Seokguram

Seokguram  (석구람) is a mountain side grotto that contains a 1,000+ year old Buddha statue. The Buddha, carved into the granite mountain side, is considered to be one of the greatest examples of Silla dynasty Buddhist art. Seokguram is considered to be a part of the Bulguksa temple complex, but it is theorized that historically that the Seokguram grotto was used primarily by Silla royalty.

Driving up to Seokguram is one of the most beautiful drives I’ve seen in Korea. As you wind around the mountain, you are greeted with long fields of green and mountains dotting the horizon. If you suffer from car sickness, be prepared; the road up to the grotto is long and twisty.

Once you have arrived, there are several viewpoints to see some of the stunning scenery. Make sure to bring your camera!

 At the entrance, there is a large bell which can be rung for good luck. To ring the bell, they ask for a 1,000 won donation to the temple. Even if you don’t want to donate or ring the bell, the view from the bell house is quite amazing, so donate the 1,000 won and check it out.

 The log is heavier than it looks!

To get to the grotto, you must first take a 15-20 minute hike. Don’t worry though, like everything before, the view is to die for. Once you reach the grotto site, the area is filled with hundreds of colorful lanterns. During Buddha’s birthday, there are even more lanterns near the grotto.

Unfortunately, due to issues with preservation, the grotto itself is not often open to the public. There are a few days a year where you can actually go inside the grotto (one of which is Buddha’s birthday). If you can enter the grotto, you first you must take off your shoes. Once inside, there are mats where you can pray to Buddha if you so choose. However, cameras are not allowed due to the fragile nature of the grotto. If you visit on a day in which the grotto is not open, you can still see it from the outside.

Once you leave the grotto, you can continue on to see the small Seokguram temple. While modest, any fan of Asian architecture will be happy to see the classically designed wooden buildings. As we visited on Buddha’s birthday, the temple was giving out free bibimbap (비빔밥) (actually, most Buddhist temples do this on Buddha’s birthday).

Since we visited on Buddha’s birthday, entry to the grotto was free, but on regular days, the temple costs 4,000 to enter. To get to Seokguram, you can take a car, taxi, or bus (Bus 12 from Bulguksa Temple). The ride up to the grotto takes roughly 30 minutes depending on the traffic. You also have the option of hiking from Bulguksa Temple to the grotto. The hike is about 4 kilometers and takes roughly 2 hours to complete. 

Jeju Island: Day 2

Day 2

The morning begins very early at about 7:00 am. My friend and I rush to get ready and gobble down some breakfast. We then make the hour drive to the other side of the island so we can hop the ferry to fabulous U-Do. We managed to catch the 9:00 A.M. ferry with literal seconds to spare.

The U-Do ferry:

The ferry dock to get to U-Do is right next to Seongsanilchulbong, Jeju’s famous volcanic crater. The ferry is very cheap, about 7,000 won for a round-trip, and that includes the 1,000 won U-Do entrance fee. The ferry takes about 20-25 minutes to get to U-Do and visa versa. Make sure to get there on time! The ferry departs every hour on the dot.

U-Do

One word to describe U-Do: Absolutely, stunningly, gorgeous. Maybe that was 3 words… In any case, U-Do is a beautiful, volcanic island, which is famous for agriculture, Hanyeo (한여) or female sea-divers, and black pig samgyeopsal.

The best way to get around U-Do is to rent an ATV or scooter. You can also rent a bike or take a guided tour. Scooters cost around 7,000 won an hour depending on the dealer. ATVs cost a little bit more. Bikes cost 1,000-2,000 won an hour, but I wouldn’t recommend renting one unless you plan on biking U-Do for the whole day (which you may want to do if you want to see all the sights and are athletically inclined…which I was not). Guided tours are 15,000 won and take you around the whole island in 2 hours.

My friend and I decided to rent a scooter, which ended up being a much better choice than almost going on a guided tour. We rented the scooter for two hours for 14,000 won total and were able to stop and go at our leisure (though the stopping and starting the scooter brought us some trouble at first before some locals helped get us going).

We were able to get some pretty fantastic pictures though!

 P.S. Dorky red hats are included with the scooters with the dded bonus of the person seated in the back carrying everything! Also, don't wear a dress...

The only regret we have is that because we rented the scooter for only two hours, so we weren’t able to make it to the peak of U-Do, which is hiking only.

The Peak

However, we had enough time to stop for lunch and get some yummy peanut pizza.

 My god, you won’t believe how delicious this was.

U-Do has other things to offer other than views. You can get on a speed boat and scream while you feel you’re about to get thrown out, or eat some seafood just caught by U-Do’s famous Hanyeo. Not to forget, U-Do is filled with white sand beaches as well as rocky beaches. We ended up visiting the most famous white sand beach, which is about a 10 minute walk from where the ferry lets you off. The water is cool and refreshing albeit a little rocky.

Two hours was plenty of time for us to get around and see all that U-Do has to offer without tuckering us out too much. All-in-all, U-Do is a must-see! It’s completely affordable and has some truly breathtaking sights and fun, not to mention delicious, things to do!

Stop 2: Seongsanilchulbong (성산일출봉)

Seongsanilchulbong (Lord, that’s a mouthful), is one of the world’s 7 wonders of nature, and there’s no mystery why; Seongsanilchulbong is simply beyond breathtaking.

To get up Seongsanilchulbong, it’s about an hour hike up some pretty steep stairs. Have no fear though; there are several rest stops along the way that offer some pretty spectacular views! Once you get to the top, the killer hike is totally worth it.

Seongsanilchulbong is a must see on Jeju. It’s also the most famous sunrise spot on Jeju (and perhaps Korea). The sunrise is said to be absolutely amazing and a sight not to be forgotten. However, my friend and I were unable to get ourselves out of bed at 4 AM to go and see the damn thing…

Long story short, you must go to Seongsanilchulbong (even though it’s hard as Hell to pronounce)!

Stop 3: Adorable Flower Stop!!

I wish I could tell you where this was, but to be honest, we stumbled upon this just driving around. Behold the cuteness!

There were lots of couple shots to do here, so make sure to bring a significant other!

Jeju Island: Day 1 (Part 1)

Day 1

My friend and I get off the ferry at 6:40 AM, feeling pretty gross from a lack of a shower (remember in my last post, bring wet wipes!). The first thing on the list is going to pick up our rental car. We need to get a taxi to get to the rental place, but none of the taxi drivers are willing to drive us there because it’s so “close.” After it becomes clear that there weren't many people on the ferry, a driver reluctantly takes us to the “close, in walking distance” airport, a whopping 6 kilometers away. We easily pick up our car (even though pick-up time was supposed to be 8 AM, but the people were super nice) and headed to our first destination.

 Stop 1: Dragon Head Rock(용두암 ‘Yongduam’):

When we arrived, it was completely packed with Chinese tourists, which actually made this section of the trip really annoying. After being pushed and having our pictures butted into, they were finally called back to their tour buses so that we could actually enjoy the site.

There’s really not much here other than volcanic rocks that if you squint your eyes and tilt your head just right, it looks like a dragon head, but it’s supposed to be good luck to go and visit.

We got there early enough, so we didn’t have to pay the 1,500 parking fee. If you’re just dying to see this formation, go for it, otherwise, I would say save your breath and time for some of Jeju’s far more breathtaking features.

Stop 2: Love Land

Love Land is Jeju’s famous sex museum. My friend and I were a little nervous because we got there when it first opened, and we didn’t want to seem to “eager” to go into the museum, but the park quickly filled up.

For a country as conservative as Korea, it was really actually quite shocking to walk around this museum where penis, vaginas, and breasts litter the landscape. It’s interesting to watch the young couples giggle and the old couples act excited and giggle, too.

There were definitely some interesting sculptures as well as very tame ones (I'm not posting any obscene ones; this is still an 'educational, travel blog'.

There were little things too, like penis-shaped red bean bread that had all the girls giggling. There was also a large museum dedicated to showing and selling sex toys. There were enthusiastic giggles from most everyone in that section of the museum.

I know these are tame, but my pastor reads this!

The museum was cute and worth the 7,000 won entrance fee. I recommend it if you want to have a good time and go back to the days where we were all in middle school.  In all seriousness though, the museum was a blast and you’ll get some pretty priceless pictures and laughs for the nominal entrance fee.

Stop 3: Mysterious Road

Right next to Love Land is the Mysterious Road where it looks like you’re going uphill, but your car actually accelerates!

Whee!!

Nothing to see here. Really. We tried to get it to work, but it really didn’t. Basically what you do is go down a hill with the car in neutral and then you go up a hill. Surprise! You’re still moving!

Stop 4: Eco Land (에코 렌드)

About an hour’s drive from Love Land is Eco Land. It’s a nice little park divided into 3 sections for you to go and walk around in (you're delivered by train). Entrance is cheap for what you get, about 8,000 won.

The train first drops you off at a giant pond.

After going through the pond, you walk into an area designed to mock the look of the Netherlands. It’s really quite stunning with the mountains in the background.

The next section is actually two sections: child’s land and a hike. Child’s Land has a bunch of different houses for children to play role-play in and is super adorable.

There are two different hikes that you can take: the longer 3 kilometer hike, or a short 1 kilometer hike. My friend and I went on the 3 kilometer hike, and were not disappointed.

You go through a picturesque trail that tells you about the ecosystem on Jeju. They list the different trees and plants that grow and also tell a few facts along the way (like how Jeju is the only place in the world where subtopic, temperate, and frigid plants all grow).

You walk around this until you reach a café where you can sit and relax for a bit (leave a romantic note ;) ) and also do some foot therapy” by walking barefoot on some volcanic rocks.

After this stop, the train comes to pick you up again and you’re taken through a truly scenic train ride of Jeju. I highly recommend Eco Land and recommend that you have a camera prepared at all times during the train rides. You never know when something beautiful will pop up.