Hi everyone!,
Sorry about the lack of posts on the blog!, as some of you know I've been busier than I would like... I haven't had a nothing-to-do-except-laying-in-bed weekend in a while since my sister and I started our Cupcake business a couple of weeks ago (333Cupcakes), anyway, a couple of weeks ago I found a very entertaining blog written by Tom Stockwell and after a couple of emails he was kind enough to contribute with this blog, so here's Tom's post about Jeju Island :) ... Again Tom, Thank you so much for this great post! :)
Jeju Highlights
Jeju island is known
as the “Hawaii of Korea”. Tucked down in the south of the country, the island
has a climate very different from mainland Korea and the volcanic landscape
renders it unrecognisable as part of the peninsula.
Jeju’s flora has
evolved differently from the rest of the country thanks to the climate, and
ditto the accent. Many people who live on mainland Korea often say that when
people from Jeju island talk, they simply can’t understand what is being said
due to the difficulty of the dialect and the different words used.
It’s not easy to sum
up the island in just a few sentences, so here are a few photos with some short
descriptions that display the incredible diversity that Korea’s most beloved
island has to offer.
1. Walking Trails
1. Walking Trails
Jeju has walking
trails all around the island and these colourful trinkets can be seen dotted
along them helping you to find your way.
2.
Flora
The variety of plants
and flowers on Jeju is
truly magnificent and you’ll encounter their beauty wherever you stroll,
whether it be through the hiking trails or the island’s gardens.
3.
Swirls
The seas around the
island can become rough and produce some dramatic effects against the
black volcanic rock which make for mesmerising views and stunning photos.
4.
Black Pork
Jeju is well renowned
for its black pork, rightly
considered a specialty and served as Korean barbecue. It’s eaten wrapped in a
cabbage leaf with soybean sauce and garlic.
5.
Galchijorim
A spicy fish stew choc
full of vegetables, galchijorim is full of
flavour and another dish that the island is famous for. Avoid the tourist
restaurants and go for somewhere that may look less glamorous but will offer
more hearty, homemade fare.
6. Strange
Seafood
As well as the more
traditional fare, strange creatures from the sea are sold around Jeju as food.
I have no idea what any of these are.
7.
Theme Park
This theme park
consisted of just a Viking boat and precisely zero people when I passed it on a
rainy July day.
8.
Dutch Hero
Korea has a rather
close affinity with the Netherlands, most
specifically football coach Guus Hiddink who led the national team to the
finals of the 2002 World Cup. This patch of Holland in Jeju is located around
an area dedicated to Dutch explorer, Hendrick Hammel.
9.
Halla Mountain
On the top of Halla
Mountain, the highest in South Korea, lies a crater filled with a lake. The top
can get extremely windy, so proceed with caution if you decide to venture up
there.
10.
The Descent
The steps leading down
from Halla Mountain will make you
pause to admire the view ahead of you. The weather at the top is often
drastically different from that at the bottom. I didn’t expect the rain and
sleet.
11.
Cacti
There are cacti all
over the island, which surprised me but made for some great photos. Chocolate
made from the plants is produced and sold on Jeju.
12.
Stone Men
These little stone men
are dotted all over Jeju island. I’m not quite sure what they represent, but
the quirky characters and individual expressions make for interesting viewing
and story making.
13.
Sunrise Peak
The view from my
pension room over the sea with Sunrise Peak in the background. We didn’t go as
it was clogged with tourists when we drove past it, unfortunately.
14.
Puppy Love
OK so this one might
be cheating. This puppy was chilling out in the port town of Jangheung, where I
caught the ferry over to Jeju.
15.
Volcanic Beach
The beaches on Jeju
consist of a special kind of volcanic sand and are by no means your white sand
paradise like the islands of Thailand and
Indonesia. Crowded in summer, your best bet of having a bit of beach to
yourself is if you go in June or September, before and after the main tourist
season but while the weather’s still nice.
16.
Robotosaurus
If you visit just one
museum in Jeju, make sure you go to the Believe It Or Not! Museum. Thoroughly
cheesy but thoroughly entertaining, there are plenty of wacky and interactive
exhibits inside to keep everyone amused.
17.
You’re Not in
Korea
It’s moments like
driving down a motorway and seeing a horse just ambling down the lane that make
you realise you’re not in Seoul anymore. Jeju can, at times, seem like a
completely different country.
BIO:
Tom always had his nose stuck in an atlas as a child, and
pretended that the stairs in his home were a magic carpet whisking him away to
some faraway country that he’d seen on the map. Now, he’s travelling the
world and has taught in Korea, explored snow covered beaches in Poland, partied
at Sydney Mardi Gras and almost thrown up from trying durian in Kuala Lumpur.
You can keep up with Tom’s adventures through his blog, Waegook Tom, via Facebook, and by
following @waegook_tom on Twitter,
too.
