Welcome to a new article in our series about our experience on a cruise to Japan embarking from South Korea. In the previous chapter, we recounted our arrival in Seoul and the day of embarkation. Today, we’ll tell you about our first stop and the second place we visited in Korea, the famous island of Jeju.
Arriving at Jeju Island was beautiful as we passed by rocky islets with lush vegetation. One of the best things about traveling on a cruise is the view from your cabin balcony right when you wake up, as you see yourself approaching a new destination. The day dawned cloudy with some fog that would later dissipate. Nevertheless, temperatures were high, typical for the month of July.
For this destination, we chose a cruise line excursion called “Highlights Of Seoguipo City.” The price was €92 per person, with a $50 discount for the first passenger through the More At Sea package that was available when booking the cruise. What we liked about this excursion was that it took us to different parts of the southern island, combining nature and city. Also, having a guide to inform you about the destination always adds value.
It’s true that the excursion was a bit delayed in departing, because as you may know, cruise line excursion departures can be somewhat chaotic as they first hand out stickers in the theater according to the excursion and then call names for departure. This already creates a wait, and then you arrive at the bus for another short wait. We’ve been on quite a few cruises, and they’re rarely punctual; on this occasion, they were quite delayed. You also have to consider that from where the ship docked to the port exit was almost a kilometer that had to be walked. The good thing is that this entire journey was through indoor corridors with air conditioning and moving walkways, which made it more pleasant.
Our guide Jen was a Korean woman with a very sweet way of speaking, and we first visited the Cheonjiyeon waterfall. On the way there, she put Jeju in context for us, explaining the island’s characteristics and customs. The bus stopped at a parking lot at the park entrance, and the guide gave us some information about what we were going to find and then gave us some free time to take photos and explore the surroundings. There’s a fee to visit the waterfall, but since we were on the excursion, it was already included in the price.
The waterfall area is very beautiful with lots of vegetation. There are also numerous curious stone statues that our guide told us bring good luck when touched and are also symbols of fertility – touching them in a certain way would help your family grow and bring good fortune. The guide mentioned that this is a destination frequently visited by couples on their honeymoon.
We really liked the place, not just for the waterfall but also for the surroundings, which made for a pleasant walk. We saw a turtle resting on a rock in the river and also signs warning of the danger of snakes. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any, although they mentioned they weren’t venomous.
Next, we got back on the bus, and it took us to see the bridge in Seogwipo that connects a small fishing port with Seaseom Island. We crossed it and then went along a kind of path surrounding the island where there was abundant vegetation.
At the bridge approach, we saw wooden huts used by the women divers who are typical of Jeju Island. At the beginning of the bridge, there was a statue honoring them. In fact, one of the excursions offered by the cruise line focused solely on seeing these divers in action, a very traditional occupation practiced by Korean women well into their advanced years.
Then we got back on the bus and went to the final stop of the excursion, which was the Seogwipo market. There they gave us about an hour of free time, with some information about the market streets. It was a very traditional market where you could see fish, fruits, meat, souvenirs…
In many places, they sold mandarin juice since Jeju Island has many mandarins. We wanted to buy some, but they didn’t accept contactless mobile payments, and we didn’t have cash. So we learned our lesson, and from then on, we didn’t forget to bring at least a physical card. In the end, we were able to buy the famous juice at one of the shops near the port before returning to the ship.
That afternoon, we said goodbye to Korea, and the cruise set course for the first stop in Japan, Nagasaki. Soon we’ll publish the next episode in this series and relate our experience in this city.
