Jeju Island, South Korea

Internet photo

The next day we stopped at Jeju Island.  Of course we did not see it from the air as we arrived by ship.

Jeju Island is just off the coast of South Korea and it is a place for honeymooners and vacationers.  There are only a half million people living on the island that is 3 times the size of the city of Seoul, our next stop, which has 10 million people.  I think we will enjoy some breathing room today...

We meet up with our guide and head off to our first stop ahead of the big ship excursion buses.  We drive to a place called "Mysterious Road".  Objects on the road roll up the hill instead of moving downwards.  Really?

There are even signs on the road marking the start and stop of this phenomenon!

Watching a big tour bus roll up hill

Actually it is just a mere optical illusion.  "This section of road is one of the numerous magnetic hills scattered around the world.  A slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope due to the seemingly high surroundings, creating an optical illusion that objects roll uphill."

We considered this a waste of time.  Maybe it was for the benefit of the vendors set up at the end of the road!

The oranges looked good, though!

After that few minute stop, we were off to the O'Sulloc Green Tea Museum.  It is the first tea museum in Korea aiming to introduce Korean tea history and its tradition.

A museum guide zips us through the museum where we learn about tea leaves...

learn about tea cups...

and then we arrive at the tea store where we get to sample teas.

We sample some tangerine tea, which is delicious!  So we buy some.

US dollars were not accepted so we ended up using a credit card.  The cashier didn't speak English so it will be a surprise when we see the credit card statement to see what it cost!  LOL

We then head over to Spirited Garden.  It is the life's work of one man, Sung Bum Young.  He creates living art through bonsai trees.

Of course, bonsai are trees that have been pushed and prodded in a container over a long period of time to become miniature masterpieces.

Sung believes that his garden can contribute to world peace by providing a space for people to contemplate nature and find a sense of peace in their surroundings.  And since Jeju is an Island of Peace, his Spirited Garden is in the perfect location to promote peace and conservation of the natural world.

In 1968 the present garden was farmland but Sung had a vision for what his garden would become and a passion for the art of bonsai.  For the next 24 years he slowly built the garden.

Walking around the Spirited Garden, we are struck by the variety of bonsai trees and how he worked them into pieces of stone.

And we found a waterfall....

Also in the garden are replicas of the island's "grandfather stones".  Around 1750, to scare off invaders, masons started carving rocks into forbidding black "grandfather stones"- massive statues that might be mistaken for distant cousins of Easter Island’s moai or remind us of China's terra cotta warriors.

It was then time for another lunch....

 This time we scooped up a baby octapus in the soup ladle!

Oh, and there was plenty of fish...

And we all had a good time.

Back in the bus after lunch, we headed to Songarksan Mountain, also called 99 Bong (peaks) due to its 99 small peaks.  The coastal drive had beautiful scenic views.  We stopped at an overview and had some time to walk up the mountainside trail.

And take a selfie..

Back on the bus, we continued on the road and stopped at another temple.  This one was unique in that the large golden buddha was outside the temple rather than inside.

Joyce, Terry, and Paulette

We certainly were enjoying the nice weather.  It is warm and sunny and this small island is a welcome change after the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, Nagasaki and Busan.

We continue riding along the coast to Jusangjeoli Cliff.

Jusangjeoli are stone pillars piled up along the coast and is a designated cultural monument of Jeju Island.

The cliff was formed when the lava from the mountain erupted into the sea.

They are rock pillars shaped like cubes or hexagons of various sizes and almost seem as if stone masons had carved them out.

At the top of the trail we watched a little old lady shuck a fresh catch of some kind and people were buying and eating it right on the spot!

We thought we were done for the day, but our guide said we had time for one more stop if we wanted to see a most beautiful and the largest temple in the East.  We said, "Why not?"

A peak inside...

 The Buddhist temple bell weighs 18 tons.

And with that we were done with our tour of Jeju Island.  We really enjoyed this day.  The island is beautiful and it was nice to get away from the crowds and traffic of the cities.

To continue reading, scroll up towards the top of this page and click in the right-hand column the entry entitled:  Seoul, South Korea.