Cheonjiyeon Waterfall

The night before heading to the southern parts of Jeju, somebody in management at our hostel decided it was a good idea to turn the heat on full blast, despite it being the end of March and not the middle of winter.

I fell asleep but woke up an hour later in a hot sweat. Not a cold sweat, a "my feet are burning when they touch the floor heating and I'm going to die of dehydration" kind of sweating.

Needless to say, this put me in a bad and dramatically whiny mood. What also put me in a bad mood was the fact that the heating was central and we couldn't turn it off. And nobody was at the desk because it was midnight. It took forever to fall asleep, even with the windows open. I woke up a bit exhausted the next morning, but we headed out to check out the beach and some waterfalls. (We mentioned that the room was boiling and she said, "yes, a lot of people have been saying that." -_-)

Our first waterfall stop was Cheonjiyeon river and waterfall.

I saw some ducks, so naturally had to take pictures.

Especially when the ducks were swimming with carp.

 Here is Adrienne with the stone grandfather statue.

 A stone grandmother.

This is the stone grandfather, which guards entrances around Jeju Island. They were/are believed to protect the village and keep evil spirits out

This is one of the original stone grandfathers and a symbol of Jeju Island.

The cherry blossoms were blooming! Spring was here!

Cheonjiyeon River is the place where they would perform rituals for the dry season asking for rain and, according to old literature and the sign along the river, it would work immediately because "a mysterious dragon lives in the pond."

Cheonjiyeon river is home to the giant mottled eel, scientific name anguilla marmorata, also known as the eel of your nightmares. I attempted to find one in the water as we wandered around but I couldn't. I think that's ok because it's horrible. And enormous.

There are 17 species of plants that only grow on Jeju Island, which is interesting.

I am not entirely sure if this was strategic flipping of the hair or a very powerful wind gust.

Almost normal.

 Me-normal.
Grant-horrified.

 More horror.

 Almost a normal picture of me.

 Hey, we both look normal! This doesn't happen!

 And back to our normal.

 Here is a mini waterfall.

 And the big waterfall!

I should say, "big" waterfall. But for Korea, it is considered one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, waterfalls.

 Sigh.

 Adrienne photobomb. What a surprise.

 Here begins my favorite sequence of pictures.

 Here are Grant and I looking normal. Again, a big surprise.

Grant has said something to irritate me. I'm not sure what.











In retaliation, I stick my finger up his nose.

 I run away.

I am looking very pleased with myself while he is clearly planning his revenge.

 And continuing to plan.

I believe he gave me a wet-willy in retaliation.

Someone came up to us and said, "I can take your picture"

We agreed, thinking they meant they would take a picture of us with my camera. But, apparently they meant they wanted a picture of us with their camera. Strangers from China now have our picture. It's not the first time...






We asked someone to take our picture, but they forgot about the waterfall.

This is the Golden Magic Pearl, present from the dragon of Cheonjiyeon.

Here is the story, according to the sign posted nearby, grammar and vocabulary unchanged: Once upon a time in the Joseon dynasty, a beautiful, kind and virtuous woman lived in the village of Seogwipo. Because of her beauty, many young and unmarried men in the village had a crush on her. Unfortunately, when she turned 19 years old, she married a man in a neighboring village and moved there. That put many of her admirers in despair, especially one guy in particular who became emphatically sad. One day, out of desperation, he decided to harm the woman as she was just passing by the Cheonjiyeon Fall. When he was about to put the wicked thought into action, a dragon suddenly appeared from the fall and snatched him and vanished into the sky leaving a golden magic pearl behind. She took the pearl home and it was handed down as a family treasure. The family became prosperous and thrived, generation after generation.

Now, you are supposed to rub the magic pearl in hopes of being a thriving, wealthy person like the woman and family in the story.

Hopefully, you won't become emphatically sad.

 I'm not sure why Adrienne looks so annoyed.

Mutual ruining of the picture.

 "Grant, stop taking pictures."

 "I refuse to look bad in this picture."

 "alright Grant, give me my camera."












Then this happened. I don't know what this is. But these women took a very long time to pose and get situated for their picture.

 Here are some rocks with the original stone grandfather behind them.

Grant and Adrienne. Adrienne is posing like the statue.

 Adrienne refusing to cooperate as usual.

 Dramatic hair flipping.

Those shoes. I really need to buy not neon pink and orange shoes.

"Stop it Grant!"

"Whyyy?"

And we're normal. Once again, it's shocking!