Hong Kong: Day 20 - A Symphony of Lights

We had booked a flight with a budget airline, Hong Kong Express, that offers cheap flights in all of Asia towards and from Hong Kong. As our plane takes off at 7.30 a.m., woefully, we had to get up terribly early. Fortunately, there are so many taxis roaming around in Jeju, that we just could walk to the street a few steps from the Ellui Hotel to stop one. The Jeju International Airport isn't far away, so we soon arrived. Still, it was bit stressful, as I had a battery in my bag and then, the security had me unpack my luggage to find it. It didn't register in my brains since I've packed some of my batteries in my main luggage coming from Europe. I got confused as I never understood what they were looking for. Eventually, he found the "thing" in my suitcase and as far as I have understood, I had to put it in my hand-carry. They let me go through. We didn't even have time anymore to buy souvenirs, as we had to hurry to our flight!

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we went to the Airport Express and bought a convenient Airport Express Travel Pass, which included a return ticket to the airport and three days of free travel on the MRT.  It's a great connection to the city, and only about half an hour later we arrived at the last stop, the Hong Kong Station. It is connected to the Central Station, and we just had to take the MRT for one more stop to get to the Sheung Wan Station. From there we walked to our hotel for four nights, the Butterfly on Hollywood. Fortunately, we could check in already and be happy with our modern room, which had a flatscreen TV and even a little refrigerator. Actually - after waking up that early - we were exhausted and immediately dozed off for some time. It was still early in the afternoon, so we strained ourselves to wake up as not to be wide awake come the evening!

It was much warmer in Hong Kong than in South Korea, with temperatures of about 25 degrees. So, after we did some grocery shopping in the nearby supermarket at the Queens Road West, we finally started to go sightseeing. First, we actually wanted to eat. So we took the MRT - with our MRT-Pass - to Wan Chai Station and took exit A3. You can walk through the district on a self-guided walk, but we mostly were looking for a Pinoy restaurant we saw on google maps, but we didn't find it. Instead, we found a Thai restaurant, that was okay too. There were actually many food stalls and restaurants in the busy area of Tai Yuen Street and the Stone Nullah Lane. We took a glimpse of the Blue House, which was getting renovated, and walked through the Wan Chai Market. 

When we walked back to the north, we eventually came to a walking platform, which led us ultimately to the Wan Chai Ferry Pier. However, it was a bit stressful to get there, as there was a barrage of people on the walkway. Finally, we arrived and bought tickets for the Starferry, which brings you to the other side to the Tsim Sha Tsui Starferry Pier. It was not only an exciting boat ride, but it is also cheap.

We still had problems to acclimatize. Hong Kong felt kind of stressful. There were tons of people everywhere and everyone seemed to be in a rush. Even the escalators were faster. There was kind of a slower pace before, in South Korea. However, when we were at the pier and got the view of Hong Kong, the stress was all forgotten, as we enjoyed the amazing view. 

After taking some photos, there was still some time, before the Symphony of Lights would begin, a nightly light show with many buildings included. We tried to go the nearby Avenue of the Stars until then, but it was closed due to renovation. So, we returned to the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and later enjoyed the light-show, which was great (and free). I would say, it's really a highlight of all the attractions, Hong Kong has to offer.

Eventually, we went back to the hotel by MRT and got some sleep, as we had many plans for the next day, among them a visit to Lantau Island, to walk up to a huge Buddha...

South Korea: Day 19 - The Rocks of Jeju Island

Jeju Island is rather large, and there are so many attractions, that you could spend a week to visit them. Unfortunately, we only had a day left for sightseeing in Jeju. But we had booked already a driver for the day to make the most of it.

Our driver from Jeju Day Tour arrived right on time in the morning at our hotel, the Ellui Hotel Jeju, and then we had eight hours to see some of Jeju's attractions. We showed the driver the itinerary of the sights we picked to see that day and soon were at the first shortstop at the Samyang Black Sand Beach.

 It was too cold to swim, but we just wanted to take a look, after seeing black sand beaches in Santo Domingo, Philippines, and Vik, Iceland. We had seen online, that there is a unique temple on the way and therefore stopped next at the Bulsari Tapsa Temple. We walked around the area, and it is a great stopover.

Eventually, we came to the Jeju Stone Park. Jeju is a volcanic island, and we wanted to see more of that. After all, it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jeju Stone Park covers a vast areal, and there are several walking courses recommended. It is based on the mythology of Seolmundae Halmang (Grandmother Halmang) and her creation of Jeju Island.  

We started with "Course 1 - Garden of Myth" and the "Path of Legend." The huge stones along the way are meant to symbolize five hundred generals. This is culled from the story "Seolmundae Halmang and the Five Hundred Generals." It is told, that she was a giant (49.000 meters tall!) and threw herself into a stone cauldron to feed her five hundred starving sons. The azalea blossoms are said to be colored by their tears of blood. We also came to an altar for her. 

The path leads next to the Sky Pond and the Jeju Stone Museum. It all has the modern design, and the sky pond on top of the museum also symbolizes the pot, Grandmother Halmang threw herself into. The museum itself is very modern, spacious and informs about the volcanic evolution of Jeju Island. There are also quite some rocks with unique shapes. 

After the museum, we walked further, with a mixture of the two others courses, I think. At least, we visited the Jeju traditional thatched-houses and also saw a bit of the stone culture in different dynasties, including tombs, pagodas and Maitreya statues. 

I really liked it! I actually love visiting open-air museums, like the ones we went to at the Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan, the Yoshinogari Historical Park in Japan or the smaller Rogatec Open Air Museum in Slovenia. The Jeju Stone Park is an extensive open-air museum, with pretty much to see. 

Now it was time to see something of the volcanic island, and we drove to the nearby Sangumburi Crater. It was a crater with a scope of two kilometers and was formed by an explosion without the ejection of lava or ash. Unlike other volcanoes, we visited before, like the Taal Volcano and the Mount Mayon in the Philippines, the Sakurajima Volcano in Japan or the Hverfjall Crater in Iceland.

We also wanted to visit a tea farm and also wanted to take a coffee or tea break and drove to Daheeyeon Garden. There we bought some (tea) gifts, walked around the tea plantation and visited the eccentric cafe, located in a cave.

From the tea garden, our reliable driver brought us to the next attraction, one of Jeju Island's most prominent: The Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. We walked the whole way up to visit the crater on top and enjoy the fantastic view. It's a bit strenuous but quite rewarding.

 

 

We still wanted to see more and followed a path down to the shore, where Jeju's famous women divers, the Haenyeo, also seem to work. There was even signage for the "Jeju Woman Diver Performance."

There wasn't much time left, but we still managed to drive to and then walk a bit through the beautiful Songeup Folk Village.

It took some time, to get back to the central city, but our driver still brought us to Yongduam Rock there, which is also called Dragon Rock. It couldn't really compete with the sights, we had already seen on the day.

Our time was up anyway, but our driver also offered to bring us to the nearby Gwandeokjeong Pavilion as last stop. We told him, we would like to end the tour there (instead of at the hotel) and then maybe walk around a bit in the city. The pavilion is one of the oldest buildings on Jeju Island and very scenic too.  

It was just a short walk from the pavilion to the Dongmun Traditional Market, where we bought cookies and other souvenirs. After all, it was our last day in South Korea. The next morning, we would already travel onwards to Hong Kong!

We could have easily spent some more days on Jeju Island and in South Korea. There's so much to explore!