Table Mountain in Cape Town. The rock formations at Phang Na Bay. The Underground River near Puerto Princesa. All were mentioned as the 7 New Wonders of the World selections. We visited them all.
Jeju Island just off South Korea was a fourth on that list because of impressive geological formations caused by volcanoes centuries and more ago. Jeju is also home to the great women divers of Jeju. With so much to see, Bonnie and I split up.
I went to the extinct volcano and walked the equivalent of 20 stories in about 25 minutes so see a nice but not extra special coastline view. Later we saw a replica of an old village on this island. Nice, but not really special.
Bonnie had the same feeling about half of her excursion, the one with the divers that didn't show much. Her other stop thrilled her. It is called the Spirited Garden and it is a special home for Bonsai trees, which are thought of as exclusively Japanese.
Potted plants cover the 10 acres that was once a wasteland of shrubs and volcanic stones. Through the 50 years of patient hard work one man, Bumyoung Sung, created the Spirited Gardens with his genius and scissors. The key to cultivating Bonsai trees, no matter the type and the size, is knowing how and when to cut the tree's roots.
Currently, about 400 planted trees are on display along with walls and towers stacked with Jeju volcanic stones, the largest artificial waterfall in Jeju and a pond with large koi carp.
The best parts of the volcano trip were the history musings of our guide Dee.
He told us about two attempted invasions of Japan by the forces of Mongol ruler Genghis Kahn. More than 400 ships and 140,000 soldiers were lost during invasion attempts in 1274 and 1281.
The first invasion was foiled by a typhoon.
The Mongols rebuilt their forces including raising horses on Jeju, from which a second invasion would be safer and shorter than the Korean mainland.
The second invasion was also foiled by a typhoon.
The Japanese maintain that their identity was protected by a divine wind, or Kamikaze,