Jeju Island
Jeju Island
I have been travelling Korea for the past three weeks. I got to fly out to
Jeju island which is at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. It is a very
beautiful island that is 100% made from lava rocks.
This is a famous lava rock beach that everyone visits to take pictures. The
rock in the middle of the picture is known as the dragon head rock that is about
to come out of the ground.
Another shot of the rocky beach. Jeju island is also famous for its female
divers. The white tube with net is what the divers use to collect sea
delicacies from the bottom of the ocean. If you buy from the divers and eat
them raw, it is out of this world.
Here is a stone statue of the female diver. It is made of lava rock.
I got the ticket to Jeju island from Korean air for free and it also came
with this beautiful hotel. This is a view from my hotel room balcony. It is
Lotte hotel which is famouse for its unreal and outlandish amusement park themed
hotels.
This is the same hotel from a differnt view. My room is on the left.
The hotel overlooks a beach.
This is the beach in front of the hotel. There is also a nice village next
to it.
Another shot of the beach. I went to the beach 7 in the morning and no one
was there.
A nice little restaurant next to the beach.
Rock formations due to flowing lava.
A rocky mountain. Bakdu mountain is the highest mountain in Korean
peninsula, but it is located in north Korea. Hanla mountain is the second
highest in Korea and it is located in Jeju island. It is a volcanic mountain
but the volcanic activity died long ago. At the top of the mountains for both
Bakdu mountain and Hanla mountain there are lakes. They are natural prayer
water bowl of the earth. According to geologists, this rock mountain in the
picture blew off from the top of Hanla mountain during volcano eruption and
landed here forming its own rocky mountain. Cool!
The Buddhist temple at the foot of the moutain
Temple bell
View of the moutain from the temple
A view down from the temple. Do you see the tail of the dragon that is
entering the sea? It is part of the famous dragon beach where the sand is black
and is known for its healing properties.
I climbed the rock mountain and in the middle of the rock moutain, there is a
natural cave which houses a Buddha statue.
This statue called "Dol-ha-ru-bang," meaning stone grandfather, is the symbol
of Jeju island. This stone statue is the guardian of the island and can be seen
everywhere in the island. This is similar in concept to the huge stone head
statues of the pacific island, just smaller and friendlier. Again this stone
statue is made from the lava rock. Also the ground stone of the pathwalk is
made from the lava rock as well.
The walls are made of lava rocks as well.
A bonzai tree that is bearing tangerine fruits.
What a beautiful bonzai tree!!!
The original meaning of the grandfather stone statue; the phallus, the bull,
the chief. Hail to the chief!
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