The West Side

Thursday morning meant I got to meet my "island guide" in the light of day. When he picked me up, he told me that we would see the Western side of Jeju. Fortunately, Jae Shin's English is better than my Korean, but the language barrier meant we just said what was important. It was great to meet a friend's nephew and explore the island with someone that had lived there all his life.

We explored everything that was underground and underwater, and then proceded to check out the scenery from the surface. The saying on Jeju is they have plenty of wind, rocks and women and they do not have any gates, beggars or thieves. I can attest to the fact the rocks are everywhere. The rocks have been used to make endless rock fences all over the island. Other rocks have been carved into these stone grandfathers which can also be found in abundance on Jeju. As you can see I made an effort to bond with the little native grandfathers. After this picture, Jae Shin lightened up a little bit and with the help of my dictionary and his phrase book, we were able to have some real (and real funny) conversation.

Jeju is full of legends and history. While it is not a clear view, the rock behind me in the sea is Yongduam Rock. It is a dragon that was turned to rock by something bigger and badder. (The moral of that story is to not upset the ones bigger and badder than yourself.) You can read all about it at this site - www.parandeul.co.kr/yongduam.htm. As you can see, angle and lighting help alot with visualizing the dragon and we had neither.

After a full day of power touring, even the floor looked good when I got back to the hotel. ;)