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My younger sister, the 'official planner' for my recent Korea trip, was fully aware that this rock i am writing about today fell short of many visitors' expectations yet placed it as part of our itinerary since "it is very near to the galeum guesthouse"!
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Near, in this case, still require a drive although it took us less than ten minutes to reach the car park which i have assumed to be free. Anyway, it did seem more than 250 meters to reach the Oedolgae Rock!
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Walking was no longer a natural thing to do after an exhausting hike up Halla Mountain and you should have heard Joyce's sigh of relief when we got close to the famed rock.
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The phallic rock - as rumoured, it wasn't as spectacular as it appeared to be on many postcards and i assumed it would tower over the cliff we were stepping on.
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There were too many people at the viewing platform for me to capture a good, clear shot of the stone pillar crafted by nature and it was only upon reaching Singapore that i also realised many of the photographs i initially took had smudges! Shouldn't have touched the lens after greedily tearing up the grilled squid!
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You may of course engage the "professional" to help you take a picture with the signature rock as a backdrop for a small token fee. Definitely not for stingy persons like me and my sisters!
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I thought this would have concluded my visit but how could i resist when there was another path that seemed well trodden by visitors.
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Luck was on our side as the scenery further away gave a much better view of the rock, with the thankful lack of pushy tourists clamouring to take picture after picture!
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Spider webs by the roadside! Unlike the cute, tiny ones we often see in Singapore, the spiders in Jeju were around the size of my palm!
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Now, let's talk about the rock. As with most tourist spots, there are always legends and the one here talked about a general in Korea who disguised the rock as a gigantic general to ward off Mongolian attacks. The enemy troops were so frightened by what they saw; all of them committed suicide!
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To honour the victory, the rock was henceforth known as Oedolgae Rock; Oedolgae means general in Korean. I honestly found the tale hard to believe; i would escape but i don't think i would commit suicide just because there was a fierce looking giant man in front of me!
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Another rest area along the way; it was around 4.20pm then although the sun did look as if he was on its way to a good night sleep.
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There wasn't anything much to the other side of the cliff even though i read somewhere there is a place nearby where you can catch the sunset. Whether it is true or not, i don't know.
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A familiar face! Isn't that Daejangguem?! The popular period drama left a deep impression on me as i watched the serial twice and it also spun off my love for period dramas; be it from China or Korea.
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I didn't remember about the scene Dae Jang Guem that featured the rock though. Guess it was the point where i am more interested to know the ending and fast forwarding would be the way to go! Haha. For those interested to be THE palace-maid-turned-king's-physician, you can have your wish come true.
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Note how the landscape changes over a span of minutes! I wondered if there is any way i could get to the foot of the cliff to soak my smelly feet in the clear seawater.
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Save for falling down the cliff, which was exactly the risk this elderly gentleman had to face in his attempt to take photographs! So dangerous!
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Compared to the view of Oedolgae Rock, this was way more stunning with the lonesome island (which looked like a person with his/her hairy butt protruding out of the water) right in the middle!
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Contact Number of Location for GPS
760-3031
Admission Fee
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Free!
Parking
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I read online on some blogs that parking charge in Jeju was literally non-existent! WRONG!! I paid quite a number of times and was charged a thousand Korean won at Oedolgae Rock for less than an hour!
For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip
(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE.