Jeju Island: Day 2

While there is a lot of kitch on Jeju Island, we decided to take advantage of the natural beauty as much as possible.  Jeju was formed entirely of volcanic eruptions two million years ago.  The most famous things on Jeju are the volcanic lava tubes in several places on the island, although only one is accessible to tourists.  These natural conduits through which magma once flowed are now empty caves that are some of the largest in the world.

This site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The entrance to the lava tubes is through a caved in ceiling of one of the tubes.

It was very difficult to take photos in the tubes without a tripod, but we were able to take a few of the interior.

A collapse at the end of one of the tunnels.

The boys inside the tunnel.

After the lava tubes, we tried our hand at some Korean food without a menu in English.  I think we did really well, especially since Teddy was able to order the mandu (dumplings) that he wanted in Korean!

Ripley and Teddy wanted to sit together and both have "big boy" cups.

Ripley was totally wild about the mandu but didn't really understand the concept of chopsticks.

Finally, a fork!

We then decided to follow the rest of the tourists up Seongsan Ilchulbong , which is a mountain that leads up to a porous volcanic crater.  BUT before we started the climb, Teddy wanted to ride the horses and he was a total natural!

 

We then decided to follow the throngs of other tourists up the mountain!

Teddy walking up the volcanic stone pathway.

The crater at the top of the mountain.  It is porous so there is no crater lake, but it has a spectacular view of the ocean!

The top!

The boys at the top!

Back down at the bottom looking up at the crater.

My silly boys!

 We then got to enjoy a local treat, a Honeycomb Roll, which was more like a cake shaped like a honeycomb and rolled up with cream and cranberries to look like a cannoli.

The nice lady who made our dessert!

The first bite!