman stranded for 13 years. After he made it home, he published the first book about Korea published in the western world.
The last stop of the day was a tea plantation. We wandered the tea fields and tasted green tea ice cream. Yum!
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