Jeju-do Trip!

I have finally found my way to the beautiful Jeju Isalnd. A trip to Korea is not complete without going to Jeju, especially if I am going to be here for a year. I went with five of my co-teachers, three of which are Korean teachers and the other two are native teachers. We have all been planning this trip since March, so I am happy that we were able to finally go. One of the Korean teachers, planned the entire trip for us. She worked very hard for us so that we would have an awesome time and she succeeded. I appreciate her so much for how much work she put into it. She booked our plane tickets, she booked our hostel, she booked our tours, she did everything for us. Thank you so much Monica! <3

We left for Jeju on a Sunday because Monday was Buddha's Birthday, so we had the day off, and we also had Tuesday off because our boss wanted to give us a longer weekend. We went to the Gimpo Airport and arrived in Jeju around 12:30 pm. The flight from Seoul to Jeju is only about an hour. Not a very long flight at all.

View from the plane

This is what we experience as soon as we leave the airport

For out first day there, we didn't plan on doing a lot. We wanted to get to out hostel and then go to the beach. We were staying in a city called Seogwipo, which is located in the south. It is about an hour from the airport, which is located in the north. We checked into the hostel and then got a taxi to go to the beach. We went to Jungmun Beach. We chilled there for a while and then decided to explore the area a bit.

Jungmun Beach

 That night, I went to a norebang for the first. A nore means song and bang means room; it is where Koreans go for Karaoke. I have been in Korea for 10 months now and I have finally made my way to one. Not only did we go on the first night, we also went on the second night, too. It was really fun. I cannot sing on key whatsoever but it was fun to just dance around and sing. In norebangs, you rent a private room and it is about W10,000 for an hour. They have Korean, English and Japanese songs to choose from. The video below is my friend, Sandy, rapping away to a Korean song.

Our second day was packed with stuff to do. We hired a driver and car, through a tour program, that took us all over the island to the popular tourist destinations. It cost each of us W25,000, which is super cheap especially because he took us around for 10 hours and did a lot of driving. We first went to Hallasan; this is South Korea’s highest mountain at 1950 meters. We didn’t go to the very top, which has a crater lake, but we went as high as we could by car.  From the rest area we stopped at, it would’ve taken an additional 10 hours, round trip, to get to the top, which we didn’t have time for. We walked on the trail for a little bit, but it offered no views, only trees. 

We then headed to Saryeoni Forest, which was a short drive from the rest stop. In the forest, we were able to try on a pair of traditional Korean shoes and walk around in them. Without socks, the hay was poking my foot, so they were not that comfortable. 

Sandy and I walking around

Here are the shoes

We then headed to Sangumburi Crater. It is a green volcanic crater that is the second largest on the island. It is 350 meters in diameter and 100 meters deep. It is the crater of an extinct volcano. It exploded quickly and did not spew much lava, as opposed to the other two on the island. It has been designated as a Natural Monument 263.

The crater from the side

 

Our next stop was to Seongsan-ri (Fortress Mountain Village) , which contains another extinct volcano called Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak). The summit is 182 meters high and is shaped like a punch bowl. It rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago. The crater is 600 meters in diameter and 90 meters high. There are 99 sharp rocks surrounding the craters and makes it look like a gigantic crown. It is also a 20-30 min steep walk up to the top, which I did. It was tiring but it was worth it.

From the bottom

Made it to the top, the crater is behind us.

A view of the island from the top.

Our next stop was Seopjikoji. "Seopki" is the old name for the area, and "Koji" is Jeju dialect meanind a sudden bump on land. They also filmed a famous Korean drama here called "All In." There is a path that lead to a lighthouse. We strolled along the long path but we didn't wander all the way to the lighthouse. It was a really pretty area.

The church on the left is were they filmed and the white spec in the middle is the light house.

We headed to a late lunch after this to have some pork belly. The pork belly was made with the Jeju Black pig, which is a breed of domestic pig found on Jeju. This kind of pigs is said to have a unique taste distinct from other breeds of pigs. Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat that comes from the belly of the pig. It was really good, a bit fatty but good.

The restaurant we ate lunch at

Cooking our meat

After we had lunch, we headed to Seongeup Folk Village where we were able to see the traditional Korean houses. We were able to learn how they used to live and how some people on the island still live. We also met a new friend, a Jeju Black Pig. It was kind of funny that we went there just after we ate one of his relatives.

Walking around the village

Hello little friend

There are walking paths all around the island called Jeju Olle-gil that people can get sea views and enjoy a nice stroll. It has 24 routes that was aides by the recent "walking boom" in South Korea. Our driver took us to take route 6, which is near the city we were staying in. On this route we were able to view a famous site, called Oedolgae (Lonely Rock). It is 10 meters in circumference and 20 meters tall. It is a volcanic basalt pillar. It is said, in Korean legend, that a Korean general scared away Mongolian invaders by dressing the rock up to look like a giant soldier. This was also the last stop our driver took us to. So we headed back to the hostel after this.

Hanging out on the rocks

Walking down the path

Oedolgae 

Once we had gotten back to the hostel, we headed back out to a local tourist site, Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls. We decided we wanted to go there at night after seeing pictures of it during the day and the night. The waterfall is 22m high, 12m  wide, and 20m deep. It is designated as natural monument 27.

The waterfall

The next day, our last day, we wanted to relax a bit more after the long day before. Our flight was at 5:50 pm, so we had plenty of time to do something relaxing. We decided to head to the beach again. When we got there at around 11, it was very empty compared to the time before. We then realized it was Tuesday and not the holiday anymore. People are at work or school and are not on vacation. It was nice and relaxing. It was also very sunny out. 

The sand was really pretty and colorful

Sandy enjoying the water

We are about to leave the beach

The trip was very fun. I went with a good group of people. I loved Jeju and happy I was able to finally go there. I hope to go there again one day. More picture can be found on my Flickr account.