Tuesday, May 24, 2011

5/16/11: Welcome to Jeju-do

Sleeping dragon?
Volcanic rocks along the coast of Jeju.
We transferred to Jeju this afternoon via a 50-minute flight from Gimpo International Airport. Jeju is a volcanic island south of the mainland, and it’s an extremely popular tourist destination, especially for honeymoons. After meeting up with our tour group (in which there actually was a young couple on their honeymoon), we got started with sightseeing right away, climbing Yongnuni Oreum (용눈이오름). The name literally means “Dragon Eye Mountain”; apparently, some say that the crater on top looks like a dragon’s eye from above, while others say that the mountain (really a parasitic volcano) looks like a sleeping dragon. The climb was a bit steep at times, particularly on the descent, and it would have been quite slippery in the damp weather were it not for the strips of rope pressed into the trail. The cool, wet weather didn’t offer the most picturesque conditions (the view was mostly obscured by mist), but it was very refreshing after being on a plane and a bus. By the time we made it down from the mountain, it was already dinnertime (for which we went to a shabu-shabu restaurant), so that was about it for today.  

No comments:

Post a Comment