Hallim Park (한림공원) & Geumneung Beach (금능뜸햅변) (West Tour with Jeju Travel Lucas, Part 1) | Jeju

Hallim Park (한림공원) is a botanical garden that was recreated from a wasteland. It’s got a multitude of gardens, and is a great place for photos, even in the wintery rain (but you’d have to be a little more creative). When we first got here, I thought we actually had too long of a time planned here, but this place is bigger than it looks. I met a fellow solo traveller on this tour, and we hung out all day, taking photos and talking about our travels thus far.

Our first stop was a greenhouse cactus garden, with huge cacti, and home to at least two alligators.

Greenhouse Cacti Garden. Look how big it is!

After a short while, we also saw a lot of palm trees, which I loved. I guess they give off beach and warm summery vibes to me.

The weather was rainy, but some how, these palm trees still look amazing!

We then passed by the dol hareubang (돌하르방) area, and took some selfies.

Me and one of a gazillion dol hareubang!

Just a random walkway. Not sure what I’m doing there.

Surprisingly, the park also contained two lava tubes – Hyeopjaegul (협재굴) and Ssangyongul (쌍용굴). I think I only visited one, but since I didn’t take any time reading the signs, I’m not 100% sure.

It looks like two little monsters hanging out in a little cave!

This might be as close as I get to hexagonal ‘cliffs’.

Afterwards, we stopped by the folk village (재아민속마을) within the park. There is also a restaurant here, but we mostly just looked at the traditional architecture, and of course, took some photos.

Found the village!

I admire how they built houses using rocks, mud, and horse dung.

Then, we saw some peacocks, which we definitely thought escaped their pen. There is a chance that they’re just normally allowed to wander free though. We also saw some ostriches, especially one that was being especially playful.

You’re on the wrong side of the cage, buddy.

Oh, another one!

Hello Ostrich, you know we have no food for you, right?

At some point, we followed a path that lead us to a small waterfall (연못장원), which I loved, even though it was raining.

As we reached the exit, we ended up having some spare time, and so I wandered to the giftshop’s rooftop observatory to admire the scenery, before hopping back on our taxi to the next destination.

I actually thought part of the itinerary was to stop by Hyeopjae (협재) beach, or at least drive by it for a quick stop, but we didn’t. So when I saw the next beach on our way out, I asked the driver to stop there for a sec. Our driver was happy to do so, and luckily, my taxi-mates were also quite happy with this. This was Geumneung beach (금능뜸해변).

The weather looks much worse in the photos than it actually was.

It seems, despite not being able to swim, I love going to beaches and just walking on the sand and watching the waves!

Eventually, It was off to lunch!

Haenyeo Museum, Ilchubong, and Dongsan Herb Garden (East Tour with Core Jeju, Part 2) | Jeju

I’m not generally very interested in looking at things in a museum, so this was one of those times having a super engaging tour guide made this museum especially fun!

Haenyeo museum sign.

At the Haenyeo (해녀) museum, we learned about the history of Haenyeo, the women divers (who dive without diving equipment). Apparently, at some point, males did dive, but then when everyone started moving away to other jobs, the government/King ‘ordered’ the women to do the diving so they could keep having things like abalone, tying them to long ‘contracts’ (a bill/law) that required them to provide a certain amount to the King every year.

They have their own culture and way of life, as the ‘breadwinner’.

They were super skilled individuals, having even learnt about all the different types of winds in Jeju in order to ascertain how to dive safely.

Haenyeo statue looking for seafood underground. Did you know that they practice sustainability as well? They only pick certain seafood at certain times of a certain size to ensure a sustainable ecosystem.

Unfortunately, their rich cultural heritage is also on the verge of being lost, due to aging.

We then went to Ilchulbong (성산일출봉), also known as Seongsan Sunrise Peak.

A lot of people like coming here to watch the sunrise. This is also a UNESCO heritage site. Specifically, this peak was created by seawater and volcanic ash interacting with each other, and a lot of extra water to make the basin shape that exists today.

Seongsan Ilchulbong sign.

The trek up is about 1000 steps. It wasn’t difficult, and view at the top was amazing!

A cool looking formation!

More pretty cliffs.

The view from the top.

I also then went all the way back to the bottom to visit the Haenyeo area, where I caught most of their dance! Then, it was time to *very quickly walk* back to the bus for the final stop.

Haenyeo diving floater/net thing.

Most of the Haenyo dance – uncut version. Also, look how close I was allowed to get!

It was time to go to another Herb Garden (허브동산).

This one, however, comes with a footbath aromatherapy. We sat down along some coppery basins and plopped our worn, tired feet into the warm, soapy water. They topped it with peppermint oil for extra relaxation, and sprinkled our necks with peppermint for the ultimate aromatherapy experience. Then we sat, enjoying the warmth of the water while mesmerized by the view outside.

Angelo, our tour tour guide, wanted to say hi!

We then took the provided salt, made a bit of a paste, and used that to exfoliate our feet, all the way up to our knees, one foot at a time.

Foot basin. Each ‘station’ comes with a towel, salt and peppermint oil.

After drying our feet, we massaged our feet with peppermint oil. I’d never thought about the uses of aroma oil apart from as something I put in my diffuser, so this was interesting. Also, my hands felt super smooth after as well.

Once both our feet were done, they sprayed some rosemary mist on our faces, before meandering up the stairs for some tea. Then, off to explore Dongsan Herb Garden. Luckily for us, we were there before it got dark, so we also had a chance to see what greenery was left!

The garden at dusk.

Some camellia flowers.

Me posing under some sort of trellis.

Some more citrus.

Just thought this would be nice.

It was meant to lead to a tiny church. The cat came bounding to me when I knelt down. Sorry, I’ve got no food for you!

Sparkly lights are turning on!

Everything I needed was included in the cost of my tour, so I didn’t even really realize that I had left my wallet at home until we were almost to the city. I guess I was the only one meant to pay in cash, so I let them know I actually still had to pay. He laughed, saying that he had forgotten he had to collect any money from me! Luckily, they were very accommodating, and they even walked me to my accommodation to pick up the payment.

I’d definitely recommend this tour company (Core Jeju) for future trips to Jeju, even if it was technically above my budget. It technically isn’t mean for solo travellers, but the staff I spoke to were very accommodating and understanding, arranging everything for me in advance.

My only wish was that they had room for me for their South tour the next day, too (they said it was fully booked when I’d checked about days at booking).

Palmers Lodge Swiss Cottage, Camden + Primrose Hill | London

At this point, it’s pretty obvious that I won’t be caught up in my blog posts before I get back. As it stands, I’m currently sitting at Heathrow airport, waiting for my gate to appear from the screen. By the  It seems I definitely did not need 2 hours to get through security. By the time I post this though, I’ll probably be sitting in my house in Canada, in a (hopefully) air conditioned room with all my UK stuff lying around my room; I’d also be getting ready for work the next day.

    Last night, I stayed in London for the last time in a “posh” hostel. I say that not to mean that it’s a five star hotel, but because it’s a refurbished, old, victorian house. I’d debated previously on two hostels, but ended up picking this one due to its extremely high reviews and… well… it’s extremely pretty.

One room in Gryffindor Tower please!

Although this hostel no longer provides breakfast for free, it still gives you free internet during your stay, as well as free left luggage after check-out. It also has many ornate chandeliers and bathrooms that are shockingly clean (and new, considering the old victorian house). They also kept all the older, large doors, and everything is keycard access, so I didn’t have to carry around any extra keys.

Yeah, so it turns out their left luggage is locked with a keycard… wrapped in an extremely cute stuffed animal. I think it was a donkey. Or a horse. Or… okay I have no clue. It was stuffed and cute. That’s all that matters.

    The hostel is sort of close to Camden Town & Primrose Hill, both of which I wished to visit before leaving here. Camden Town is home to many markets, including the Camden Lock Market and the Horse Stable Markets, which are interconnected. It seems that here is where you can find cheaper London souvenirs. Of course, you should not think that any of these products were made in London, but perhaps China, or maybe India; apparently, there is a really high Indian population, especially in these areas.

Extremely early Tuesday morning at the Horse Stable Market

These benches and tables are so ornate!

    At the market, you’ll definitely see your “typical” souvenirs by the dozen, red telephone booths, british tea, little plates or cups printed with “LONDON” and various iconic monuments. Keychains and post cards are part of most every store. What’s different I guess is their take on some of the drugs under the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. I guess they’re just okay with it, because it’s literally in every shop, sold along with pipes and some other things that I’m not sure about, side by side with their “beats” headphones, “apple” earphones, and their “bose” speakers. I’m 100% sure none of these electronics are real, so it’s probably not best to buy from there is you want good (or well, better, anyway) quality sound. If you’re totally just in for the brand name and think that it looks cool though, then by all means, go ahead.

    Anyway, I mostly bought little trinkets from Camden market; I didn’t really buy any keychains though, because I’ve basically got 20-30 of them just sitting in a shoebox back home. Probably best not to add to that collection. I also already have London keychains, so I don’t really need more. Maybe if they’re from a different country, though.

    There’s also the ‘typical’ market stuff: jewellery, tanks, t-shirts, jeans, toys, games, “handmade” trinkets, scarves, and bags of assorted shapes, colours, and designs. They also had many international food stalls and bars though.

    On my first visit about 2 weeks ago, I kept hearing a lady from one of the Thai food markets shouting “free sample, free sample!” As I approached, I heard a bunch of people asking to try this “free sample”. The lady’s response was always the same:

Lady: Are you hungry?

Customer: I guess. Maybe a little.

Lady: WELL THEN BUY SOMETHING!

    Let’s just say that I didn’t see anyone who got that “free sample” on her fork. It must have been sitting there all day. I really wanted to know what happened if someone said no, since everyone else said “yes”. So of course, I went up, and she said:

Lady: FREE SAMPLE! Hey you! Free sample!

Me: Okay I’ll have a free sample.

Lady: Are you hungry?

Me: No.

*lady walks away, asking the next person whether they wanted a ‘free sample’.

    I thought it was extremely amusing that she used “free sample” as a way to ask people to come buy stuff from her store, especially as they couldn’t actually get any free sample. What I thought was the most surprising was that IT ACTUALLY WORKED on someone. I actually saw a guy proceed to buy food after she asked them to.

    You definitely need to bargain at this market, although I’l admit that it’s extremely odd to bargain in English. Perhaps its the whole idea that I grew up only bargaining in Asian countries. Either way, it was still an amusing concept to grasp.

    I guess markets have always been an enjoyment of mine. You get to see a lot of different small shops, just to see how far down it can go, in terms of price. It’s actually quite varied.

    For example, I bought a picture frame. I thought it looked pretty. It was 1 pound. However, going to other shops, that exact same picture frame was easily priced at 5-6 pounds. I even saw one shop trying to sell that frame for 10 pounds. So I guess, shop around if you come here.

It’s so colourful!
Incidentally, this is also the shop I bought my picture frame from.

    Anyway, the market is located near the lock, which I’ve seen both at night, and during the day. I personally think it’s prettier at night, although the amount of drunk people around the lock make it less desirable.

Camden Lock during the day 

Camden at night! Okay, so perhaps I like the night view a lot from this angle too…

    I also visited Primrose Hill at night to see the London skyline. One of my friends commented that it looked a little like the Toronto skyline, which I’d have to agree with; all you can see on my camera is a tall tower like structure and a ferris wheel, which is also what you of Toronto at night.

This is the view of London from Primrose Hill after sunset. A ‘plaque’ on the floor reads: I have conversed with the spiritual sun. I saw him on Primrose Hill. — William Blake (1757 – 1827).

    The view of London from Primrose Hill was spectacular! I guess I really like how the skyline lights up at night. It’s also extremely peaceful up there, and a really easy walk up the hill, taking no more than 5 minutes. I think I must of just stared at that view for a good half an hour before descending the hill. Since it was nightfall, I quickly walked my way back to the hostel. I’ve actually been up here once before, during sunset. Let’s just say it would’ve been easier to take a photo then, as my DSC has an extremely small lens that doesn’t let in light very nicely. Of course, my phone isn’t that much better. It also didn’t help that my phone decided to run out of battery when I got up the hill the first time. 

Note: It turns out that it’s actually been 3-4 days since I left London. I’ve had this typed up a while, but haven’t actually had the chance to post it until now.

Princes Street Gardens | Edinburgh, Scotland

Before its astounding transformation into a garden, Princes Street Garden was once a loch steeped in controversial history.

    At its conception, Princes Street Gardens was dubbed the Nor Loch, and situated, as its name suggests, on the North side, under the shadow to Edinburgh Castle. This loch was man-made and used as a medieval defence system, much like a moat. Essentially, it prevented people from getting into Edinburgh from the North side, although it was not without its caveats.

   For one, it prevented much expansion into the North, which severely limited the city’s growth. However, that was not the only issue, as bridges could be built to allow access between the two sides of the loch, where necessary. In fact, that was exactly what happened when “New Town” was built. These bridges are today’s George VI bridge, North, and South Bridges.

one of the various bridges between old (right) and new (left) towns.

   No, the biggest problem was the smell emanating from the loch itself. Unfortunately, Edinburgh, like many other cities during that time, operated on an open sewage, where the waste was, quite unfortunately, simply dumped into the Nor loch. This smell in fact once meant that locals would call Edinburgh the “smelly city” (in Gaelic anyway, but I don’t remember the exact name).

   Anyway, the “New town” that was built was meant for many of the higher officials and those with wealth, as they wished to live away from the beggars, the common folk, and most importantly, the open sewage. In fact, “New Town” was said to be much more sophisticated, as it operated under the newer “grid” system layouts of roadways and building locations.

   Much of the city’s operating aspects, including the city chambers and the markets, were still found within the city. As these wealthy and higher officials did not like crossing the bridge, especially with the smelly loch underneath their feet weekly, or even daily, the loch was drained.

   At the bottom, however, were not simply debris and assorted crap, but quite a few scattered, but still relatively intact, female “bodies” (probably skeletons, at this point).

   It seems that this loch also played a pivotal role in the witch trials. At the time, anyone with reddish hair, blue eyes, and a female was said to be a witch, and had to endure countless trials; being beaten, held in rooms without food and water, kept away from families, questioned daily, and anything else imaginable.

   Apparently, the last trial involved the loch, whereby the witches were placed into the loch. As much as this might be disgusting given what we already know about the loch, the idea was that if they floated, it would be because they were witches, and had done some magic to keep them afloat. What people seem to have forgotten was the female dress wear of the century, which involved incredibly large and air-filled dresses, with metal contraptions to hold their shape.

   So whether due to the dresses or the excessive amount of crap already within the loch, most “witches” at the time floated. Which, I guess, would’ve been good for the ladies at this time, if it weren’t for their final fate. Since they were “proven” to be witches — by their ability to float in a loch of crap — they must be hung (and/or burned… I haven’t read up on my witch trial history).

   Unfortunately, those who sunk ended up dead, although they were posthumously declared “not-a-witch”. History marks that most of these “not-witches” were pulled out of the loch after this fact; however, the draining of the loch found this not to be the case.

   After the loch was drained, they redesigned the area into a garden and park; now it is a place where people retreat to find some peace and quite in the city; where picnics and fun memories are had, a place of greenery, monuments, and floral clocks, and a venue for various festival activities. 

Picture of a monument with Edinburgh Castle in the background, taken at Princes Street Garden, right after the rainfall.

The fabled floral clock is finally up and running! It looks amazing! :D

A rose in Princes Street Gardens

The inscription reads:
THE CALL
1914
A Tribute.
Women of Scottish Blood and Sympathies
Un the United States of
AMERICA
to
SCOTLAND
A people that jeoparded their lives untio the death in the High Places of the Field
JUDEGES V 18

Part of the monument erected to commemorate those who died in the war and the Royal Scottish Regiment.

I just thought this was cute.

I think these may be real poppies?

While I’m here, everyone constantly asks me where I’m from, and then tell me my English is very good. Well, that’s because I was both born and raised in Canada, which is part of the Commonwealth. Also, Canada is an English speaking country.

Anyway, that’s why I thought it would be adequate to add two snapshots of the Beijing Line Dance Troupee (sp?), here for the Edinburgh Jazz/Blues Festival.

This group was also on stage for the Edinburgh Jazz/Blues Festival. They were also on BBC One (British TV Channel).

A while back, I took part in an outing with my lab to a place called “Whitmuir”. The plan was that we’d have a bite and walk around the farm a little to visit various animals, much like a primary school trip, and then return back home via the same route we began. 

Somewhere around in the Scottish Borders.

   Now, I’ve had most this written up for a while, but only recently have I gotten the photos together. I started off my day walking an hour from my house into the city. As I was early, I walked town for a short while before meeting up with colleagues and taking the bus to Carlops. We set off on our 1.5 hour trek by foot not long after arriving to get to Whitmuir. 

The long road ahead.

We saw an interesting bridge like structure a while into our walk, but we don’t really know what it was built for. It was interesting though, so I took a photo of it. I told my colleagues that it was okay, because, you know, I’m not from Europe. 

An interesting piece of architecture.

 

 

    Whitmuir: The Organic Place is a farm/restaurant/store in the Scottish Borders, and was definitely an amazing place to visit. The area itself is mostly farm and grassland, so stretches of green and yellow, dotted with cows, sheep and horses were the norm. Rolling hills were also part of the landscape, meeting the horizon of greyish clouds foretelling eventual rain and stormy weather.

Appetizer: Hummus and Oatcakes. I really didn’t know what oatcakes were when I ordered it. Since it had the word cake in it, I expected something more.. cake… like. Then again, the alternative was crackers, so I should have known that oatcakes were more cracker-ish (like flatbread) than “cake” ish. In comparison to crackers, I’d say that he oatcake was more dense, and well, had oats in it. I actually really enjoyed my oatcakes with hummus though. 

Entrée: Scottish Lamb & Beef Meatballs with something I can’t remember now. The lamb was a little game-y, and I guess I wasn’t quite use to the lack of intense cumin flavour that I usually accompanies my definition of lamb, but it was still amazing. 

It’s time for an elegant tea! When the menu said that tea was served after, I, for some odd reason, expected a cup with a tea bag in it. Instead… they actually gave us each a teapot of tea, with our own teacups! 

After lunch, we decided to walk around the farm, and perhaps hit up the next nearby town. The farm itself had four trails, varying in difficulty and labelled with signage. As a (mostly) city girl, use to bussing and driving, this hike was, to say the least, extremely long. My lab, as it turns out, didn’t really feel like following the signage. We just started walking towards the direction of the next town, hoping to be get across. I think we started off walking on the “cow” trail (or the hardest trail, according to signage), but that lasted about five minutes, maybe. We then decided we felt like jumping a fence, and climbing some rope to get further up. This went on for quite a while, and was in fact, a very fun adventure. However, it was also raining, getting steadily heavier as time passed. 

At first it was just a short climb, using the rope to pull ourselves up…

…Then we needed to hop over an extremely large “puddle/stream”.
PS. faces intentionally blurred.

By this point, my feet were extremely soaked already, but one of our colleagues had the amazing idea to just add a rock to make the path easier to walk. Apparently, I did not mind being soaked at that point.

 

Anyway, we kinda got stuck, but luckily, Scotland’s “right to roam” policy allows us to also jump some fences to get back onto the main road.
As you can see in this picture… we were already throughly soaked.

We must have been a sight to see, stumbling into the bar in the next town, drenched and dripping with rain. My shoes, as it seems, retains water, so stepping onto their carpet flooring felt extremely squishy and, unlike the cold, damp weather outside, warmer. It felt weird. I think it was at this point that I started to not like the idea of being soaked. Being outside and soaked is one thing, but being indoors and unable to change is a whole different ball game. We all had tea after arrival to the bar, much to the laughter of the bar-goers in our general vicinity. 

Even the cow agrees; we were an interesting bunch.
I hope, of course, this was not one of the cows we were running away from, but I considering the number of fences we’ve jumped, it is unlikely.

I clocked about 24 kilometres by foot; it was probably the furthest I’ve ever trekked in a day.At some point along the course of this adventure, a question I asked myself was this: 

Did I miss a line with the requirement that I take some hiking/trekking outdoor adventures course before I begin? Because my only preparations were past adventures in grade-school camping & Asia. All of those were years ago. And climbing ropes were not part of it. Although I much prefer this than hugging rocks, or walking on unfinished bridge support beams suspended… well high up… to cross the “forbidden” areas of a lake. 

Either way, this wasn’t exactly the easiest trek, as we walked through farmland, mud, forest fire debris, and climbed many, many fences, most of which were covered in barbed wire. 

remnants of a forest fire. 

The farmland and barbed wire reminded me, not surprisingly, of stories I listened to growing up.     

   The farmland, as with probably all other farmland, had I been able to roam them, reminds me of the following story**. The youngest of a family was once sent to take care of the sheep. As a shepherd, he took his job seriously, and whether during the day or at the darkest of night, he’d stay awake to make sure that the sheep were safe. With a sling and a stone, he’d kill animals that came to prey on the sheep. At some point, a fearsome battle arose, one of which resulted in all soldiers quivering and hiding away in fear. Apparently, there was a giant on the other side. However, the little boy took courage in his faith, and was able to defeat the giant. He later became King David. I guess this is the first time I’ve really experienced the idea of sheep grazing in pastures, and the need to keep them safe. Albeit with barbed wire now, instead of people 24/7. 

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep… his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. — John 10:2-5, NIV

Which brings me on to the biblical passage (or well, more accurately, verse) that may explain my unyielding need to highlight Scotland’s right-to-roam policy. Barbed wire is, in what I understand, used to keep things safe, and, in effect, to keep robbers away (or well, that’s my memory of what barbed wire is suppose to be for). John 10:1 says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 

******************

   My feet definitely did not like me that night, nor did the bus ride back totally agree with me, but all the same, it was an amazing adventure! I suppose I could have skipped the walk back home after getting back into the city. But I am travelling, so I figured I’d walk home. It was a little chilly, considering I was still soaked from head to toe, but I am glad to say that I successfully walked over 24 km that day. A great accomplishment, if you consider how often we drive in Canada. 

Just a pretty building in the next town.

 **highly, highly paraphrased story of David and Goliath, 1 Samuel 17.