We'd seen Jeju Island on some of the Korean shows we watched at home and were looking forward to seeing it in person. However, the part of Jeju Island we docked at, Seogwipo, is on the other side of the island from the city of Jeju and didn't seem nearly as scenic as what we'd seen on the Korean shows. For example, we had to pass next to a naval base with visible guards and high barbed wire topped walls to get on and off the ship.
No matter, we had booked an excursion with the cruise company and that kept us busy from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm. The ship departed Seogwipo at 4:00 pm so we didn't have any time to explore the area on our own anyway. From the little we saw of the surroundings outside of the naval base it was mostly industrial.
The excursion first took us to Yakcheonsa Temple which has Korea's largest wooden Buddha statue. Nearby there is also a mineral spring that flows the year round and has a small waterfall.
The tour then took us to Cheonjeyeon Waterfalls with its three tiered waterfall. Nearby is a fountain with stone sculptures of turtles and carp. Some people believe that the turtle statue will bring good fortune and that the carp brings health and wealth. I think somewhere in there, though, it was required that you toss a coin and it landed on their back in order to have good fortune or health and wealth?
Our next stop took us to the nearby Yeomiji Botanical Garden which has over 2,300 plant species in indoor and outdoor gardens. The indoor garden is covered by a large glass structure built in the shape of a sunflower.
Since this was a tour filled with people from a cruise ship, our next stop was a large hotpot lunch with more than enough food to fill our stomachs. Sorry there aren't any pictures, I was too busy feeding my face.
We ended the day with a stop at a series of trails with views of the Oedolgae Rock and other parts of the shore. It was nice to be able to stretch our legs after that big lunch. There was even a view of our ship far off in the distance.
Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Jeju Island Photo Album
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