7:00am - 8:30am : Breakfast / Wake Up Calls
We stayed at the Navis Hotel and slept 4 people to a room. I bunked with Joanne, Nari, and Shirley.
The hotel served breakfast in the dining room: Eggs, cereal, toast, bananas, pasta as well as rice, kimchi, and other side dishes. We were on the bus by 8:30am and ready to go to our first stop: Bird Island & Saeyeongyo Bridge.
Excerpt from our Itinerary:
"Saeyeongyo, the longest pedestrian bridge on Jeju, was recently built at Seogwipo Port. It connects the main islet of Saeseom (Bird Island) to Jeju Island and it resembles an anchored taewoo, the traditional fishing boat of Jeju. It is shaped to capture the image of the boat coming home with a boatful of fish with its wide net stretched. The name of the bridge means 'Creation of New Connections,' as it connects the uninhabited Saeseom Island with Jeju. The island of Saeseom is composed of limestone on coral and the rocks are decorated with holes where numerous birds make their nests."
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| Saeyeongyo Bridge: "Creation of New Connections" |
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| Nari and I attempting to jump together |
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| Mok & Po's infamous nose tap |
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| Joo, our TaLK Coordinator, Mokpo neighbor, & friend :) |
We stopped long enough to snap a few photos and take in the scenery before we left for our next destination: Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. More info here.
Cheonjiyeon literally means a waterfall connecting the sky (cheon) and land (ji). The waterfall is one of the three most famous waterfalls on Jeju Island and welcomes heaps of tourists every year. The stream cascades over one main area, but may descend over several points depending on how much ran has fallen recently. The water falls into a large, artificial pond that is 20 m (66 ft) deep and maintained by two dams to keep the water at a constant level. A serene path leads from the park entrance to the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall and traces the stream created by the falls. The waterfall is 22 m (72 ft) high and 12 m (39 ft) wide.
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| Cheonjiyeon Waterfall: a waterfall connecting the sky & land or "God's Pond" |
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| Habitat of the marbled (or Mutae) eel |
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| If you look closely, Joanne & I are peering out from the bushes across the stream |
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Just before reaching the falls,
we crossed a bridge that overlooked koi fish bigger than a duck! |
We didn't think the scenery could get any more picturesque, but
Olle Route #7 revealed waters as blue and
crisp as paradise could be.
"In the local Jeju dialect 'Olle' was originally used to refer to the narrow path between the street and one’s doorstep. In the past, the word was quite commonly used, as children would often say, 'let’s meet at the olle'. However, later this word came to be used more widely across Korea and the word came to mean the series of coastal walking paths in Jeju Island. The olle walking paths of Jeju start at the east point of the island and wind their way along the coast all the way to the island’s southwest point. The charms of the olle walking paths are their proximity to nature and the picturesque combination of the blue ocean, dark green forests, and the charming local villages."
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| Pristine blue waters lapping against the Jeju cliffs |
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| Gio, Seth, Joanne, me, Asraya |
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| Oedolgae Rock |
Oedolgae Rock is 10 m in circumference and 20 m high. It is located near the shores of Sammaebong Seougwipo City and is surrounded by beautiful islands such as Bum Island, Sae Island and Seonnyu (fairy) Rock.
The juxtaposition of the forest green trees and the aquatic blue waters really made Olle Route #7 a sight to behold. We walked for about half an hour on a wooden boardwalk that traced the Jeju shores from atop the rocky cliffs. The weather was warm and breezy. The air was extra fresh. Many of us really wished that we could go into the water. Friday felt like a beach day!
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| Fuzzy caterpillar crossing the boardwalk |
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| Tidepools with tiny fish |
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| Mokpo Girls: Amanda Panda, me, Joanne |
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| Sai-rannosaurus Rex! |
We ate lunch at a Chinese buffet called Kao Kao. The restaurant served heaps of dishes with local seafood, soups, Jeju mandarin orange juice, galbi, pizza (with weird toppings like canned peaches and raisins), and dessert. The place easily accommodated our group and fed us well.
Outside of the restaurant were some seals and penguins.
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| oh harro |
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| aflac |
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| Beach view by the restaurant |
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The beach reminded Joanne & me of Cali :)
Just 2 more months! |
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| Mokpo Girls: me, Amanda, Joanne, Nari |
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| Up to nothing suspicious as usual ;) |
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| We found Sai-rannosaurus Rex snoozing on a bench and woke him up |
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| Joanne & I were too lazy to get our feet dirty, so we watched other people from afar |
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| Los Angeles = 9,804 km away |
"The Jusangjeolli are stone pillars piled up along the coast and is a designated cultural monument of Jejudo Island. The Jusangjeolli was formed when the lava from Mt. Hallasan erupted into the sea of Jungmun. They are rock pillars shaped like cubes or hexagons of various sizes and almost seem as if stonemasons had carved them out."
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| me, Hallie, Joanne, Johanna, Aurora |
"The pillar-shaped points along the Jungmun and Daepo seashore are important geological features, enabling the study and observation of basalt lava hardening and developing into coastal topography through erosion. This area, therefore, is valuable for academic purposes, as well as for its spectacular scenery."
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| Its 20 m cliff makes it a popular spot for high tide, sea angling. |
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| "Joanne, I'm flying!" |
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| ♫ "I'm coming out, I want the world to know, got to let it show" ♫ |
"Sanbangsan Mountain is the result of violent volcanic activity some 700,000 to 800,000 years ago and is in fact a huge body of lava. The cliffs on the southern side of the lava dome are marked with a rich variety of curious formations such as weathering pits and talus scree slopes, some of which are as high as 200m."
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| Sanbangsan Mountain |
We hiked up to the
Sanbanggulsa Grotto. The path was paved with stairs, so the ascent was much easier to climb than Wolchulsan in Yeongam.
Sacred holy water drips from the ceiling of the cave into a pool below. The water is said to have healing properties. Popular lore says that if you drink three sips of it, you will be blessed with a long life and good health. Visitors can drink the water using cups provided by the pool. I opted out of drinking the special water. I didn't want to catch mono!
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| Sanbanggulsa Grotto |
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| Literally a cave inside of a mountain |
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| Hiking back down the mountain |
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| Giant golden buddha at Sanbangsa Temple |
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| Sanbangsa Temple |
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| Sanbangsa Temple with Sanbangsan in the background. |
The day wasn't over yet. We stopped by the
O'Sulloc Green Tea Fields and Museum, the second tea field that I've toured since coming to Korea. In February, I visited the
Boseong Green Tea Fields.
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| I'm in a tea field! |
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| Green tea up close |
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| Mokpo homies: Asraya, Ade, Joanne, me |
Once you've seen a tea field, you've sort of seen them all, but the green tea ice-cream never gets old!
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| Deliciously tart green tea & yogurt ice-cream |
After the green tea museum, we drove to the
Jeju Mysterious Road (or Dokkaebi Road).
"The Jeju Mysterious Road, also known as Dokkaebi Road, lies on a hill at the foot of a mountain, and connects two major highways on Jeju-do Island. It has earned its name, as objects and liquid appear to roll and flow up the hill instead of down, when, in fact, such image of gravity defiance is an optical illusion rendered by the seemingly high surroundings."
When we arrived at the Mysterious Road, the bus driver turned off the engine and let the bus roll "up" the hill. From the inside of the bus, I couldn't really tell if we were rolling up or down, but I'm sure we rolled accordingly. In the street, people placed bottles in the road to watch them roll up. Shop owners also poured water onto the road, so we could watch it flow in the upwards direction.
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| Mysterious Road: Ghost House |
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| The Ghost House charged admission, so we didn't go in. |
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| Tourists examining the Mysterious Road |
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| Pretty green meadow adjacent to the road. Are we in Ireland? |
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| Pensive shot with Johanna, Aurora, Joanne, & Hallie |
We visited one last place, which I don't think was on the itinerary. We walked around what seemed like another national park and played on the see-saws. Nari and I also encountered a friendly calico tabby. I wish I could take her home :(
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| She's purrrfect =^..^= |
Dinner consisted of marinated barbecue beef (bulgogi, 불고기) for most people or veggies over rice in a hot stone pot (dolsot bibimbap, 돌솥 비빔밥) and soybean paste stew (doenjang jjigae, 된장 찌개) for the five vegetarians. The vegetarian option was some of the best dolsot bibimbap and doenjang jjigae that I've had in Korea. The soup was hot and spicy, while the rice in the hot stone pot burned until it was nice and crunchy. Delicious! I hear the bulgogi was good as well.
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| Everyone digging in |
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| nom nom nom nom |
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| We took up an entire room and a downstairs area as well. |
All together, today was a very busy day. Loads of walking, sight-seeing, and picture-taking. The sun was stronger than we all anticipated, so many people with fair skin got sunburned and turned painfully red. I received a slight sunburn, but luckily I just turned brown over the next couple of days. The next day we would have an even earlier call time to squeeze in more sight-seeing before flying back to Gwangju.
