Today we docked at Jeju, a small volcanic island off the southern coast of Korea. Our legs were still feeling the burn of climbing the Great Wall but we powered through. There has been no volcanic activity on the island for thousands of years so the basalt is well weathered and the volcanic cone at the center of the island worn down with erosion. The island is now largely a tourist destination for Koreans and increasingly international tourists. The climate is similar to South Carolina although the island is covered with palms and tangerine trees.
Our delightful tour guide So Hey took us to our first stop for the day, the beautiful Yeomiji Botanical Gardens. The gardens consist of a central tower and greenhouse divided into sections and then exterior gardens based on international themes such as Japanese, French and Italian.
From the tower there are excellent views of the surrounding landscape including the Hallasan volcano, at 6,400 feet the highest peak in South Korea. As you can see in the photos we had a brilliant sunny day and we found out later that Jeju has less than 50 days like this a year and even when it is sunny, the volcano peak is usually cloud covered, so we were very fortunate.
The indoor hardens were reminiscent of Longwood Gardens in Delaware for our Philly friends with an Asian flair.
From the gardens we proceeded across a beautiful foot bridge to the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls.
From there it was off to a traditional Korean lunch of barbecue beef with assorted sides. We passed on the anchovies and smoked fish.
Our afternoon took us to the Yakcheonsa Buddhist Temple. While Buddhists worshiped in this area for many centuries due to the healing mineral spring on the site, the temple itself was built in the 1980s and is quite stunning.
Inside of these large columns are thousands of prayer tubes, each accompanied by tiny elaborate Buddha figurines
There was an elaborate sand painting which is made and destroyed on a regular basis by the temple monks as a form of meditation.
Jeju is famous for its “Diving Women” who for many centuries free dove the area waters at depths up to 90 feet holding their breath for 2 minutes or more (try it) in search of abalone and other seafood. Many of them are now in their 60s and even older and the younger generation is not taking it up so the tradition may soon come to an end. Below is a statue at the site to honor these divers…NOTE: They do wear wetsuits now!
Rhonda found this sign at the local restroom. A cute way to honor the divers. The Asians do love their cartoon figures. They are everywhere.
When we returned to the ship, the passengers were prided a chance to try on traditional Korean garb. Our tour guide told us that throughout Asia, Koreans were known for three things – drinking, laughter and singing. Again, I haven’t heard my Korean born son-in-law Geoff sing but he is skilled in the other areas! We are so grateful for the opportunity to visit his homeland and share this glimpse of the culture.
Jeju was another lovely stop on our journey. Today, our last sea day and then on to Kobe tomorrow.