Jeju Island

I know what you are thinking. This series of travel posts is long enough and you are tired of it.

I am tired too. But it kept going. 

I was invited to speak at one more conference, on Jeju Island, South Korea. When I received the invitation, I was already going to be in South Korea for the previous conference, and it was only two more days, and so I said yes. And I am glad that I went, although it added up to a lot of conferences in a row, and I was very tired.

In any case, I have far more pictures from Jeju Island than my other destinations, because the woman who invited me took me on tours around the island on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday after the conference was over. Also, one of the graduate students was from Jeju, and he had a lot of interesting insights. And everyone around me was Korean, and extremely friendly, and local, and already knew their favourite places on the island. And they wanted to show me. So in all, it was really an amazing experience.

First picture: the view from the conference hotel.

Saturday morning, I walked along the coast with a couple of grad students between breakfast and the first talks. This stone grandfather is a common figure in Jeju. He protects the villages? Or something like that....

Coastal views. It wasn't cold, but not exactly warm enough for swimming. And yet, early in the morning, off the shore, there were people in wet suits diving. Diving! The local said that Jeju is known for stone, wind, and women. And it is known for women because they are out in the sea working! Their diving women go out every morning and collect fresh seafood. And there they were, out in the ocean in the chill early morning.

Saturday afternoon, we went for three walks. The first was into a forest, and it was nice but not as photogenic as the next two.

The second walk was to the top of a volcanic hill. The island of Jeju is volcanic, with one major volcano that you can hike -- but we didn't because it would have taken all day. Otherwise there are many small hills, also volcanic. We hiked one of these hills and had a gorgeous panoramic view of the island.

And some photos with local cows.

The third walk was to the top of a crater by the sea. Here is a view from the front.

And a view from the top looking back to the land.

We left the grad students here. My host asked what I wanted to eat, and I was willing to try anything.

"Are you up for a challenge?" she asked.

And so we went to a very small local restaurant that served exactly the seafood that those diving women had hauled in earlier in the day: Abalone. Conch. Sea squirts. Sea cucumber. Octapus. Some fish eggs. None of it cooked. Bon appetit.

Below is a meta-picture. A picture of a picture of diving women collecting an octapus from the sea, at the restaurant where we ate.

Sunday morning exploring. This waterfall drops into the sea. It was very near our hotel.

A rock formation in the sea.

And a nearby swimming hole.

We both dipped our feet in, but neither of us had swimsuits on, so wet feet is all we got. 

Little stands all over the island sold juice of mandarin oranges. It was all very fresh and very tasty!

See how that bottle above is in the shape of this stone grandfather guardian below?

Our next walk was along the seashore. It began by dropping down through two steep cliffs.

And then walking along the wind and wave shaped cliffs. It kind of looked like Southern Utah, except with blue ocean and tide pools.

This lady below was sitting on the side of the sea with buckets full of live sea creatures. If you pay her money, she will chop them for you, still wriggling, and you can enjoy the very fresh taste of raw sea cucumber, conch, and sea squirt. I didn't do it. I tried all that Saturday night.

Me in front of the mountain.

For lunch, we stopped and ate eel. It was very good, but a lot of food for two.

In the evening, we toured a lava tube cave that stretches under the northwest part of the island. The long cool walk through the tunnel was a relief after the hot, humid air outside. (Although really the weather wasn't that bad in shorts and a T-shirt.)

Sunset.

Dinner: Korean barbecue. Cook your own food at your table.

And that was it. The next morning I flew from Jeju to Seoul. In the Seoul Incheon airport, this woman was playing a traditional Korean instrument. It was very cool and she was very good.

The end. Back to Melbourne. Done with work travel for a while.