Jeju Island Road Trip Day 4: JUNGMUN RESORT COMPLEX and CHEONJEYEON FALLS

Jungmun Resort Complex is a multi-tourism area in Jeju Island where several attractions are conveniently located. There are natural attractions, museums, theme parks, and unique tourist attractions. We started our day at Jusangjeolli Cliff then headed straight to Jeju duty free shop in the resort complex. I was quite excited about this shopping trip hoping to find something nice and reasonably priced. But it didn't pan out well for me (again). I'm starting to feel that I wouldn't be able to find anything from this trip (aside from the usual souvenirs).

Anyway, the Duty Free Shop also had a tourism counter where I got some of our brochures from. Having several brochures and maps in hand really helped in our Jeju and Jungmun adventure. Pro, I got to plan the day well. Con, with additional attractions I've seen on the list we wished we could have more time in Jungmun Resort Complex alone! With this statement at the brochure/map, "Start your travel from Jeju duty free shop in Jungmun," I guess we were on the right track. "Prelude of happiness and impression, Jungmun has all for true relaxation and pleasant memories of Jeju." Now we would get a chance to prove that on our day-long Jungmun Resort Complex exploration. 

a preview of what's to see at Alive Museum, taken at the Duty Free Shop complex

After having lunch at Kraze and leaving the duty free shop empty-handed, we drove to Cheonjeyeon Falls, our second nature attraction for the day.

the pond where the Cheonjeyeon Falls stream from,
with its crystal clear waters

Cheonjeyeon Falls is a three-tier waterfall located in the northern border of the Jungmun Resort Complex. Admission fees were 2,000 won ($2.37) for adults and 1,000 won ($1.18) for children, same as the charges at Jusangjeolli Cliff. The pond, also known as the "Pond of the Heavenly Emperor", according to Korean legend was where seven fairies would descend from heaven at night to bathe in its cool waters. It was believed that those who would bathe in the ice-cold water of the pond would be cured of ailments. That was a long time ago though. These days swimming is forbidden in the pond. Wadding wasn't though (or so we thought) because that's what we did.

each of them thinking about the possibilities of fun they could do in the water

From the ticket office, we walked into lush greenery and down several steps to get to where the pond was. The tricky part was getting close to the pond itself. We had to be very careful as we stepped from one big rock to another till we got to the middle where we had a good view of the pond. It was a nice place to just sit and soak what nature has to offer - lush greenery, crystal clear water, serenity at its best.

thinking of his next move - go into the deeper part of the pond or just walk to the further end of the pond?

he slowly dipped his feet into the water as it was too cold

From where we were sitting we could also see the Seonimgyo Bridge which features sculptures of the seven fairies. This was also on our list of spots to see in Jeju and after spending a good 30 minutes by the pond, we were ready to walk towards where the bridge was.

The pathway leading to the other tiers of the waterfalls went further into the forest. It got colder and wetter as we headed deep into the forest. 

where we were and where we wanted to be,
this guide post says it all

We walked down another set of flights of stairs before reaching the viewing deck for the second tier of the waterfalls. In this tier though there was no access to water as the viewing deck was cordoned off with wooden posts.

family photo with the falls before we walked back up

We passed by the famous Seonimgyo Bridge before heading to the third tier of the waterfalls and took some photos.

on our way down, down, down to the third tier

The staircase going to the third tier was steeper and longer than the other 2 we've been to. We almost gave up because we couldn't see the bottom of the staircase nor hear any sound coming from the waterfalls. As we headed down following the pathway, we could hear a faint sound of water flowing so we thought we weren't that far from it. Then we realized the viewing deck for the third tier was even farther to the waterfalls than the second one was. I guess they couldn't really build the pathway any closer to the falls without destroying plans along the way.

this was the view of the waterfalls from the deck

our long walk back up to the main pathway surrounding the area

The pathways actually go around the whole area surrounding the waterfalls. We could see other people on the other side. We actually thought about going around following the whole stretch of the pathway but our feet weren't in for another 2km walk. We decided to go back to where the bridge was and crossed over.

Fun times of pictorial at the bridge overlooking the rocky bottom where the water was flowing and out to sea and the highway on the other side.

 

There were more things happening on the other side with several shops selling snacks and some souvenirs. There was also a temple and this wishing fountain where visitors who threw coins into the money bag could have their wishes granted. I was a lucky first-timer.

Here were the boys trying their luck at making that shot. Ira got so frustrated because he wasn't able to throw spot on. We almost ran out of coins to throw! Unfortunately, after several tries Ira didn't make it to the money bag. Kelvin, on the other hand, got lucky with one coin.

 

 

We had an enjoyable visit to the Cheonjeyeon Falls. It's always a refreshing experience to be surrounded by nature, specially bodies of water. Simple pleasure our boys enjoy.