I knew there was a tourist complex in Jungmun on Jeju Island, but since I am not fond of crowds I kept going back and forth on whether to bother. Then I found out a domestic duty-free shop had opened there, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and drop by. They say Jungmun is famous for its columnar joints, so the columnar joints were my first stop.
A giant turban shell
This is the photo spot. Every tourist attraction has one of these, and as a tourist you simply cannot skip the obligatory souvenir shot.. There was a whole pod of dolphins next to it as well.. What surprised me this time was how many of the tourists were taking photos with tablets (an iPad or a Galaxy Tab). They must be heavy, but people were carrying them around just fine.. I suppose the big screen makes them easier to look at.
Columnar joints
The rock really is unusual, but hmm.. I am not sure it is worth going out of your way for.
Columnar joints on the opposite side too
It is impressive, though.
Strangely shaped rocks
We took a quick look and headed back out to the domestic duty-free shop in Jungmun, where, as luck would have it, a 10% sale was running. The airport duty-free gives Jeju Air passengers a 5% discount, so here I could buy things a little cheaper. (And the Balvenie 14 was 20% off.) That said, Jeju Airport seemed to have the wider selection. (They carried Chanel cosmetics and the Balvenie 21, which the domestic duty-free did not have.) With the shopping done as well, it finally felt like the Jeju trip was pretty much over.