Jeju-do: Part 6: Waterfall mania: Cheonjiyeon Falls

On Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast in the club room. It was the same stuff as the day before. Jeff had to leave that day, so we stayed together having breakfast for longer than usual. Then we went back to the room and Jeff finished packing. When he left on the limo bus, mom and I asked the desk people how to get to the 3 waterfalls on the south side of the island. We were told to take the limo bus as well, get off near the Koreana hotel (about a 30 minute ride) and walk a short ways to the first fall - Cheonjiyeon Falls. Then grab a cab to the next one - Jeongbang Falls (maybe a 10 minute ride, but probably closer to 5). The last one is the one that's supposed to be within walking distance from hotel - Cheonjeon Falls.

So while we were waiting for the bus, we walked around the hotel grounds for awhile. When we came back around front, the taxi guy/helper man told us we missed the bus, so we had to wait for the next one. We decided to just wait this time instead of walking around. We got on the bus and I showed the driver where we were going because the desk had written our stop in both English and Korean for us. I paid the driver and we sat and watched scenery. We got off at our stop in a cute, small town. It was right next to the ocean and luckily we saw the road sign pointing us to the falls. We walked past a harbor with lots of boats and a then down a very cute street and over a bridge into the parking lot of the falls. They had a tourist office where we got an English map and a bunch of little stores lining the street to go in to the falls. I pointed out to mom that they cook bugs - specifically they boil silkworms - as snack food. So she stood and videoed and stared at the bugs for like 10 minutes. Then we went into the park.

Fishing boats in the harbor

Mom on the street next to the harbor. There were tons of flowers like they have all over Korea.

Snack food

Boiled silkworms. Supposedly they don't taste like anything - just crunchy water, but I don't think I'll test that out.

When you first enter the park, there is a little raft next to a river. The sign next to it explains the uses told by the Raft Preservation Society (I'm sure there are tons of people on the waiting list to join that club). It doesn't look very stable. Then you cross a small bridge that has fish and ducks under it. You walk up a paved and gently sloped path next to the river and its lined with trees, aka my kind of hike. There is apparently a tree in this park that only grows on Jeju island, but we couldn't tell which tree it was because all of the signs in front of trees labeled them as evergreens.

Ancient raft used to fish, gather seaweed and bring Korean culture to Japan. Although how anyone made it to Japan on that thing beats me.

Pond and first bridge when you enter the park



Evergreen tree sign. This was in front of over a dozen trees, although the flower and fruit descriptions changed.

Mom and the stone grandfathers near the park's entrance

Me and another stone grandfather, maybe the professor

At the end of the path is the waterfall. There were a fair amount of people there that day so we had to wait a bit before we could get a decent picture. Cheonjiyeon falls means something like "the heaven and earth meet and create a pond" and you can almost see why they call it that.

The waterfall - we took a dozen pictures of this from various angles. You get this one.

Me and mom at the waterfall

Tiny rapids on the walk back

We walked to the opposite side of the river and this was the end of that path. It was kind of shady to get a good picture.

Then we walked back down the path on the side closer to the river. This river is home to the mutae eel which is protected. I couldn't see one, but then I found out that they only swim at night - so vampire eels. There are lots of rocks and trees and it was a very pretty walk. Then we cross over another small bridge called the "Bridge of Prayer". On the side of this bridge is a small statue called the "Three Blesssings Statue". There is a duck, carp and turtle that represent love, success and long life. Mom got a coin in on her second toss and I hit the rim on my only toss.

Mom on the Bridge of Prayer

The Three Blessing statue and the river

Then we walked over another bridge and back to the main entrance. I looked in the gift shop for a shot glass, since I haven't been able to really find one here yet. I've found some sake cups which can do in a pinch, but it's not the same. Mom wanted to get a hat with a draw string on it so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. Amy, one of the desk people, told us that Jeju is known for 3 strengths - strong stone, stone women and strong wind. A woman from Jeju is called a peabody (or something that sounds like that). So anyway, mom found a hat and then she looked like crocodile Dundee for the rest of the trip, but didn't get burned.

Smiling rock. If you turn your head to the right, the rock and it's reflection look like a face that's smiling. One problem is that it was too bright to get a reflection so it's just half a face.

Last bridge before the main entrance

This is the great stone face. I don't see it, but mom and I stood there for awhile trying to find it.

Next stop: Jeongbang Falls