Korea (Jeju)

Continued travels in S.Korea - Jeju

Jeju is well-known as a must-go island in Korea. I enjoyed it because though it was touristy, it was not very city-like. And alot of it is associated with the sea because of it being an island.

We stayed in Yeha guesthouse ( which I really recommend for its comfortable simplicity, its free phonecall back home and its wireless connection ). And also took the Yeha English Tour. If you are travelling with a family and do not want the hassle of having to arrange transport, this would be the best way to go. We booked the tour for the East and West coast. I cant really remember the sequence as to the events on the tour.


Our first destination was the O Sulloc Tea plantation which was so-so. The green tea ice cream was nice but a little on the high side. The interesting thing about this was that you could smell the different flavored smelling tea-leaves.







Next, we made our way to the Hallim Park which seemed to be really built for tourists. It had a herb garden which held cactus, some plants and some reptiles in their cage for viewing and photo-taking. Exiting the herb garden was the oranges garden where Jeju is well-known for its mandarin oranges.

Along the way we were greeted by Jeju's famous cultural artifact statue called the Dol Hareubang (known also as the "stone grandfather"). It is considered to be gods offering both protection and fertility. (Thats why at certain places you will spot that there's the male and female version standing beside each other). In this park is also some manmade korea village folk traditional house - primarily for photo-taking.





Met at 1pm for lunch at a korean restaurant. They served us , vegetable bibimbap for the vegetarians and beef stew for the non-vegetarians with all the delicious side dishes. We had numerous servings of side dishes. It was yummy. Especially when it is so cold out there, the feeling was just wonderful. Outside the restaurant also gave us a basic recommendation of the korea local dishes.










Our following destination was the Jusangjeolli rocks where it is said that the lava from erupting volcanoes met in the ocean and developed the structure. Personally this was one of my favourite. Though there was nothing much to do there other than take pictures, the serenity as the waves crash against the rocks was so pleasing to the ear and sight.



Next was the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls which I felt somewhat "huh" because after climbing a number of stairs and past a few rocks, what greeted us was a waterfall. Not the majestic kind, the normal kind. But there were some old ajummas who were selling seafood eg. sea cucumber -so we spent out time looking at the seafood -guessing whether it was freshly caught.

Our final place was the Yakcheonsa which was known for its majestic buddhist temples. Personally one of the places I would have skipped. The place is for those who wants to pray to their buddhist idol and drink the so call purifying water and understand how the buddhist building was built etc. History is definately not my cup of tea.

We requested our tour guide to stop us at the Teddybear museum which became really popular after the "Goong show" which I fell in love with. The storyline was just lovely. The teddies inside were so cute! It reminded me of the doll museum I went in Rajkot, India. Amazing how such collections could be made.





















The next morning, we had to wake up early again for the East tour. It started with the Seongeup Folk Village which introduced us to the kind of living and houses which Koreans Villagers had stayed in, keeping Jeju traditions. We sighted the millstones, the provincial houses, local black haired pig (that was freezing in the cold) , the tomb and also the old governmental building.





We were also shown a stone with 3 holes in it that previously the villagers would put poles in it. The 3 holes as explained have a meaning - the first bar hole indicates that you will be "back in while", the second bar hole indicates that you will be " out for the whole day" and lastly the third and highest bar hole indicates that you have " gone travelling" and will not be back the next day. ( Personally isnt that dangerous, if someone knows you have gone travelling, how if the robbers come? ) For this place, I give it thumbs up. Although it is left for tourist to take pictures, it allows you to understand more about the native korean village way of living.

For those who wants to travel here on your own
Operating Hours
24 hrs
Admission Fees
Free
Local Transportation
* From Jeju
1. From Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal, take an Intercity Bus bound for Dongbugwangong Road and get off at Seongeup 1(il)-ri (first bus 6:10 / last bus 21:30 / 20 min interval / 1 hour ride).
2. From Seogwipo Intercity Bus Terminal, take an Intercity Bus that runs on Il-ju Road to the east and get off at Seongeup 1(il)-ri (first bus 6:30 / last bus 20:30 / 20 min interval / 50 min ride).

After this, we went to Seopjikoji where we spotted female divers (weird since it was freezing). Its the place where the famous korean drama "All in" was shot and I can understand why. The place was just splendid - its beautiful. Once there, follow the seashore winding trail up some hills , and eventually ending up at a lighthouse. Reaching the lighthouse, beside it there is also a cathedral where korean instrumental movie OST was playing. With the wind howling, the sea crashing, the music playing, it was "Wow." I loved it up there. Unfortunately, like all tours, we were given a time limit and had to rush back down.




For those that wants to go there on your own
Operating Hours
24 hrs
Admission Fees
Free
Local Transportation
From Seogwipo Intercity Bus Terminal, take an intercity bus that runs on Il-ju Road to the east and get off at Seongsan-eup Goseong-ri (first bus 6:30 / last bus 20:30 / 20 min interval / 1 hour and 20 min ride). Then take a taxi for about 5-10 min.

After lunch, we made our way to the climb up sunrise peak also known as Seongsan Ilchulbong which is a symbol of Jeju. The wind was howling and snow bits were falling from the sky but we were determined to make it up. When we were there,KBS was dismantling the stage and tents - I guess there was performance there the day before or so. (wasted!) I loved sunrise peak. Though crowded with people, it felt like the Beijing forbidden city where you have visited a heritage site and one of the wonders of the world. However I think it would be great if we came in the morning to see the sunrise.






For those that wants to go there on your own
Local Transportation
Take the bus from Jeju City or Seogwipo City and get off at the Dongnam three-forked road in Seongsan-eup, and then take the rotation bus. The distance from the Jeju City Bus Terminal to the Seongsan Port on the Round Road No 12 is 49.6km and it takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.It is 48.5km from the Seogwipo City Bus Terminal to the Seongsan Port and it takes 1.5 hours.

The final tour sight was the Manjanggul lava cave which I was totally bored. My friend and I spent most of our time talking thoughout the whole tour. But if you are geography student that likes to know how the formation of rocks come about, the shapes and the formation by the lava, you would love this as its a walking of about 7km distance of such explanation for the cave.


Ended our day with a night tour sponsored by Yeha guesthouse where they brought us to the nearby Dongmun market and the nearby beach. However it was freezing and the wind was howling so we did not stay out for too long. But their sponsored trip was really appreciated.