March 2 - Jeju Island, S. Korea

Our ship docked at Seogwipo, the second-largest city on Jeju Island. This is a rocky volcanic coastline in the southern part of Jeju Province, South Korea. Jeju is not only the biggest island of the Republic of Korea, but its first UNESCO World Heritage Site and recent winner of the new Seven Wonders of Nature. The island’s landscape of volcanic lava rock and incredible ocean cliff views is spectacular!! One of their main crops is tangerines. There are tangerine groves everywhere.

The drive to our tour sites was very different from other countries I’ve visited thus far. The roads were mostly 2-lane country types with many round-abouts in place of traffic lights. The shops were close to the road, almost like driving down the boardwalk in Ocean City, if it were a 2-lane road. Then when we moved into the countryside there were numerous horse farms. Seems that Jeju Island has always supplied Korea and neighboring countries with the best horses. Mile after mile of horseback riders interspersed with grazing horses on the hillside. It was a most peaceful drive!

Our first stop was at the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. If you have spent any time in Hawaii you would recognize similar elements here. Mt. Halla is the central peak of a dormant volcano, the highest mountain in the Republic of Korea. Videos showed how the island was formed from the volcano, the wildlife, plants and well-preserved vegetation resources that are still found in the area. We were able to walk through (recreated) lava tubes! The inside of this reserve did not allow many photo ops. So, attached is a picture of the entrance….

Next blog will describe our second tour stop.