Jeju Island!

Well we've been back in the UK now for a few weeks and thought we'd finish off the blog by doing two posts about our trips to Jeju and Kyoto in Japan. The day after we finished our contract took the train to Seoul to meet up with Ed's dad Nick and his partner Frances. After a few days in Seoul and one in Busan, we flew to Jeju! We had wanted to visit Jeju all year as it is supposed to be the primary tourist destination in Korea. Situated just off the southern coast, it is a volcanic island that is famous for its natural beauty, oranges, and lava statues. After landing we headed to our hostel in central Jeju city then set off to Hallim Park which is supposed to give you a little bit of everything the island has to offer. There were various gardens, statue parks, animal enclosures and even a few small lava caves which you could walk through. As we had arrived in the afternoon, it was great to get a quick taste of what the island is all about. After walking around the park, we headed back to Jeju city and wandered around the night market which was full of Jeju oranges and other interesting items. Here are some pictures:

The following day we decided to go to one of Jeju's major attractions: The Manjanggul Lava Tubes. Lava tubes are created when lava from volcanic eruptions hardens on top but continues to flow underneath, creating a huge cave system that you can walk through. The Manjanggul tube is especially famous for its large size and lava formations which are still evident today. The tube itself was 30m high, 25m wide and stretched for over 7km. While walking inside, the walls still perfectly showed the flow marks of the lava and there was also a lava column. It was a really interesting thing to see and we were all surprised by the scale of it. Here are some pictures:

On our final day in Jeju we visited Seongsan Ilchulbong, an extinct volcanic crater situated right on the coast with fantastic views. After having a little difficulty figuring out which bus to get on in the suprisingly confusing bus terminal, we arrived at the volcano around lunchtime. It was perfect weather for hiking, and we set off up the steep path to the top of the crater. All the way up, there were various viewpoints from which you could see the whole island. At the top, the crater was perched on the edge of the sea and it was an incredible view. We had noticed on the way up that beside the crater down by the beach was the home/restaurant of the Jeju Women Divers. These women are between the ages of 65-85 and go free diving everyday catching whatever they can from octupus to conch! They are known to be able to hold their breath for up to 2 minutes and dive up to 20 metres. Luckily for us, they put on a small performace of their talents everyday which we managed to watch. They started with a song for good luck when diving then put on their masks and jumped into the freezing water. It was quite inspirational watching how proactive they were in their old age. After a few minutes one of the women swam back to shore shouting and swinging a large octopus around. The others also caught abalones and conch before taking everything back to the entrance of their restaurant to display it. Sadly the number of divers is decreasing but they are in the process of applying for World Heritage Status which will hopefully help to protect the tradition. It was a great final day in Korea before we hopped on a flight to Japan! Some pictures: