Strange Things In An Amethyst Cave

On Saturday, Mel and I visited the Jasujeong Amethyst Mine in Eonyang. Eonyang was about 30 minutes outside of Gyeongju, where we spent the weekend. We took a bus from Gyeongju inter-city bus terminal, though we almost didn't get off in the right place. The bus driver announced that we had arrived in Eonyang but he may as well have farted into the bus's microphone because it would have been just as comprehensible as the words he had said. We started to leave town and merge back onto the highway when Mel and I both noticed at the same time that we were driving past Eonyang Hospital and Eonyang meat market, meaning we'd missed our stop. "잠시만요," I pleaded as the driver let us off on the side of the highway. We got a taxi and 5,000 Won later we were at the Jasujeong Amethyst Cave. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

The cave site has been transformed into a sort-of theme park, which is so random because the place is literally in the middle of nowhere. There were a few carnival-style attractions, pony rides, some restaurants, a cave full of ice sculptures and the amethyst cave itself, which you could explore for 5,000 Won. Please note that all the attractions I mentioned seemed to be simultaneously run by the same Chinese family of 4.

Maybe it was the language barrier, but we were led to believe that touring the cave had to include a little jet boat ride around the cave tunnels. This inflated the price a bit and turned out to be totally unnecessary. We zipped through some cool canals in the amethyst cave and at the end of the ride our driver spun us around in circles, and while one of the passengers looked like he was about to barf from our complimentary spins, it was pretty fun.

When we were done with our boat ride, we wandered over to the cave entrance, where we covered the rest of the area by foot. Please keep in mind as you look at the pictures below that all of the things we saw were in an amethyst cave.

One of the first things we came across was the Egyptian section, where we posed with these friends in an amethyst cave.

Mummy remains in an amethyst cave.

Dinosaur mural in an amethyst cave.

Early man builds a fire in an amethyst cave.

We found this random lit-up Christmas ornament all alone in the corner of a tunnel in an amethyst cave. Ho ho ho!

This was my favorite find: a patriotic recreation of DOKDO, the disputed rock in the middle of the Sea of Japan East Sea... in an amethyst cave.

Nearby was a model of this creepy guy... possibly the fellow who watches over Dokdo? A strange man to find in an amethyst cave.

Next, these statues showed the evolution of man from monkey to...

...a naked guy holding a cellphone in an amethyst cave.

We followed a long, low tunnel lined with lotus-shaped lanterns where we found this Buddha at the end. This is convenient if you'd like to pay your respects while touring an amethyst cave.

Lucky for us there were vending machines in the amethyst cave. We got a couple of coffees since it was cool in the cave. I'm sure those machines get cleaned pretty often...

There was a section devoted to African art and sculpture in the amethyst cave.

We came across this one random room with a small heated floor. A cozy, yet random place to relax in an amethyst cave.

At 3:30, the Chinese family stopped selling pumpkin taffy and put on an impressive acrobatic and contortionist show. Please note E.T's head in a fish tank at the back of the stage. I took a video, which I'll put up later. I can't say that I expected to see a contortionist show in an amethyst cave.

On the way out of the cave I spotted something on display behind glass in a corner of the cave. Guess what it was? We saw a few dull crumbs of amethyst in an amethyst cave!

Jasujeoung Amethyst Cave: totally random, totally recommended.