Jeju (Chuju) do

Jeju or Cheju depending on how you spell it lies south of the Korean mainland. Sometimes called the Korean Hawaii (highly debatable) it is warmer and more easy going than much of the mainland. Famous for tangerines and seafood Woogi and I took an escape from Seoul to find out. The best way to get around is to rent a car. If you can't you will have to take public transport (bus) or you can hire taxi's for the day at around 80,000 won. Two things to be aware of: first there is a lot of hype over many of the attractions. It is better not to read too much and second everything costs money. Entrance to all the things we went to cost around 1-3,000 won. We didn't go to many of the attractions such as the love park or museums.

Rape flower, volcanic rock fences and harubang (stone grandfathers) along with tangerines symbolize Jeju.

Day One

-Wind farm - Haengwon ri beach - Accomodation - Jeongbang waterfall - Cheonjaeyeon waterfall -



Haengwon ri beach and wind farm.
This was a beautiful beauch with anenome and sea urchins in the rock pools. There is a nice, reasonably price restaurant on 1132 before turning onto the shore road worth stopping at here.

Squid for sale on the shore road

Jeongbang waterfall.

You can read that this is the only waterfall which falls into the sea in Asia but I don't believe it! A bit hyped up and disappointing on arrival though I have to keep in mind that we have been spoilt by NZ scenery.

Cheonjaeyeon waterfall (not to be confused with Cheonjiyeon waterfall which we didn't visit) This was quite a pretty place and it was worth visiting. There is an interesting bridge and a pagoda with paintings of maidens in the nick. There is a legend attatched to this waterfall to do with the maidens but I don't remember it.

Cherry blossoms lined the streets on the way to Cheonjaeyeon waterfall.

Day Two
-Iichulbong (Sunrise peak) - Udo - Manjan cave - Kim Yong gap gallery - Sopjigoji -

Iichulbong (Sunrise peak)

The views from here were really pretty. It was perhaps one of the most disappointing places we went to because of the expectations I had. I had seen photos of the crater fill with rape flower and it looked stunning. We got the scene below. I'm sure later in spring as it greens up more it would be prettier too. You can see haenyeo (Jeju's famous dive women) here at a staged performance.

Iichulbong crater

Udo.

There are two spots to take a ferry across. It takes about 15minutes and you can relax on the ondol floor (with shoes off of course) You can hire bicycles or scooters to get around on there if you like. Udo is pretty and relaxing. Food is a bit expensive though so it is good to take your own.

The largest population of haenyo live in Udo. Again you can pay money here to see
them working. We didn't see any as we went around the island so it paying up may the best way to see them at work.

There are some interesting rock formations around the coast. You can go up to light house park, ride a horse and take in the views. There are cows grazing and cemeteries filled with mounds which I have never seen here before.


The rape flower definitely makes a nice picture.

Manjan cave.
This is the world's longest system of lava tube caves. Of the 13.7km only 2km is open to the public. At first it was kinda spooky going in but after 500m it is easy to think is this it? I had to remind myself that there weren't many places you could go inside a lava cave and that in itself was pretty neat. At the end is this lava pillar which is worth seeing. It is a bit wet and cold inside the cave. Didn't see girls with high heels though we did pass alot of Japanese and Chinese tourists.

Kim Yong gap gallery.

Kim, Yong gap was a Korean mainlander who after visiting Jeju gave up his life on the mainland and dedicated it to taking pictures of Jeju. He died of a disease that fixes your bones together in 2005 but his gallery in an old middle school remains. He took some beautiful pictures. Some of his best ones (personal taste only) are not on display and some on display I would have pressed delete for but despite this it was worth the visit.

Sopji gogoi

This place is famous for a Korean drama called 'All in one' which used this area. Not a most see area to visit unless you are into Korean dramas.

Day Three

Mysterious road - Mount Halla (Eorimok trail) - Jusangjolli Rocks -

Mysterious Road was mysterious - we didn't understand what the fuss is about. They say that the road looks like it is going downhill but if you put your car in neutral it will seem like it is rolling uphill. Not even a photo taken.

Halla san

The 4.7km round trip Eorimok trail was cloudy at first, even a bit of snow fell near the top. Just before getting to the end the clouds began to clear and we got a view. Without the view it was a bit hard going but seeing what was out there made it worth the walk. It wasn't a hard walk . At the top there are alot of crows hanging about for tidbits. The flat walk at the top is a nice surprise. There are some nice rock formations here with legends attached to them. The 500 disciples are rocks which as legend tells it ate rice soup which was actually their mother's body. In shock they turned into stone and there they are still today.

There were a lot of high school boys each wanting to say hello. Understanderable but a little bit tiring after the first 30 ^^ Halla mountain was the highlight of our trip. On a clear day, later in spring the views and flowers must be amazing.

Folding screen rocks, Halla san

Jusangjolli Rocks

Jusangjolli Rocks are worth the hype. This rocks look like someone carved them out. As lava flowed into the sea and cooled quickly these rocks were formed. There were A LOT of elementary students there taking more photo's of each other than the scene.

Before going back to the airport we took some more of the shore road and past another wind farm and these islands. It was an excellent time away.