Jeju Island - Southern Side, South Korea

At last we come to my final post for the island of Jeju. This will cover the southern half of the island of Jeju.  A Jeju Island promotional video, which leaves out many beautiful places, can be watched here. 

I borrowed this picture from the internet.  This is a photo taken from the east of the Seogwipo area, or a small town called Namwon.

A squid boat waits for the night to start work. 

The squid boat owners can sometimes be asked to take you to the surrounding islets for snorkeling, diving, fishing or just exploring.  They'll take you out there & come pick you up at your specified time, for a small price.  

A look back to Jeju Island, from Beomseom Islet.

Climbing the islet walls was more difficult than originally thought. 

The south side of Beomseom Islet.

Back on the main island of Jeju, a rock path leads to Black Sand Beach, next to the Hyatt Hotel.  There's no black sand here, but perhaps the joke here is its black rocks.  During high tide, the softball to football sized rocks hide just below the surf.  Low tide exposes the rocks & sometimes make for an interesting yet peaceful sound.  The waves come in & pull the rocks back with its power, forcing the rocks to tumble against each other.  

Once the typhoon waves hit this beach, the rocks will slowly get re-stacked. 

I camped on Black Sand Beach many times, because it was seldom visited by tourists & a three minute drive from my last apartment.  Jungmum Beach was a 5 minute walk east of this beach, yet most people never discovered this quiet beach.  

This waterfall is a 30 second walk from the beach, heading towards Jungmun Beach, which is just around this corner.  This rock is so close to joining the gathering of others below.  

Seogeondo Islet can be reached by foot during low tide.  There are walking trails & picnic areas on this islet. Earthenware pieces, animal bones & prehistoric housing sites estimated from about 100 BC were discovered on this island.

Yakcheonsa Temple means "Temple where medicinal water flows."  For various reasons, this was my favorite temple I saw in Korea.  This temple is roughly 8 stories high, or about 28 meters.  From what I understand, Buddist temples are built with out nails or screws.

The mystical medicinal water source continually furnishes this pond with water. 

One of the many prayer halls on the temple grounds. 

This is a large 18 ton bells on the right side of the main temple.  If you expand the first Yakcheonsa picture, you can see that the left side tower contains a large drum instead of a bell.

Inside, this prayer hall has been claimed to be the largest in the world. 

You are free to walk all levels of this three story building. 

The bell tower with Mt. Halla in the background, & palm trees & orange trees in the front.

This Gangjeong area river area was packed by the locals on the hot summer days!

Why is this free roaming goat here?  I'll never know, but it didn't look happy.

This was taken at high tide, but during low tide the river takes a split second longer before falling into the ocean.  The rock cliff I was standing on for this photo was great for cliff jumping.

The Gangjeong area surprised me with a small pineapple looking, palm tree patch.

A little known area around the Yerae area. This trail extended along the ocean side & varied in terrain.

There are many sea caves, but this one was one was on this Yerae area trail. 

It even went through to the other side. 

The trail led right through it. 

Slightly west of Yerae, I found this wooden raft.

Some old traditional stone-lined streets in Daepyeong-si.  I really liked this area, but like many small towns, it's slowly becoming less populated.  The young people move to the bigger cities...

Those who can afford to have a vacation home on Jeju certainly might enjoy the privacy of this area. 

A fun, well maintained, truck in Hwasun-ri, along the southern coast. 

Hwasun Beach with Sangbangsan looming in the background. 

Sangbansan towering over the Buddhist temple below.  

This temple has the serenity of the mountain behind it & the ocean below. 

An enormous bell, with Hyongje Islet in the distance. 

If you hike up past the temple, you'll reach a peaceful Buddhist statue. 

Looking out of the cave, to the ocean & Songaksan below. 

Sunmee made a trip to the south side to display to us this rock structure.  A Yeondae was used prior to our current communication methods.  There are still 38 of them that exist on the island.  They were once used to send signals of attack or warn of other urgent situations.  They used smoke during the day & fire at night.  One smoke signal or fire was used for normal operations, two were used for the appearance of a foreign ship, three when the foreign ship approached, four when it landed on the island & five if combat started. 

It doesn't look too friendly does it?  There were many of these spiders when I would go hiking in Busan, mainland S. Korea. 

Yongmeori Cliffs

I had been by this area so many times, but never attempted to visit this cliff side peninsula. 

Then, when I did try to visit, it was usually high tide, which meant the area was closed.  

Truly a fascinating area!  This young man climbed to this ledge with the encouragement of his friends below. 

Some of the local ladies, haenyo (women divers),  serve up fresh seafood & soju, just out of view of this picture.  Here, she's scooping up some water to use as a rinse.  If you didn't click on the previous haenyo link in my previous post, I recommend reading about them with this different link I attached a few sentences above. Here's a link to a video about them.  It's pretty good!  There is a lot of information out there about this dying profession.  Except no where that I've read does it mention how they communicate with each other while in the water.  They whistle with different tones in order to communicate.  It's really interesting.  

Yongmeori coast stretches around this peninsula. 

At the end of Yongmeori Coast, some goats to extend their kind regards.   

An old house to the west of Sangbangsan. 

I normally don't find cows too interesting for pictures, but I loved this shot!  

If you're sneaky, you can climb to the top of Sangbansan & view the Yongmeori Cliffs below.  As you can see, it's a peninsula jetting into the ocean.  

Poor Dawn, the driver with the helmet, & Maria on the left. 

After the spill, they both cleaned the mud off as best as they could with a nearby irrigation spigot.  Maria was lucky enough to have some sort of knitted jacket that she tied around her waist.  As you might imagine, she opted to ride with us instead.  Yes, we looked funny...



 

Sanbangsan, taken from Songaksan.  

The submarine tour ride below. 

This is what the submarine looks like up close in rougher wave conditions.

You have to climb down the stairs in order to find a seat next to a window.  I believe there are three of these submarine tours around the island.  

The submarine goes straight out, following a 10 minute path, then comes directly back.  Because it never turns around, the passengers are asked to change sides half way through the small under sea voyage. 

There is a scuba diver that trails along the submarine, dispensing fish food of some sort.  So, the fish school around the submarine.  

The scuba man also happened to have a stingray that he plastered to each window for a picture.  The submarine ride reaches a total depth of about 40 meters (131 feet).

This farm land is near the once used Alddreu Airfield.  This is a good article to read about the hidden Japanese plane bunkers built to attack the Chinese.

On this particular day, I was trying to find the Japanese built tunnels.  Not for the planes, but for people in the event they were attacked during the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation of Korea. 

Driving my scooter through the farm lands was peaceful. 

After making a wrong turn, I stumbled across this gravesite area. 

Finally, after hiking through trees & brush, I found three entrances on a hillside to the Japanese tunnels. This one was the easiest to see.  I didn't even attempt going in...  Plus, who knows what animals may have claimed rights to it now.  

Even the smallest vegetation has beauty.  

While Christianity is the dominate religion in Korea, Shamanistic rituals are still used frequently around the island. Here is a exorcism video that a friend of mine, Peter, stumbled across & filmed. 

This beer guy/girl was at a small town, Moseulpo, fish festival.  The kids loved this big can of beer!  So who exactly was their intended market?  I think I look strange, like the Joker or something... 

This was Maria's teaching town, so we convinced her to go "fishing" with her hands.  I'm still surprised she did it!  Especially since she's vegetarian, but she was a good sport about it.  

She was among the last to get in. 

To our surprise, she caught one, but of course let it go.  The others in this man-made pool were able to keep as many as they caught.  When they caught a fish, they'd throw it in their nearby basket.  This picture is actually a video still, so eventually I may post the video. 

Sam & Youngsook's wedding!  It was held at her parent's place in Daejong.  This outdoor wedding was held next to their tangerine orchards.  It was a beautiful, perfect day!  One gentleman in the back, seemed to have found some standing space in the tangerines. 

The May Flower cafe is a self serve drink cafe that has no prices.  In fact, there are no employees & many times the owner isn't even there.  When he is available, sometimes you can order some pizza.  That's about the only menu item that isn't self serve.  On your way out, leave the amount of money in the donation box that you deem necessary. 

You'll have to expand this picture to see the horses in this canyon.  They could be some of the wild horses that I heard stories of. 

The traditional Jeju Island rock wall, separating different crops or property. 

A cactus farm on the west side of Jeju.  

The inside of the Jeju Glass Musuem. 

The outside of the Jeju Glass Museum. 

Everything here was beautifully sculpted from glass, including every one of these little glass flowers. 

After studying this picture, you may have guessed that these are one way glass restrooms.  You can't see in, but once inside, you can see out.  

This photo was taken from Gama Oreum, where the Peace Museum is located. 

A wet hike up Mt. Halla. 

This is as far as the western trails of Mt. Halla will take you.  Through the fog, Mt. Halla stands in the distance. 

This area was fun to visit in the winter.  Its name, the 1100 Meter-High Rest Area. 

A Dolharubang covered in snow, but it actually looks like it was pelted with snow. 

The snack area awaits above for this hard working young trooper. 

You made it!  Wait, where are your parents? 

A fun day of sledding for this small Korean bear. 

This tree can be spotted on the Yeongshil Trail up Mt. Halla. 

At the Yeongshil parking lot.  

Some crows watch over the snowmen.  In Korea, as well as Japan, the snowmen stand two snowballs high. 

With the attitude of bigger is better, Tom & I show up the other snowmen, by making this three snowball tall snowman.  I worked up a sweat on this snowman, hence my strip down to the t-shirt.

My mountain biking ventures led me all kinds of places.  Some remote mountain places, with broken down houses, no vehicles capable of moving, but dogs still barking, left me with some uneasy feelings. 

Some mountain vegetation in the cycle of life. 

A grasshopper patiently waited for me to take its picture. 

The different styles of graves never ceased to amaze me. 

This area is on the southern side of Mt. Halla. 

Wonang Falls is a beautiful area that starts the Donnaeko River swimming area.  During summer, this area is packed with people jumping every which way off the rocks.  

Well, maybe the Donnaeko River area is too shallow for real swimming, but it's a popular area for the locals to come cool off during the summer.  If you notice, most people wear there clothes in the water.

Mine & Denis' scooter pose for a photo on an around the island camping trip. 

I enjoy these convex mirrors. 

The traditional Jeju rock wall, nestled in with some weeds.  The foreigners, as I was, found these weeds quite picturesque.  

Seaweed set out to dry on the side of the road. 

Soesokkak was in the small town of Bomok.  It was a nice area to take a quick dip.  This raft gave quick tour rides up to a small falls that flowed during the spring & back down the river to this resting spot. 

A windy day outside of the area town of Namwon. 

Jeju Stone Park, with some Bangsatap , or protective rock tower, just past the traditional Jeju wooden gate.  Typically, this front gate to the house had three wooden bars.  Different placement of the bars meant different messages about the resident of the dwelling.  When all the bars were up, it meant that no one was home.  All the bars down indicated that the owner was home.  If only one bar was up, it signaled to those interested, that the owner would be back shortly.

Haenyo statues that rest in the water during high tide at Pyoseon Beach.  If you didn't read about the Haenyos above, I recommend it, or watch a video about them. 

An old grind of sorts at the Seongeup Folklore Village.

Here I am, all geared up to rent a horse.

By the end, I started to get the hang of this horseback riding thing.  

A newly completed barefoot massage pathway near Pyoseon Beach.

I couldn't decide which photo I enjoyed the most, so I included all four.  They all are of Seongsan Illchulbong, or Sunrise Peak.  Photo number one...

Photo number two...  If you expand this picture twice, you can see the Japanese built caves.  They're small, but they're on the base of the cliffside.  I can count four, possibly five.

Photo number three...

Finally, photo number four. 

Now we're at the base of Seongsan Illchulbong, with a Buddhist temple seen here. 

Starting from here, you can hike up to the rim of Seongsan Illchulbong. 

I wish I took this aerial shot, but instead borrowed it from this site. You can't hike into the crater, but you can hike to the top of it.  

If you miss the last ferry to the largest islet of Jeju Island, Udo Island, you can watch the sun set at this port. 

During rough waves, they won't let anyone bring their scooters on board.  So on this particular trip I had to leave mine behind.  From Jeju Island, the ferry takes about 15 minutes to get to Udo Island/Islet.

Just after jumping off the ferry, I found this starfish.

This cliffs of Udo Island, with a submarine docking house in view. 

This is taken from the top of the cliffs in the last picture.  

A bee & something else to the right, enjoyed this flower, or weed. 

At this point, I was just learning how to edit pictures.  

Here, I got a little experimental with the editing.

If you trek east, down the opposite side of the cliff, you can see a grave, a cow, a power line & a basketball hoop.  

A small Udo village. 

A black sand cove, or Geommeollae Beach, that offers exploring.

With its black sand, Geommeollae Beach gets very hot under the heat of the summer sun. 

This cave cannot be accessed during high tide, & as you can see, the cave floor is already filling up.  Yet, if you continue through this cave & through another hole, you'll eventually find Gwangdaegoji, or Whale Cave.  I have shown a picture of it in a much earlier post.  Yet, I just learned that when the sun shines directly in this southern facing cave, the water reflects the sun's image on the cave"s ceiling & makes it appear as if it's a rising moon.

On this day I was able to bring my scooter across on the ferry.  This way I can easily camp on one of the Udo Beaches.

I believe these wooden flags are placed here for wishes, or luck.  

The southern side of Hongjodangoe-haebin Beach with Seongsan Illchulbong in the background.

Hongjodangoe Haebin Beach is the only white coral sand beach in Korea.  In English this beach's name translates to Red Algae Nodule Beach.

Looking west toward the main land, or main Jeju Island.  That small mountain in the distance is named, Tokkiseom.

Some Korean boys try to impress the ladies. 

Some fishing boats set off to sea.

Kim & Sally, peacefully taking in the evening. 

For the residents of Udo, the sun always sets behind the island of Jeju, only to return on the opposite side the next day. 

This turtule, is at Seopjikoji. 

Seopjikoji is known for its coastal beauty & has been the set for a few different TV series & movie scenes. 

This is one of my favorite tiny beach areas, which I never did swim out to.  It's can be spotted from Hado Beach, on the eastern side of Jeju Island.  

My Rogue Brewery hat actually fits in this photo.  This was taken by one of the professional photographers for this group sport they called, Survivor.  

Brian, ready to fire some high powered BBs at the approaching targets.

Back at base, I practice firing my gun. 

Brian, Brian & Seth, what a team!

Survivor is a group of Koreans on Jeju Island that get together many weekends to basically shoot each other in the name of fun.  At a very cheap price, which included all the gear, plus a lunch, they extend their invitation to anyone to join.  We had a blast, even though they destroyed us...

This was another group outing that we made it to.  

Then we recruited & brought in some more foreigners! 

I practiced & practiced... 

While some posed for the camera...  Regardless, the Korean Survivor team still destroyed us.  

I suppose they start the Survivor team members at a young age.  No wonder we had no chance from the very beginning.  

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