KOREA 2014: DAY 6 ~ JEJU: Manjang Cave, Gimnyeong Maze Park, Seopjikoji Coast, Jeju Folk Village Museum, Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock
22 OCT 2014
Taxi driver arrived punctually and first stop was: Manjang Cave. The main attraction of this place is the huge rock at the very end of the tunnel where you make a u-turn to exit. Yes, it was a one way in and one way out passage. Note the place is rather wet (maybe because it was raining) and we had to play hopscotch and step on the stones to avoid the water puddles so I guess we took a bit longer than normal. Total time spent; 40minutes. There wasn't much photo-taking opportunities with the lack of lighting but we still did with a few selfies....which caused my phone to fall into a puddle of water on the stones...and guess what?! It survived!!! Sony Xperia Z2 Compact everyone. Free advert for their proven waterproof and hardy phone.
That is me in HM's fluffy sweater by the way hehe; she brought extra thick clothing. Thank you babe.
I took a toilet break at this location before stubbornly heading to the next stop despite the rain and advise against it from our taxi driver. Presenting to you; Gimnyeong Maze Park. It was muddy, it was horrible, we got lost, we had to use our umbrellas, there were earthworms....but we made it out in 30minutes. Ringing the bell to indicate our success =) Tip: a map is given to you at the start so I guess if you hate getting lost, plot it before entering. We had 2 failures which caused us to wind up at the wrong exit or back at our entrance.
The next destination on our list was Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as the sunrise peak. The beauty of that place is to climb to the peak for the view but unfortunately for us the rain and winds were too strong to handle and so we got off the car to steal a few snapshots and run back into the car. Also note we were still not recovered from the trauma of Mount Hallasan so climbing up another mountain in such a harsh weather was a huge no no.
He holds my head
Next, lunch time!!! It was a restaurant nearby and we landed ourselves yet another affordable feast.
Side dishes galore:
This is how a seafood pancake should look like
Baked salted fish; which was very salty
HM and KH had porridge as well:
I think the total damage was about 70,000Won or so? Thank you once again Mr Lee for bringing us to a value for money and quality and quantity worth place =)
Next up; Seopjikoji Coast. The main attractions of this place are the iconic buildings used for the shooting of drama; note the candy house and the lighthouse. The place itself was fine and the fact that it was next to a windy coast, it would have made for a nice stroll minus the rain and the infestation of china tourists. They came in bus loads and honestly they spoiled the whole scenery by their sheer number, making it extremely hard to get a nice picture. We didn't even bother walking all the way to the lighthouse, sorry ahjummas were too lazy hehe.
The next stop was something educational and historical; Jeju Folk Village Museum. It was truly enriching and the old man who gave us a tour of the area spoke good English and was very entertaining. He gave us an insight into the history of the village, showed us all the interesting artifacts, shared with us loads of little did-you-knows and ended off with the introduction of some locally produced products. They are reasonable and to be honest we would have made some purchase if not for the large quantity and the lack of luggage space =(
I strongly recommend this place amidst all your scenery-viewing
Make a wish on the pot
And this is also when we knew about the meaning behind the statues found all over Jeju island; they each represent education and health. The difference lies in the placement of the hands and yes all the ahjummas need health not education.
Our next destination is another popular one; Sangumburi Crater. To be very honest, there wasn't too much to view since well...unless you're onboard a helicopter with an aerial view, here's isn't much to see of the crater from the provided vantage points. That aside, it does provide nice phototaking background; note the mountain, tall grasses, cute swings and smoke emitted from the crater.
And that concludes our day's itinerary before returning back to Jeju City for a couple more sightseeing spots.
All the places we have been to today are rather out of the way and not easily accessible so I would strongly suggest getting a tour guide/taxi driver to access these places. They are all about 15-30minutes apart by car.
However, on the drive back, Mr Lee had another surprise for us. The conversation was rather hilarious (I shall include the weird thoughts in my head as well)
That is me in HM's fluffy sweater by the way hehe; she brought extra thick clothing. Thank you babe.
I took a toilet break at this location before stubbornly heading to the next stop despite the rain and advise against it from our taxi driver. Presenting to you; Gimnyeong Maze Park. It was muddy, it was horrible, we got lost, we had to use our umbrellas, there were earthworms....but we made it out in 30minutes. Ringing the bell to indicate our success =) Tip: a map is given to you at the start so I guess if you hate getting lost, plot it before entering. We had 2 failures which caused us to wind up at the wrong exit or back at our entrance.
The next destination on our list was Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as the sunrise peak. The beauty of that place is to climb to the peak for the view but unfortunately for us the rain and winds were too strong to handle and so we got off the car to steal a few snapshots and run back into the car. Also note we were still not recovered from the trauma of Mount Hallasan so climbing up another mountain in such a harsh weather was a huge no no.
He holds my head
Next, lunch time!!! It was a restaurant nearby and we landed ourselves yet another affordable feast.
Side dishes galore:
This is how a seafood pancake should look like
Baked salted fish; which was very salty
HM and KH had porridge as well:
I think the total damage was about 70,000Won or so? Thank you once again Mr Lee for bringing us to a value for money and quality and quantity worth place =)
Next up; Seopjikoji Coast. The main attractions of this place are the iconic buildings used for the shooting of drama; note the candy house and the lighthouse. The place itself was fine and the fact that it was next to a windy coast, it would have made for a nice stroll minus the rain and the infestation of china tourists. They came in bus loads and honestly they spoiled the whole scenery by their sheer number, making it extremely hard to get a nice picture. We didn't even bother walking all the way to the lighthouse, sorry ahjummas were too lazy hehe.
The next stop was something educational and historical; Jeju Folk Village Museum. It was truly enriching and the old man who gave us a tour of the area spoke good English and was very entertaining. He gave us an insight into the history of the village, showed us all the interesting artifacts, shared with us loads of little did-you-knows and ended off with the introduction of some locally produced products. They are reasonable and to be honest we would have made some purchase if not for the large quantity and the lack of luggage space =(
I strongly recommend this place amidst all your scenery-viewing
Make a wish on the pot
And this is also when we knew about the meaning behind the statues found all over Jeju island; they each represent education and health. The difference lies in the placement of the hands and yes all the ahjummas need health not education.
Our next destination is another popular one; Sangumburi Crater. To be very honest, there wasn't too much to view since well...unless you're onboard a helicopter with an aerial view, here's isn't much to see of the crater from the provided vantage points. That aside, it does provide nice phototaking background; note the mountain, tall grasses, cute swings and smoke emitted from the crater.
And that concludes our day's itinerary before returning back to Jeju City for a couple more sightseeing spots.
All the places we have been to today are rather out of the way and not easily accessible so I would strongly suggest getting a tour guide/taxi driver to access these places. They are all about 15-30minutes apart by car.
However, on the drive back, Mr Lee had another surprise for us. The conversation was rather hilarious (I shall include the weird thoughts in my head as well)
Mr Lee: Do you like flowers?
Me: Er...yes! (omg he wanted to give me flowers?)
Mr Lee: Sunflower...>
Me: Ah yes sunflower.
Mr Lee: *sniggers*
Me: Sunflowers are pretty
Mr Lee: I'll take you to another place, many sunflowers. They only bloom around this time of the year.
Me: Is it on the way? (because I was anal and worried as fck about having to pay for overtime should we exceed 5pm)
Mr Lee: Yes, on the way.
Me: Free? (yes this is Lee Hyukjae's soul mate you're talking to)
Mr Lee: Yes free.
Me: Ok!
And ta-da! A pretty gorgeous nursery with sunflowers =) I was truly awed. I do love flowers =)
Thank you Mr Lee! =) Please refer to my day 4 itinerary on how you can contact Mr Lee =)
We requested for him to drop us at Yongduam for our final sight-seeing spot instead of our apartment and he kindly did. We bid him goodbye and thanked him for a wonderful 2 days before heading to the rock which resembles a dragon head. And when you hear the word 'dragon'...what type of people comes to mind? Yup you're right. China. It was ridiculous with the tourists screaming over the rock which by the way does not look like dragon's head to me:
We requested for him to drop us at Yongduam for our final sight-seeing spot instead of our apartment and he kindly did. We bid him goodbye and thanked him for a wonderful 2 days before heading to the rock which resembles a dragon head. And when you hear the word 'dragon'...what type of people comes to mind? Yup you're right. China. It was ridiculous with the tourists screaming over the rock which by the way does not look like dragon's head to me:
I would like to give a shoutout to Kitty and family for their warm hospitality throughout our entire stay, helping us print our flight bookings out, waking up to prepare delicious breakfast for us, helping us look through our itinerary, making sure we were comfortable, helping us do our laundry and simply greeting us with a smile everytime we returned home from a day of adventure, making us feel truly at home.
If you and a small group of friend (I would recommend just a pair due to bedding) would like to have a good homely place to stay at, I highly recommend Kitty's place: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/729304
This is the review left by my friend on her page:
October 2014
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions; twitter @phoebefeehily
Comments