Jeju, Korea

Thursday, April 23

We docked about 9am and were cleared by 10am but we didn't go ashore till 11am as the town centre was close to the port, and there weren't a lot of tourist attractions in town. However the Koreans were very organized with a trailer on the pier beside the ship for Tourist Information and another for Currency Exchange. There were plenty of staff to help hand out maps, and we don't understand why other ports can't be this organized as well. Jeju is a Korean holiday island and has 3 UNESCO sites associated with natural wonders on it, but they all involved getting buses and a bit of walking, which normally we don't mind, but today we opted for an easier day in town.

Billboard highlighting Jeju's natural wonders

 

We shared a cab with Buck and Carol, a couple from Colorado that we have befriended, to the main market in town. What a contrast to the markets we've been to previously - this was was clean, not smelly and with wide aisles and an amazing assortment of fruit, veggies, pulses, dried goods, and the fish and meat were in refrigerated cabinets! At one stall the lady was plying us with samples of various chocolates and biscuits, so we obliged and bought some goodies!

Inside the Dongmun Traditional Market

We then found a cafe with wifi and spent an hour or so catching up on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, emails and other internet news while enjoying some nice coffee. Back on the street we saw some entrances to an underground shopping mall so we headed down there for a look. It was amazing and went for blocks under the streets, filled with all the shops you find in a big department store. We found the food area and went in for lunch, where we enjoyed some spicy (for me) and very spicy (for Noelle) chicken and rice meals. Noelle's meal certainly cleared her head and nasal passages, and again she attracted lots of stares from the locals.

The Jungang Underground Shopping Street

Lunch in Jeju & stares from the locals

Entrance and/or Exit to the underground shopping street

We got a bit disoriented being underground so the exit we took to the street didn't look familiar to us, but it was nice and sunny so we strolled along the street and came to a temple complex, with a pavilion outside the walls. Jeju is famous for its little stone men and they were all around this area - we weren't sure of their significance until we found a board explaining what they were. They looked phallic to us but apparently they are called "stone grandfather" who wear mushroom shaped hats - believe it or not!

Dolhareubang or "Stone Grandfather"

Detail of ceiling in pavilion

We headed back down the street, toward the market this time, and found a lot of other people from the ship in a little square across the road, waiting for either their tour bus or a taxi. We caught a taxi back to the ship as Noelle was starting to fade from the effects of a chest infection she caught from someone on the ship. We had arranged to have dinner with Buck and Carol but Noelle wasn't up to this so I went while she got some more rest. The three of us went to the late show - a crooner called Johnny Blu, who was very good and similar in style to Michael Buble. However, when he asked if someone had had a birthday recently I was the only person present (or stupid enough) to put up their hand, so I was invited to the stage while Johnny sang a happy birthday song to me! It wasn't as big an impact for him having a male on stage instead of a female, and all I had to do was copy his shimmy moves and do a little dancing with him! It was a hoot and a pity Noelle missed out on it!

 

 

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