So I am back in Korea and I started my journey with the wonderful island of Jeju in the deep south. Jeju is one of the seven provinces of Korea and one of the most popular vacation spots. Recently also Chinese and Japanese have discoverd the beauty of this island which is also particularly famous among honeymooners. So, this spot of the earth had several highlights, I did not want to miss, like the world's largest lava cave or an art/sex museum for example.
After I left Tokyo, the plane took me to Busan where I hoped into another airplane headed for Jeju. airticktes are really cheap at the moment. Especially with cheap and small airlines like Air Busan or Air Jeju. With a bit of luck and a clear view, you can see Halla mountain from the airplane. Since Jeju is a volcanic island, a huge inacive volcano in the middle of the island is the centre of the magical natural wonders you can find here. At the airport I was picked up by Martin, my new hostelowner. Although I did not particularly liked the hostel and I got the feeling they did not like me either, it did not prevent me from having a fun time.
Instead of writing down every little detail of my stay, I will show you my personal highlights of this week! Otherwise this entry coul go on forever :).
Manjangul Cave and U-do with Johnny and drinking Whisky with Ben
I FORGOT MY CAMERA THAT DAY! Sorry guys! I asked Johnny to send me the pictures but he forgot. Anyway, I'll try to write a vivid story to keep you interested ;). It was my first day on Jeju. I did not sleep that well in my cold room and hard bed, plus I got knocked out of my dreams at 8 a.m. because it was breakfast time and I had to come down. "Hurry Up!" Martin said through the door... I was about to reply with a frizzled "Yes, mumy!" but I managed to force the angry reply down my throat. I did not had that much of a plan, but I read that the largest lava cave of the world is on Jeju and I wanted to see that. So at 9:30 I got taken to the bus stop together with a vietnamiese girl and an english bloke named Johnny. At the bus stop he didn't know what to do and we ended up on the same bus going to the lava tubes which lie in the eastern part of the island. They are really impressive and over one kilometer long, elumitated with cold blue and green light instalments. The ligt makes you feel as if your are on a different planet or a tardis like space ship. Yet, walking a kilometer is a bit long and we got a bit tired of the whole thing in the end.
As we exited the lava tube and made our way to the bus stop we met Ben from Israel and had lunch together. We both decided to have drinks together in the evening, since Johnny will travel to Seogwipo. Anyway, our next stop was the small offshore island of U-do. It is very famous for its fisherwoman. We rented ATV's and were cruising arround the Island. Stopping at cliffs, deserted beaches and through fields where rape flowers were blooming. Occasionally, I was able to see some of the Haenjo women. Haenjo are women who dive for fish and seafood without any breathing aparatus whatsoever. I heard they can dive up to 8 minutes.
Anyway, after that fun trip Johnny went his way towards Seogwipo (a city in the South) but he said he will come back a day later and I made preparations to meet with Ben. We met and drank a lot of beer and I got introduced into Whisky (again). Actually somebody had already tried to explain the delight of enjoying whisky earlier last year but I must admit that I had forgoten almost everything again.
Hiking on Olle Nr. 7 with a group of Korean Ahjussis & Ajummas
In the middle of my week, I decided to go hiking. Jeju itself is covered in small hiking trails called olle-walks. They are not really exausting but you can view the beautiful scenery on the way. I decided to walk along Olle Nr. 7 which leads along the beautiful waterfalls of Jeju on the southern coast.
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| hiking through the woods |
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| this kind of reminds me of the Way of Saint James |
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| beautiful scenery! |
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| one of the many waterfalls |
On my way I met a group of hiking enthusiasts. All were Korean and all were 60 or above, the definition of an ahjussi! Although the hike was not particularly exsausting or dangerous, they were equipped with full hiking gear. Shoes, Jackets from the North Face a hicking stick and a proper backpack. I heard that hicking is considered as one of the cool sports in Korea nowadays. Hence, many people like the idea of proper hiking, even though they only visit the zoo. It took me about 5 hours to walk the whole thing but if you plan to do it, you may need some trainers or comparable sturdy shoes and that's fine. Don't try to walk it in high heals though. The weather was amazing, 20 degrees with a nice seabreeze. Me and the Koreans ended up hiking together and they tried to speak english as best as they could and I made extensive use of my lonely planet Korean survival phrasebook. At the end we had some makkoli and pajoen! A perfect day!
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| water vs. stone |
Hiking up Seongsan
Seongsan, also known as sunrise peak, was formed through volcanic activity and is best admired from an aeroplane or helicopter while flying over the island. I am a poor student nontheless and I just did the hike.
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| Seongsan |
When I started hiking it was very nice and smooth. The scenery was beatiful. However, soon I saw all the school classes and chinese tourists. Well, it was a nice spot to visit.
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| that is what I call a nice hike |
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| SO MANY PEOPLE! |
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| a view from the top |
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| a school class wanted to have a picture with me, the tall and weird foreign girl! |
Meeting Seong-Hwan and Cristian
One night, I don't remember which one, new guests arrived at the Hostel. Seong-Hwan from Korea and Cristian from Switzerland. They asked me to join them for dinner and drinks and we ended up having a fun time. On my last night in Jeju, we also endded up going out together. I am really glad I met these two funny guys! On Jeju there are several regional food delights you should try when visiting the Island. But as usual, it is difficult to eat them on your own because Korean food is meant to share with your friends or lovers. Popular foods include chocolate, green tea and the famous balck pork belly. The black pigs a raised on Jeju and the meat from the belly is cut into pieces and barbecued on a huge black plate. It is DELICIOUS!!! Even more so when you can enjoy the meal with some good company and soju, as I did ;).
other stuff... (Hallim Park, Cliffs, and Beaches and the Sex Museum)
Of course i did not just sat in my room for the rest of the time. I did lot's of things like the sex museum or the offshore cliffs in the south. The thing with Jeju is, that there is so much to see that inevitabley a car is the most convinient way to travel arround. Although there are busses, they take longer and do not drive every hour.
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| I WANT THESE CHAIRS! (infront of the Sex Museum) |
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| one of the many beautiful beaches |
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| only on jeju! a Buddhist Temple behind an impressive mountain side |
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| cliffs |
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my mark!
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