For its size, Jeju Island is relatively dense in the sight-seeing and awe-inspiring activities. My friend Lindsay's fellow English teacher, Mr. Kim, has been kind enough to take us around to some of the more out-of-the-way locales.
Buddhas leading the way into Kwanumsa, a temple near Jeju City. We caught the end of a chanting session and bowing session in one of the main temple buildings.
This little hollowed out cave had some candles and a Buddha image in it ... and most probably belonged to a hobbit.
Stone statues of Buddhist nuns gather in the ampitheatre for the annual Buddha vs. Jesus gladitorial games. Yeah, I have no idea what all this symbolizes, neither did our guide.
We next went to a rock and tree sculpture park which was, well - spectacular, seriously. I hadn't expected it to be, and I feel like a granny for getting excited about it. But man, Jeju rocks and trees can be damn pretty. This one's entitled "Walking Virgin Forest" (Treebeard's daughter perhaps??).
Our guide Mr. Kim routinely brings his "lady-friend" (or LF, in the parlance of our times) with us on these little excursions. She doesn't speak English and is quite shy but is prone to short-lived bursts of absolutely ridiculous energy sometimes. Here she demonstrates what was explained to us as on old Korean bath ... rock. When you take a bath, you're supposed to make that face, aids in pore cleansing.
The next day, my friend JiHyoung, her roommate and I went on a trip to Mara-do, a small island of 90 people off the southwest coast of Jeju-do. It's basically a plateau maybe the size of a football stadium or a little bigger. This pic reminds me a little of the Cliffs of Moher ...
Bikers and the windy grassy plain of Mara-do.
Back on Jeju, the plot thickens as JiHyoung and I discover that the volcano rim we wanted to explore seems to be in the middle of privately owned farmland and horse fields. The solution - law-breaking! ;) Mere barbed wire fences are no match for JiHyoung's wily powers.
Me and a horse on the way up the forbidden volcano.
As they say in Korea, "Assah!!" (Aww yea!) We made it to the top of the volcano, feeling at this point much like Frodo and Sam (wow, three LOTR references in one post! definitely a good weekend). With our hairy hobbit feet tumbling red volcanic rock into the crater, we scrambled around the rim and found a much easier path back, which incidentally led right to the tourist road. But ... it was fun to at least pretend and believe we were criminals for a time. ;) All in all, a perfect sunny Sunday, with only warm weather to come ... Jeju, gimme a kiss! You're swell!
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