Wednesday March 16th, 2016 Jeju Island, South Korea

Located a days sailing south of the Korean peninsula Jeju (pronounced Zair Zyou) Island is the largest of the Korean islands. A central extinct volcano dominates the island, though today the view was not so good due to the overcast conditions. The primary business of Juju is tourism, especially geared towards Koreans – it is a very popular honeymoon destination. The volcanic soil conditions and relatively mild climate also support some agriculture – the main crop is tangerines, the trees are everywhere and the markets and shops filled with tangerine based products. 

Unfortunately today we were lumbered with the worst tour guide in the history of tour guiding. Not only did the guide fail to provide us with any relevant information about Jeju or our tour, she had the annoying habit of somehow working a fake laugh into every sentence and turning the PA system on the bus up to ear splitting levels. Mild complaints soon turned to near mutiny; she seemed surprised that we were not interested in how much her island property had appreciated or how she was doing with her teenage daughter. As interesting sites whizzed by the guide seemed oblivious to the shouts from her customers to provide some kind of commentary. We made a mental note to visit the tour office back on the ship and provide some appropriate feedback.

After about 30 minutes of increasingly frustrating verbal crap, we unexpectedly stopped at the Hallim Tropical Park – no one had any clue what the place was about or what we should expect. However I seemed to remember that this tour included a visit to some lava tubes, so with some hope we disembarked the bus. 

Hallim Park turned out to be a quite beautiful tropical garden, with a few caged birds thrown in and yes – the lava tubes. In the absence of an actual guide, we followed the provided map to what looked like the entrance to the lava tubes. Descending a steep flight of stairs we passed through a stone arch into a dark cave-like space. The lava tubes were amazing; as we followed the damp path through the first tube we marveled at the stalactites and stalagmites and the incredible way the hot lava had carved out tube. A limited amount of lighting provided enough visibility to allow us to follow the path, though care was needed to avoid tripping or colliding with the overhead rocks – the occasional drip from above also added to the ambience. 

After about 50 yards the first tube ended and we climbed another stairway back to the surface. Blinking, we found ourselves back in the gardens and following a footpath that led to a second lava tube; all in all there were 3 tubes to explore – all amazing, well worth a visit. 

Another highlight of this stop was the bonsai garden that was filled with at least 100 very well maintained bonsai trees, some of them over 300 years old. 

Driving a little further I took the opportunity to look over the tourist map and try to figure out what was in store for us. Jeju has the feel of an island that the government designated a tourist spot; it feels just a little bit too convenient and I got the sense that someone, somewhere had a list of all the things a proper tourist spot should have and was determined that Jeju should have them all. There is a literally a museum for everything, even “Sex and Health” – that was not on the itinerary, thankfully. We did however stop at the Museum of Tea where we got to sample tangerine flavored tea and walk amongst the tea plants.

Following lunch, another large buffet – average this time, we headed down to the coast and pulled into a car park. No one had any idea what we would find at this stop. The Jungmun Coast “rock fractures” were actually a series of vertical hexagonal rock formations similar to the Giants Causeway in Northern Island – though a lot smaller, according to Sandra who has actually visited it. A cliff top pathway with well positioned viewing areas afforded a good view of the large black hexagonal rock columns. Impressive.

The penultimate stop was at Yakchunsa Buddhist Temple, another large and well-maintained facility – I wonder if they are all like this or if the tour companies only take us to the nice ones, I suspect it’s the former. Having hiked the hill and took in the temple we returned to the bus at the appointed time to find the guide explaining that because there were some in the group who did not care to stop at our final destination, the local market, she was changing the itinerary (I didn’t even think we had one!) – we would skip the market and spend more time at the temple. Some took off to hike the 10 minutes back up the hill to the temple, but I took the opportunity to express my displeasure at this final straw - and so the guide decided to change the itinerary back to the original version and so she dashed off up the hill to gather up her lost sheep. What a farce!

It turned out the there was only one couple who did not want to visit the market, because when we finally got there everyone else got off the bus for a look around. Even though we did not have much time, the market was still very interesting – it was indeed a market for the locals and not the usual trinket bazaar. The displays of fresh tangerines, fish and other local produce were amazing.

All in all a mixed day: we saw some amazing things, but the island felt a bit contrived to me. In addition the so-called guide ensured the trip was at least a 2-tylenol day. Can’t wait to visit the tour office back on the ship.