Oedo

Oedo is an island of Geoje city, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. It is a marine western-style botanical garden in Hallyeohaesang National Park, built by Lee Chang-ho and his wife when they settled on the island in 1969.

Oedo
Botanical garden at Oedo
Korean name
Hangul
외도
Hanja
外島
Revised RomanizationOedo
McCune–ReischauerOedo

History

In the past, Oedo was just an isolated, barren, rocky island with no electricity or telephone services. Only eight households lived in Oedo, due to its difficult access and lack of a dock in the early years of an independent South Korea.[1]

Mr. Lee and his wife, Choi Ho Suk, gradually created the entire garden. At first, they grew tangerines and bred swine. However, when that failed the two decided to create a botanical garden.

In 1976, their plan was approved to cultivate 1,601,235 ft² of space, growing rare plant species such as Agave americana, Rose of Sunshine, windmill palms, and Peruvian cactus. Oedo has a coastal climate with mild and a bit subtropical weather.[2]

Choi Ho Suk has collected a great deal of data about the world's botanical gardens and studied landscaping, architecture, and arbors.

Panoramic view of the island

Botanic assets

The island is home to more than 3,000 plant species including many subtropical plants, such as cactus, palm tree, gazania, sunshine, eucalyptus, bottlebrush bush, New Zealand flax, and agave.[3] It is considered Geojedo's busiest tourist attraction[4]

Crowded ferries dock at Oedo

Ferries

Transport by ferry is required to access Oedo island. These are available for a fee at several ports within the Hallyeohaesang National park and usually include a professional tour guide and a discussion of the area. To minimize congestion, there are eight paths to the island and the access fee to the island is included in the ferry ride. The ferries typically allow tourists to stay at the island for about 1.5 hours.[5]

Aerial view of Oedo Island

References

  1. 외도관광
  2. 외도관광
  3. Official tour page of Geoje city
  4. Planet, Lonely; Richmond, Simon; Eaves, Megan; Holden, Trent; Milner, Rebecca; Tang, Phillip; Whyte, Rob. Lonely Planet Korea (10 ed.). Lonely Planet. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  5. http://oedo.geoje.com/ Excursion ship Agency(Kor)

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