Thursday, December 8, 2011

Lava Tube

From the deadly-hot hedge maze, we headed a little ways down the street to a much cooler tourist trap (both in temperature and level of awesomeness), Manjanggul Cave.  Manjanggul is one of the largest lava tubes on Jeju Island, with over 1km open to tourists, and like the waterfalls or Seongsan Ilchulbon, a natural wonder of Jeju not to be missed.  

Principles for Visitation to the Natural Cave

The following are the prohibited activities or matters that demand special care for visitors to natural caves in the Jeju's National Heritage site based on the Cutltural Heritage Protection Act and principles for managment and preservation of natural caves.  The following are prhibited:

1.  An act to bring food into a cave and dump garbage inside a cave.
2.  An act of throwing a coin into a lake in a cave.
3.  An act making lot of noise inside a cave.
4.  An act to capture or extract a creature or product inside a cave and remove it.
6.  An act to influence the preservation of the cave or transform the circumstances of the cave.
7.  An act to come and go to the place that is not open to the public.
8.  Any other acts that hinder the preservation and management of natural caves. 

The worst part...the English on this sign is actually quite good for Korea!

We didn't really know what to expect, but this photo accurately captures the experience.  It was wet, dimly lit, freezing cold and treacherously dangerous to walk in.  Having spent this long in Korea, we're used to poor and dangerous conditions, and the change in temperature was definitely welcomed.  It was a perfect stop, especially after the maze!


After a little over half a mile, we came to the apex of our Manjanggul lava tube adventure, some sort of stalactite/stalagmite/column.  Here's our pictures with it:



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