Pok Po!

Pok po is the Korean word for Waterfall. They chose this word because Pok Po is the sound that the water falling makes when it hits the water beneath. So basically Pok Po is the word to describe the sound that a waterfall makes!

So my friend Liz and I decided to visit the only other city on Jeju island, Seongwipo,and check out the sites around the immediate city! On Saturday we hopped on a bus and took a trip down. The bus trip itself was adventurous, including a moment when another passenger (male in his 40s) dropped a lighter. I picked up the lighter for him and gave it back. 10-20mins later he hands me a note with a 'Thank you' and his number and name written on it. Creepy...


The theme of Saturday was basically going to 2 waterfalls : JeongBang and Cheonjiyeon, but seeing whatever we wanted along the way!


We first headed to JeongBang and came across a cultural centre for Chinese and Korean relations explaning all about JeongBang waterfall. It was absolutely gorgeous and even included a beautiful garden and multiple stone art works.

And this is what we learned about the myth surrounding the waterfall:

A Chinese Emperor was powerful but was no longer in his youth and worried about his old age. He had heard about an Elixir of Immortal Youth, but no one seemed to know where one could obtain such a thing. One day a wizard claimed that he knew of an herb (on Mt Halla in Jeju) which could make this elixir. He claimed he needed many virgin boys and many virgin girls along with archers and scribes to help him procure this herb. So this wizard went across the ocean, fought a sea dragon and eventually found this herb. Before he left he made multiple prayers to his god in front of the JeongBang waterfall, as well as inscribing "I was here" on the stonecliff wall beside the waterfall. [Actually he wrote his name, but I can't remember the name]

And so we went to see the waterfall!

The waterfall is actually right up against the sea. The sea is literally 5 meters to the left of me there. And of course we did find the inscription on the rock!

Actually a very nice inscription considering that it is just graffiti saying "I was here". It's actually just to the right of the waterfall (perhaps you can notice the wet rocks to the left in this photo)

So afterwards we headed to the Cheonjiyeon waterfall, which is substantially more touristy than this one was. Of course as with most things on this island, it was filled with newlyweds and newborns. To my horror along the way back from the waterfall I saw a grandmother help a little boy pee into the grate, despite a washroom literally being a 1 minute walk away. The entire walkway up to this waterfall is paved and less natural than the last one. But of course it was still very pretty (and who can complain when I can get in for free!)


After this, we decided to wander around aimlessly. We ended up finding a beach with ancient fossilized shells stuck within the rocks. I think that experience would have been more interesting if it wasn't for the fact that the rocks were surrounded by these earwig-cockroach type bugs that were EVERYWHERE and at times got just got a little too big for comfort!



Finally after climbing up a brutal hill we headed to a peninsula that had very beautiful rock formations. A lot of Seongwipo ended up being rocky cliff edges, but there were a few neat places where you could climb down stairs and go onto the rocky shore. One place had a bit of a natural rock pool, so Koreans made a cement wall and actually created a semi pool (I know, a vague description)


By the time we got to the peninsula, the sun had set and you could see little white lights on the horizon from the Squid Fishing Boats. Cus, as it turns out, the squid are the moths of the sea and are attracted to light! Tiny delicious squid happens to be Jeju's specialty, and you can see many restaurants with mini aquariums infront of their store with the Jeju delicacy swiming within.

After that we headed back to Jeju-si and got more Pot-bing-su