Jeju
Somehow Jeju Island became one of the new 7 wonders of nature. I thought this was rubbish when I heard it, and still think it is - it's a nice enough place but not *that* nice. Anyway, we spent most of our time here seeing naturey things. If you want to do as much as we did in 1.5 days you need a car (which is probably a good idea anyway).
We walked to quite a few waterfalls, including Cheonjeyeon Falls, Cheonjiyeon Waterfall and Jeongbang Waterfall. It's claim to fame is that it's the only waterfall in the world to fall directly into the ocean. I suppose that's because it sounds better than "the only waterfall in the world that almost falls directly into the ocean".
The cliffs at Yongmeori Beach were lots of fun to walk around. Nearby is Mt. Sanbangsan which we climbed about half way up to a Buddha Cave.
We walked through the very impressive Manjanggul lava tubes. If you were to read about it, you might read "Only 1km of the 13,422m Manjanggul Cave is open to the tourists" which implies that it's not going to be that great, but really walking 1km in a tube underground is quite a distance.
We also walked up Seongsan Ilchulbong, which is nice though more impressive from the air. Since we didn't see it from the air, I'll just let you Google image search it.
Haeinsa Temple
My second chance this year to sleep in a UNESCO designated building :) Haeinsa is a famous Korean temple set in the mountains quite a way from anything (we had a hire car here too). It is particularly famous for the Tripitaka Koreana - Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century with no known errors. Sadly you do not get a very good look at them. Staying here over night is part of the Korean temple stay program. You learn how to behave (how to hold you hands when you walk for instance), eat food in the same way the monks do (not with them, but the same vegetarian food in the same room, in silence), and can attend ceremonies (including one at 3am which I skipped) which involve specific drum and bell ringing and many prostrations. The stay was very peaceful.
Gyeongju
Home of the Silla Dynasty and therefore containing many historic sites. My favourites being the many burial mounds (sort of like the pyramids, but shorter, rounder and without a way to be ransacked. One had been set up in a half-cut-out way so you could appreciate the inside. Plus there were lovely magnolia trees everywhere.
Other sites were:
All in all, I really enjoyed South Korea. It's fairly easy to get around and cheaper than Japan. I prefer the culture of the Japanese people more though so I'm glad I'm living here :)
Somehow Jeju Island became one of the new 7 wonders of nature. I thought this was rubbish when I heard it, and still think it is - it's a nice enough place but not *that* nice. Anyway, we spent most of our time here seeing naturey things. If you want to do as much as we did in 1.5 days you need a car (which is probably a good idea anyway).
We walked to quite a few waterfalls, including Cheonjeyeon Falls, Cheonjiyeon Waterfall and Jeongbang Waterfall. It's claim to fame is that it's the only waterfall in the world to fall directly into the ocean. I suppose that's because it sounds better than "the only waterfall in the world that almost falls directly into the ocean".
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| The first of the three falls at Cheonjeyeon Falls was dry when we were there but still pretty |
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| Jeongbang Waterfall |
The cliffs at Yongmeori Beach were lots of fun to walk around. Nearby is Mt. Sanbangsan which we climbed about half way up to a Buddha Cave.
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| Cliffs at Yongmeori Beach |
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| Mt. Sanbangsan from Yongmeori Beach |
We walked through the very impressive Manjanggul lava tubes. If you were to read about it, you might read "Only 1km of the 13,422m Manjanggul Cave is open to the tourists" which implies that it's not going to be that great, but really walking 1km in a tube underground is quite a distance.
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| Manjanggul lava tubes - the people walking in the distance should give a sense of scale |
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| Another place we visited - Jusangjeolli Cliffs |
We also walked up Seongsan Ilchulbong, which is nice though more impressive from the air. Since we didn't see it from the air, I'll just let you Google image search it.
Haeinsa Temple
My second chance this year to sleep in a UNESCO designated building :) Haeinsa is a famous Korean temple set in the mountains quite a way from anything (we had a hire car here too). It is particularly famous for the Tripitaka Koreana - Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century with no known errors. Sadly you do not get a very good look at them. Staying here over night is part of the Korean temple stay program. You learn how to behave (how to hold you hands when you walk for instance), eat food in the same way the monks do (not with them, but the same vegetarian food in the same room, in silence), and can attend ceremonies (including one at 3am which I skipped) which involve specific drum and bell ringing and many prostrations. The stay was very peaceful.
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| Buddhist monk at one of the outlying temples |
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| The main temple. The building behind it that you can see on the right contains the Tripitaka Koreana |
Gyeongju
Home of the Silla Dynasty and therefore containing many historic sites. My favourites being the many burial mounds (sort of like the pyramids, but shorter, rounder and without a way to be ransacked. One had been set up in a half-cut-out way so you could appreciate the inside. Plus there were lovely magnolia trees everywhere.
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| Double burial mound |
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| Inside a burial mound. The box in the middle is where the body was. |
- Yangdong Folk Village - somewhat interesting and different to the typical temples. We went here on the way from Haeinsa so it wasn't too far out of the way, but might not be worth it if it was a long way out of the way.
- Seokguram Grotto - containing a large granite Buddha, also not as impressive as I was lead to believe
- Bulguksa Temple - similar to most other temples. Though I did get here by walking down from Seokguram Grotto (approximately 2km rather than 7km by road) which was quite pleasant.
- Cheomseongdae Observatory - the oldest surviving observatory and more impressive for what it was back then than what it is now
- Anapji Pond - The pavilions here were nothing new but the pond and the sunset made it quite beautiful.
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| Yangdong Folk Village |
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| A different view of a temple. Buddhist temples have guardians at the entrance. These are the ones at Bulguksa. |
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| Cheomseongdae Observatory and another magnolia tree |
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| Anapji Pond |
All in all, I really enjoyed South Korea. It's fairly easy to get around and cheaper than Japan. I prefer the culture of the Japanese people more though so I'm glad I'm living here :)
