Climbing Sunrise Peak

On the way back from the lava tubes, we stopped at Sunrise Peak. Sunrise Peak is an extinct volcano that separated from the island to make it's own little island. What is really cool about it is that the top is concave and not convex, meaning it's like a big hole, and full of grass and wildlife.

But before we went up, we needed a picture of one of Jeju's many phallus of malice men. :) These guys are everywhere. And yes, they really are meant to look like penises; it's no accident.

What'd I say? Wildlife... Actually this colt was in a pasture at the base of the mountain along with two other horses for hire. lol. But pretty none the less.

The view on our way up.

From the top... (left)

From the top... (right)

From the top... (us) :)

Back at the bottom. Beautiful pastures and sea views.

"Arr! We are the wolves of the sea!" (An inside joke) That's me, btw.

That beautiful sunset.

Sea cliffs with crashing waves.

My favorite photo. It was pretty romantic. I love this guy.

The next day, before heading back to Seoul, we stopped at this cool waterfall which Koreans purport is the only waterfall in Asia that falls into the sea. I guess the tide was out...?

Back to Seoul!

Volcanic Spelunking

The next day we parked our stuff in Seogwipo and headed out for the Mungjang (?) Lava Tubes--a Natural World Heritage site. Pretty cool stuff. It was a long bus ride and a long walk there but so beautiful and soo worth it!

Let's go in!

Jeremy reading one of the boards inside the cave about how they were formed.

The lava tube floor was really uneven but obviously flattened out a bit for tourists. Comically, a few high-maintenance Korean women went through the cave in stilettos. lol.

Some of the interesting wall formations.

This was big part of the tube at the end where a hole in the ceiling created a lava pillar. These tubes are special because they were formed with two tubes--one on top of the other, a unique formation only found here.

After we emerged from the abyss, we sat at the bus stop for a good half hour or so on a deserted highway.

What to do, what to do...

Beach Bums

Once we reached Jeju, we hopped on a bus to Jungam Beach on the south side of the island where we camped in his one person tent. Woo hoo! It was a little cramped (to say the least) but we had a nice view! In the morning, we hit the beach for a little body surfing and sun bathing.

Ah! It's the Shiny Octopus!

"I will swallow your ship whole!"

It was sorta a Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea kinda moment.

The beautiful beach below the cliffs.

A super cool moth I found that looked like bark on a tree.

And now the Octopus eats octopus... We picked it out from a tank, they cut it in half on a block out front, stuck it in a pot, and voila! No, it didn't taste too good. Jeremy was keen to try it live like Koreans do but the man at the counter didn't understand and so we had it steamed and dead. I can't say live octopus tastes any better....

A beautiful beach. Not too full either. But the sun was HOT and renting an umbrellas was $20 for 2 hours. Eek! So we sat in the sun...

...And got burnt. Poor Jeremy. His head was blistered. Apparently our sunblock was not waterproof. If only that bottle had been in English and not Korean...

A room with a view--were our tent sat.