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Jeju Island, Korea, October 18th - 20th



Flying from Cheongju to Jeju is not only fast (taking under an hour) but exceptionally inexpensive compared to flying to most places within North American countries. In Korea there are several places that a person can stay while traveling. Hotels are rather expensive and cramped, especially when you are traveling with a family. We stayed in a condominium (basically a small sparsely furnished apartment that had Korean floor mattresses, called a yo) located close to the sea on the south-east part of the island. One of the first things you notice (that is after you get over your astonishment at seeing palm trees and orange groves) are the numerous stone fences. They are everywhere. There are no shortages of stones on this volcanic island! They surround fields, homes and even as the picture below illustrates, graves.




One of the peculiar customs of the island, that I do not generally see on the mainland, centers around funerals. Whereas people where I am generally give money at a funeral, on Jeju people arrive with a stone to help fence in the grave. This picture was taken at Sungsan`s Sunrise Peak.





These pictures were taken at Chunjeyun Waterfall. Even though it often rained while we were walking about exploring there was still a lot to see. The harubang (lava stone statue) is Jeju island's symbolic protector. There are two types. One is a scholar and the other is a General. To tell which is which is easy. Left hand raised is a General. Right hand raised is a scholar.




Aside from oranges, Jeju's main industry is tourism. There are many "traditional" villages dotting the island where people can try out one or another activity. There is a delicacy on Jeju. It is black pork. MANY years ago the manner in which the animals were fed was said to make the flesh sweeter. There were several places where the feeding method was demonstrated. In terms of "waste not, want not" I suppose it has merits, but I am still hard pressed to believe that an animal that eats human fecal matter is sweeter. The toilets were attached to the pens that the swine were kept in. There was also a handy stick barring the snouts of the more adventurous, or hungry, from taking more than they were offered. Many males visibly flinched when they were told about this.




These pictures were taken at Hallim Park and Hyupjie Cave. This place was absolutely beautifully landscaped. We spent several hours just walking around and looking at the various places at the park. I even had my picture taken with a General. I have always lived by the credo that one should aim high. *grin*

Hey mom, look who I am with!


Scenes like this were especially gorgeous.





At one of the places we visited you could see a variety of stone statues. Some were traditional and others a little on the bizzare side. The old man sitting on the toilet was worth several base laughs, as was the mother of many children.



One section of this park was devoted to illustrating the past lifestyle of the island's people. The last guy just struck me as being terribly familiar. *soft laugh*



There was a new theme park that had opened during the World Cup. While it had some great appeal for children I wasn't as impressed with the miniaturizations of famous places. It was a good break though from driving.



Yongdu-am Rock is supposed to look like the the head of a dragon which seems to be flying into the sky with its mouth wide open. I'm sorry, all I saw was what looked like a rabbit. While I only spent the weekend on the island I believe that I managed to see quite a lot. It was a great break from the mainland that is for certain and definitely worthwhile seeing if you ever come to Korea!