Jeju 2.0 Sarah Thursday, June 26, 2014

At the top of Sunrise Peak

This trip has been full of surprises from the start, but I'm glad that as a semi-experienced traveler, I'm not thrown off by last minute changes or letting itinerary swaps rob me of my joy. Take for example our Jeju leg of our Korea trip, our flight with Jeju Air, along with all of the flights to Jeju that day were cancelled due to the weather conditions (strong winds in Jeju). Despite the initial shock and setback, we were able to have the option of receiving a refund or be able to change our flight (allowed only once) to another date and time. Fortunately, our schedule was not set in stone and due to some prior cancellations, we were able to head to Jeju the following week without any extra charges (our flights were sale seats and during the weekdays, so if we had left or came back on a weekend, then additional payments may have been necessary). Overall, another reason I recommend taking Jeju Air as they have efficient customer service and are am able to handle unexpected situations very smoothly.

Such artwork to the eyes-made by the waves crashing onto the sand

So I absolutely love everything about Jeju and would highly recommend you adding this nature-esque or as the Koreans like to dub it, the "honey moon" island on your list of to see, to eat, and to do when paying a visit to Korea. So loved that I would probably make an excuse to come here whenever I do step foot onto this country. It's such a beautiful and extraordinary getaway from the buzzing and tourist hotspots of Seoul. A nice break from the metropolitan, and a fabulous getaway for a weekend or even longer.


As I've been to Jeju before as an exchange student two years ago, I had a better idea of planning the trip this time. I did repeat some places Ive been to before as it was my friends' first time, but I didn't mind as every experience is a new one depending on who you go with and when you go. This time, we stayed with B&B Pan Guesthouse in Jeju-Si, about a 5-10 minute taxi ride from the airport. Its location was in a convenient "downtown" area of Jeju, and the host, Martin was kind and friendly. There was a complimentary decent breakfast provided each morning and best of all, tour options (provided at an extra, but reasonable cost as most travelers tend to hire taxi drivers to drive them around Jeju for a day since attractions are far apart) and itinerary recommendations by the local hostel owner himself!

Caught this on Odo-Island-apparently all the seafood caught is exported to Japan

amazing grandma-age ladies that scuba dives (without oxygen tanks!) for the seafood

We were in Jeju a total of 3 nights and 2 full days, so on our first full day we decided to take a tour to the East side of Jeju. This included the following:

-scenic beach and coastal areas
-Manjanggul Cave*
-lunch break
-O-do Island + speedboat tour
-Sunrise Peak/Seongsanllchulbong Peak*
-Stone Park

* refers to places with an admission cost (make sure to bring ID because if you are 24 or younger, you only  have to pay 1000W as this is considered a Youth rate; regular adult rate is 2000W)

It was a first for me and my friends at O-do Island and it was the highlight of  the whole trip. I highly recommend you to take the motorboat ride/tour here, it's exhilarating and intriguing to be up close and personal to Odo. It also gets your adrenaline rushing and pumped up for such a joy ride! If you're not a boat person, you can rent bikes, scooters, ATVs or even a horse to go around the island to do some sight seeing. Also, do try the locally made peanut ice cream as peanut is grown on this "cow" shaped island (Koreans are quite imaginative with their myths and imagery about this island and jeju in general)-fresh and delish!

on the way to Odo-our yellow was too tacky to not be noticed

On our second day, we decided to head out on our own and took the bus from the Jeju Bus Terminal to Seogwipo, the southern most city on Jeju Island which is about an hour ride away. From there, our itinerary was walkable the whole day and we were able to explore to the following:

-Jeongbang Waterfalls*
-Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls*
-안갈리 밖갈리 traditional 정식 restaurant lunch (side dish meal)
-Saeseom Island & Saeyeong bridge
-Oedolgae (where a scene from the famous Jewel in the Palace Korean drama was filmed)

*required to tay admission rate;  youth rate available as well

To be honest, the waterfalls aren't that great if you've seen the size of waterfalls back in Canada or elsewhere, but it's convenient and cheap enough to worth checking out when you are in Seogwipo. However, Saeseom Island and Oedolgae have become one of my two favorite spots in all of Jeju to just gaze out into the horizon and ponder. Saeseom is a walk away south from Cheonjiyeong waterfalls and there is the bridge that connects you to this little island. Being the rebels that we were, we jumped the fence that fenced off the circumference of the island and daydreamed on the farthest point facing the ocean! The view was jawdrop amazing. You gotta see it to believe it! And don't forget your camera!

At Oedolgae, you can actually spot Saeseom from a distance as we were surprise to find out that it was closer than we thought despite walking our way here from there. If you have time, you can actually walk along the coastal edge of the island and trek farther West. This was the last place on our itinerary so we took longer to just watch the sun pace downwards and the fall of the sky change to a gradually duller hue. It isn't until now that I'm writing that I'd realize this place is actually famous because of a rock (not sure if I even spotted this rock or did, but didn't realize the significance of it!), coined "Oedolgae Rock" that was filmed in a scene for Jewel in the Palace. Despite this, we still had an enjoyable time submersing ourselves into our surroundings.

Oedolgae

All in all Jeju was worth it once again. The changes made to our flight was also advantageous to us as we were able to receive better weather as a result. In God's timing, there is never wrong timing, but we were so thankful for what we were able to accomplish in Jeju!

Lastly, make sure to check out the Black Pork Street (heuk dweji) in Jeju-si,the first restaurant on your left when you pass the main gate/sign is affordable and comes with many side dishes (like steam egg nomnomnom). The first image below is what the store front looks like!

P.S. The renown Jeju orange ice cream sandwich is ridiculously hard to find (made and only sold on Jeju Island). I went back to the same place I got it two years ago and it was gone and I was told they didn't make it anymore, but they had this orange flavour popsicle and squeeze tube version instead. But, thankfully I was able to indulge it in on the last day at a random fruit market in Jeju-si! So don't give up, and if you spot it, you must try it!

Getaway Jeju Sarah Tuesday, June 12, 2012

 Traditional Side dish dinner

Coming to Korea, I knew I had to make time for a trip to Jeju, the infamous honeymoon destination island south of Seoul. My friends and I had bought our flight tickets back in April for only 100 Cad from Jeju Air (make sure to browse different flight companies and dates to get the best deals, earlier you buy, the cheaper the ticket will be), and I can’t believe that trip came and went already. Last weekend we left on a Thursday afternoon and came back Monday morning; 4 nights and 3 full days.

Manjanggul Cave

For our first full day, we decided to rent a taxi which is common for tourists to do since public transportation isn’t that efficient on the island. We were recommended a driver who has an outgoing personality and knew sufficient English. He charged us 110000Won ($110) from 9-6pm, but since we had five people he added 20000W on top of that initial fee to accommodate the five of us (also, you always buy your driver’s lunch). We could’ve got a combo taxi and have more room (which accommodates six people and is ~$150), but our friend highly recommended this adjussi so we went with it. I definitely recommend renting a taxi and splitting the cost between friends rather than bussing from place to place; most sightseeing locations and natural attractions are secluded and it takes about an hour to go to most places if you stay near the airport/downtown area Jeju-si where we stayed. Renting a taxi also saves time and is more flexible as it caters to your own personal itinerary.

Coast/Beach towards East Jeju

Popular Abalone Congee

Our adjussi driver not only acted as our chauffeur, but also as a tour guide and photographer as well. He was very fun to be with and on top of all the joy we had with him, he was a Christian and even prayed for our lunch in Korean when we asked him to.



We spent our first day exploring attractions towards the East side of the island and downtown Jeju. Here is an itinerary of where we went that day. Most of these places charged only a 1000won entrance free, or else it was free

-Manjanggul Cave, the world's largest natural lava tube
-Beach near East coast
-Sunrise peak/Seongsanllchulbong Peak, an extinct volcano you can hike up, popular women divers are here too (65-85 yr old adjummas who still go diving for seafood, crazy!)
-Yongduam Rock, a natural dragon head shape rock (doesn't really look like one, more like a "bunny")
-Folk Village, traditional houses back in the day
-All In house, where the famous "All In" Korean drama was filmed, really pretty here^^

All In House

Sunrise Peak

our taxi driver giving us a tour of a folk village

 Our hostel, Shinee Guesthouse was also very accommodating as the owner would recommend local restaurants that offer popular dishes for us. The day
we arrived, he brought us to a traditional Korean side dish meal with other hostel guests, and that day we went for heuk dweji (black pig), a popular bbq meal among Jeju civilians.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls

On our second full day, we took an hour bus ride from Jeju bus terminal (pretty much across the Street from Shinee Guesthouse), to Seogwipo, the second largest city in Jeju, south of the island. One way was only 3000won (~$3) and we were able to meet up with two of our fellow exchange mates staying on that side of the island.

From the bus terminal in Seowipo, we walked to Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls, which was a very tranquil and soothing place to spend at. Here, we found the popular Jeju ice cream sandwich, basically a spongecake sandwiching orange ice cream. Its definitely worth seeking out for and was very refreshing too.

Other places we hit up:

Jeongbang Waterfalls

Jusangjeolli Rocks

-Jeongbang Waterfalls, where the water leads into the ocean, this place was more adrenaline-rushing than Cheongjiyeon
-Junsangjeolli Rocks, rock formations formed from molten lava, pretty neat place
-Jungmun Beach, a touristy resort place with a nice beach and view, I don't recommend this place though, its not that interesting, and there was barely any food options so we just snacked on oranges and pineapples on a stick

Our main transportation today was taxi as well, taking it when we needed to. The cost was fairly cheap when you split it between 4-5 people (about $1-2 each time). The other option was by public bus, but you would have to figure out which bus to take and wait a while. We ate 오겹살 ohgyebsal (literally "five layer fat" pork aka pork loin) bbq for dinner and called it a day.

View from top of Sarabong Mt.

Third and last full day, we went to church that morning, had a quick side dish lunch near the bus terminal and was ready to hike up Hallasan Mountain and check out the surrounding national park. However, we went to take the bus shortly after 2pm and we didn't know this before hand, but because it takes 8hrs to hike up this place, after 2pm, they don't allow anyone to hike it for safety reasons. We didn't plan to hike up all the way anyways, but they assume everyone goes to hike it, so you can't even go just to take a shorter trail or just for picture taking sake. Fortunately, the nice workers there recommended a short and more tame walk at Sarabong, which is right behind Jeju's national museum.

1/14 dishes @ our seafood dinner

So we ended our last day hiking, enjoying the view, taking jumping photos, and being crazy, all the while soaking in our last day of Jeju. The national museum of Jeju was free, so we decided to check it out as well. There wasn't anything interesting in particular, but we received a quick taste of Jeju's history.

The night ended with seriously a fourteen course seafood/sushi/Japanese dinner (near airport) Mr. Shinee (guesthouse owner's nickname) brought us to. It was only 20000won, so cheap and so worth it. Food coma resulted indeed.

Much memories were made this weekend and I definitely recommend Jeju as a destination to hit up when your planning a trip to Korea.