Jeju 4-Day Itinerary: Day Four

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

We made the most of our last full day in Jeju. Waking up at 4:30am in the morning, we left the hotel by 5am and drove 5 minutes to the base of Seongsan Ilchulbong ????? (Sunrise Peak, phone number: 783 0959). It took about 30 minutes to do the easy hike with plenty of wooden stairs. When we reached the top, many were already seated and photographers had their tripods perched by the wooden fence. The sunrise came at 5:43am that morning and I looked in awe as it still wasn�t too glaring to stare straight at the sun. The sky was a beautiful blend of red and orange. Everyone quietly snapped photos of the scenery that they woke up so early for as the first rays of light shone over the horizon.

Sunrise from Seongsan Ilchulbong

Seongsan Ilchulbong seen later in the day

I loved it. I don�t remember when was the last time I saw the sunrise or know when will be the next, so I tried to soak up this experience as much as possible. On the other side of the peak, we could see the small town at the bottom. It was quite a pretty sight on its own but the sunrise certainly outshone it.

Descending from the mountain, we returned to our hotel and took a nap before getting up at 9:30am to check out. The extra sleep was much needed to keep us going for the day!

We drove to Seongsan Ferry Terminal (phone number: 783 0448) to take the 15 minute long ferry to U-do ?? (literal translation is Cow Island). We rented bikes there for 10,000 won each for the entire day. The shop owner said it takes about 2 hours to bike around the entire island but it took us 3.5 hours with many photo stops and one food rest in between. It wasn�t too difficult to bike but you do have to share a road with cars, large tour buses, motorbikes and other bicycles. Some sections had a rather steep incline which could be difficult if you are not used to biking. There were electric bikes and scooters with hoods that could seat two people also available for rent. Personally I didn�t find the biking part tiring but the afternoon sun constantly beating down on me in the 3 or so hours of biking was. I couldn�t wear a hat since it was windy enough for it to be blown away so I felt like I didn�t have adequate sun protection.

Beach at Udo

Haenyeo statue

Someori Oreum (Udobong Peak)

I would really recommend not driving a car around U-do but renting some form of bicycle so you can stop frequently and get down the narrow streets conveniently to see the stunning views. We stopped at a Marilyn Monroe themed cafe (phone number: 2823 0170) and had the famous U-do peanut ice cream and toast with homemade honey peanut butter. Both were so good but the ice cream was especially refreshing after hours in the sun.

Marilyn Monroe themed cafe

We returned the bike in the late afternoon and took the ferry back to Seongsan. Driving the car out of the parking lot was a bit chaotic because many people were leaving at once and you had to go one by one to pay the parking fee. We drove back to Jeju City where we were staying for the night at Jeju KAL Hotel. It was a big hotel that was nicer and grander than the Seogwipo KAL Hotel but also quite old. As well, WiFi was not free in the room and the air conditioning didn�t work so it was stuffy. Fortunately we were on the 18th floor so we could open the windows without bugs flying in to get some fresh air.

View from Jeju KAL Hotel

We returned the rental car and came back to town for dinner. The area around the Jeju City Hall was crowded with many people and most recognizably, students in their uniforms. We opted for a second floor restaurant and tried a new Korean trend food that was like hotpot chicken and udon with your choice of toppings such as cheese, octopus or shrimp. Banchan included rotini pasta, cubed radish and sliced radish instead of the traditional kimchi variety. We were given lettuce leaves, seaweed, mayonnaise and fish roe to wrap our meat with. It was definitely not traditional Korean food but still tasted pretty good, albeit too spicy for me.

The shops in the area were opened until 12am and the underground mall shops were opened until 10pm. Although Jeju City is considered more countryside compared to Seoul, it had all the popular Korean shops that tourists would want to shop at including Innisfree, Aritaum, Nature Republic, etc. There was definitely more choice in the city but at the airport, it was cheaper at the duty free store. I found the same foundation for about 9,000 won less at the airport than in Aritaum in Jeju City.

We flew out of Jeju at 7am the next morning and I want to prepare readers for the crowds. We thought it wouldn�t be that busy with such an early flight but we were wrong. We had to wait quite a while to check-in and we didn�t even have check-in luggage to deal with. Then the queue to pass security was very long and unorganized because people kept cutting queue.

Nonetheless, I�m glad that the majority of our Jeju trip was outside of Jeju City where we met friendly people and didn�t have to deal with queuing or shopping troubles with other tourists. We drove freely on the island and was able to see a lot at a pace that was comfortable for us.

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

Jeju 4-Day Itinerary: Day One

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

Beautiful Jeju

We took a red eye flight from Hong Kong to Jeju with HK Express. This was my first time flying with this airline and I thought my experience was fine because I had the right expectations for a budget airline. No snacks, water or blankets were provided but it was only a three hour flight. They were the most lenient budget airline regarding baggage allowance that I have flown with. We each had a backpack for this short trip and one hand carry bag. The lady at the check-in counter only asked to weigh the hand carry bag. At first I was a bit worried about going over the 7kg limit for carry on items but it turns out that I didn�t need to worry at all.

However, I would not necessarily recommend using this airline if you have small children. Check-in in Hong Kong required going to their counter in Terminal 2 then walking back to Terminal 1 for the gate. We were told their counter at Terminal 2 closed at 12am. Our flight was at 2am so I wonder what happened to the people who thought they could check in after 12am. Hong Kong Airport was very convenient and the walkways from Terminal 1 to 2 were easy but it could be a hassle with small children and luggage.

I thought the timing was good to not waste time and start exploring Jeju right away.  We flew out of Hong Kong at 2am and landed in Jeju at 7am local time. Jeju is one hour ahead of Hong Kong. At the airport, we ate our first Korean meal at the food court and I napped while waiting for the Lotte Rent-A-Car shuttle bus to begin running at 8am.

The Korean rental car companies had booths inside the airport but the ones that were more foreigner oriented (aka offered their services in languages other than Korean) were off-site and required a shuttle bus to get to their office. Since we don�t read or speak Korean, we could only choose among the rental car companies with English websites. We chose Lotte Rent-A-Car in the end because their website was the most user-friendly and the price was pretty comparable to other companies.

The first step to renting a car in Jeju was to get our International Drivers Permit (IDP) in our home city, then we could register to reserve a car online. The process at the rental company was easy and the lady behind the counter spoke English fairly well. If fact, many people in the service industry we encountered in Jeju either spoke English or Mandarin, if not both. Adding a second driver was free.

She directed us outside to where the car was parked and a man with a tablet walked around with us to check the scratches that were already on the car and marked them off on his tablet. He demonstrated to us how to use the Korean GPS. From the website, I thought we would be getting an English GPS and I was only half right. The GPS menu was only written in Korean but the voice navigation had an English option. That part was a bit confusing because keying in locations was easy but using the functions such as �Search Nearby� or going back to the last address was difficult because we couldn�t read the menu! We rented a KIA Soul and the total came to about 200,900 won for 3.5 days.

It was easy to use the Korean GPS because we just had to key in the phone number of the place we wanted to go to. Although we did buy a data SIM card for this trip, Google Maps was barely helpful compared to the Korean GPS. Google Maps did not have a lot of the places we wanted to go to even though they were popular tourist destinations! As well, free WiFi was available at most locations that we stopped at. Many did not even require logging in or registering after connecting to the WiFi.

Our first stop was to Hallim Park ???? (phone number: 796 0001) in west Jeju.  Admission to the park was 10,000 won per person. We saw many dol hareubang ????? which were stone statues wearing bowler hats and considered protectors of the island. There were many types of flowers and trees in the garden. We went through three limestone caves which were much cooler inside compared to the warm outdoors. 

Hallim Park

Cave at Hallim Park

When we finished the park, we walked across the street to the beach. The white sand paired with the black rocks against the blue ocean and clear sky made a beautiful picture. That was the first of many beautiful beach sightings on this Jeju trip.

Beach across from Hallim Park

We went back to the car, keyed in the phone number for a restaurant for lunch and set off. That was when we encountered a problem with our GPS. We realized that the voice navigation was in Korean even though the man at the rental company had set it to English for us. We pulled up at a gas station and tried to use Google Translate to go through the menu word by word for 30 minutes. I didn�t exaggerate the time it took. We couldn�t find it and in the end we asked a nice lady at the gas station. She didn�t speak much English but she understood what we wanted and called the rental company for instructions on how to change the voice navigation back to English. It turned out that the GPS reset every time we turned off the car. We learned how to choose the English option from her and thanked her for the help. I wished I was aware of this so that I could have asked the people at the rental company to show me how before we drove off.

For lunch, we had the famous BBQ pork and naengmyeon (cold noodles). It was so delicious and our table was filled with dishes of banchan and various vegetable leaves to wrap our sizzling meat. After all the fatty meat, I thought I would be too full for the naengmyeon but I was not. There were actual ice cubes floating in the broth to keep it cool. The julienned cucumbers, gochujang paste, egg and noodles mixed together created an appetizing and refreshing bowl perfect for the warm weather. I finished close to a whole bowl by myself. Eating meat was pricier than eating seafood on Jeju Island and our meal with 3 portions of BBQ pork and 2 bowls of naengmyeon came to about 75,000 won.

BBQ Pork

Naengmyeon

After a satisfying lunch, we went to a beach nearby with lots of squid hanging to dry. There were also wind turbine visible in the area. 

Wind turbine

We drove to the centre of the island to Hallasan National Park ??????? (phone number: 713 9950) and arrived at about 3pm. The hiking trail said it was closed for the day. My guess was that since it takes 5 hours to hike to the summit, they didn�t want people on the mountain if they couldn�t make it back before the sun set at 7pm.

We drove to our hotel, Seogwipo KAL Hotel in south Jeju. The hotel wasn�t walking distance to much nearby and was quite old. It was probably a nice hotel back in the day but it hasn�t been upkept very well despite the KAL name. Carpets were stained and tiles were obviously patched. It was clean but felt very worn in and not worth the higher price point. At least there was free WiFi, which was not available at another KAL hotel we stayed at later in the trip.

That�s the end of our first day in Jeju! After a day of great weather, we were met by heavy rain and wind the next two days.

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

Jeju 4-Day Itinerary: Day Two

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

Checking the weather forecast yesterday, we knew that it would rain starting from the afternoon. Fortunately when we went to our first stop of the day, it wasn�t raining yet. We went to Jeongbang Waterfall ???? (phone number: 760 6341). It looked like two chopsticks of water. There were haenyeo ?? (women sea divers) who were grilling and selling the seafood they had caught. We didn�t eat there but it would have been a pretty cool experience to eat fresh seafood sitting on little plastic chairs on the black rocky coast by the waterfall.

Jeongbang Waterfall

We started driving to Yongmeori Coast ????? (phone number: 760 6321) and that was when the rain started. This weather was a drastic change from the sunshine of yesterday with the strong pelting rain and wind that blew water to soak your entire body. I went to Jeju at the beginning of May but I was told by someone who went in the summer that the wind was just as strong. For a trip to Jeju, I�d recommend being prepared and bringing a windbreaker along with t-shirts even if you�re travelling during warmer months. Of course, it is important to wear closed toe shoes to explore the rocky coasts and mountains.

When we reached Yongmeori Coast (cost 1000 won to park) it was raining very hard. We made an attempt to walk in the direction of the trail but the weather was too poor and the short walk down the first flight of stairs already had us soaked. We turned around and went into a cafe that looked out onto the sea to enjoy a cup of coffee and citron tea. It would have been a nice view if we could see anything beyond the grey cast.

Not knowing when the rain would stop, I looked up a place for us to have lunch. I had no problem with eating at a restaurant that was not famous but since we couldn�t read the Korean signs, I had no way of figuring out what food the shop sold when we were driving past restaurants. Knowing that abalone porridge was a must-eat when in Jeju, I searched for a restaurant and found one mentioned in a blog.

The restaurant�s name was ????? (cheonjeyeontosog; phone number: 733 1966) and was located nearby the Cheonjiyeon Falls ?????. The restaurant had many pictures with labels in Korean, English and Chinese so we knew what we were ordering. There were several other restaurants that sold similar food in the area so you can take a look.

Abalone porridge

Abalone Seafood Hot Pot

We ordered an abalone porridge and an abalone seafood hot pot which was plenty for the three of us. The abalone porridge was good but not that special despite being famous. I found that I liked the abalone hot pot much better although it was too spicy for us. There were 10 fresh abalone in the pot along with crab, shrimp, mussels, clams and bean sprouts. We ordered rice on the side to eat along with the delicious soup base. It was the perfect warm meal for the cold, rainy afternoon.

Finishing our meal, we went to Saeyeon Bridge ??? close by (phone number: 760 3471). It connected Seogwipo Harbour and Saesom (Bird Island). Fortunately for us, the rain stopped by the time we finished lunch so we could walk around. It was a nice pedestrian bridge and it was also referred to as Lovers Bridge.

Saeyeon Bridge

Next on our list was Seopjikoji ???? which was well known as the place where the 2003 Korean drama, All In, was filmed. In the drama, a white church was perched on the hill but when we went, it was replaced by a white building that resembled ice cream. Although it wasn�t raining anymore, it was extremely windy when we were walking along the coast. The beautiful scenery was worth the deafening wind but I definitely wished that I had a knit hat to protect my head - a regular hat would have just blown away! I got a headache due to the strong wind because I wasn�t prepared.

Seopjikoji

Windy day at Seopjikoji

We drove to Seongsan ?? as the sun was beginning to set and took pictures in the canola flower fields on the side of the road. They are also called rape seed flowers and it cost 1000 won per person to enter the field.

Canola flower field

This evening and the next, we stayed at Breeze Bay Hotel. It was not in the very centre of town but was less than a 5 minute drive away from the base of Seongsan Ilchulbong ????? so I would consider it very well located if you�re driving. The hotel was quite new with pretty large rooms, large bathrooms, free WiFi and free onsite parking.

Sunset from Seongsan

After dropping off our things at the hotel, we went into town to look for dinner. A lot of the restaurants served what we had already eaten (i.e. BBQ pork and seafood pots) so when we saw a sign that said Big Hit Chicken (BHC) it occurred to me to try the famous Korean fried chicken! Sure enough, BHC was a franchise that sold fried chicken with Jun Ji-hyun as the spokesperson. She made fried chicken look so delicious in the drama, My Love from the Star. We ordered a whole boneless chicken with fried rice cake covered in sweet and savoury sauce and it only came to 19,500 won. I watched as the girl with gloves took the freshly fried chicken and coated each piece with sauce. It was such thorough work that the wait was worthwhile for this delicious meal. The chicken was hot in temperature and spiciness level and the fried rice cake was chewy and not at all overcooked. I wish we had fast food this good in Canada!

Fried chicken and beer

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

Jeju 4-Day Itinerary: Day Three

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City

We had planned to go to Udo today but the wind was too strong when we looked out the hotel room window so we changed our plans. We drove to Sangumburi Crater ???? (phone number: 783 9900) which had an admission fee of 6000 won per person. The wind was so strong when we parked there that we had to be careful getting in and out of the car incase the door was blown closed on our limbs!

Sangumburi Crater

Windy day at Sangumburi Crater

The crater is a natural monument and is an extinct volcano that did not spew lava (or not much) thus making it unique. The walk up to the crater was made easier because the wind blew my body up the slope. It also made it harder to aim for the steps when coming down though. It was so windy up by the crater that I had to yell to talk but the scenery was gorgeous and vast. A famous k-drama was filmed here but I couldn�t read the sign to know what its name was. Just like at Seopjikoji, I wished that I had a warm hat to protect my head from the wind knocking it around. It would also keep my hair at bay instead of flying in different crazy directions.

For lunch we went to ??????? (bijalimkkwong yolijeom, phone number: 783 3888) which I found from Eat Your Kimchi�s video and blogpost on Jeju. Their video will make you want to visit Jeju! This traditional restaurant was run by one granny who did not speak any English. Luckily, I had photos on my phone to show her what I wanted to order. Her restaurant only served pheasant hot pot and bingddeok ? ? so don�t worry about the language barrier over the menu.

Bingddeok restaurant

Course 1: pheasant hot pot

Course 2: Bingddeok

Course 3: Buckwheat noodles and dumplings

Our three course meal started with a hotpot of many vegetables and raw pheasant on the side. We boiled the meat in the simple but fragrant broth and wrapped it in vegetables to eat. This was the only meal that we had in Jeju that was not spicy and I really appreciated that. Following the hotpot she served us bingddeok which was buckwheat pancake wrapped around sesame oil marinated radish. It was made fresh and, though simple in flavour, it was refreshing with the soft pancake and sweet radish.

Lastly after we finished the hotpot, she exchanged it for another hotpot that had bones with some meat attached of the pheasant that we ate in the first hotpot. In addition there were vegetables, handmade dumplings and handmade buckwheat noodles. Despite their irregular shape due to being handmade, I really enjoyed the noodles with their al dente texture that absorbed the flavours of the broth. It was a great end to the meal and left us very satisfied. The three course set cost 45,000 won.

We were the only people in the restaurant and although we couldn�t speak to each other at all, the granny was friendly and showed us how to eat each course. I�m glad that I took Simon and Martina�s recommendation and came here! Though I do have to point out that parking was difficult in this backroad restaurant location. There were only parallel parking spots on the narrow road available.

Leaving the restaurant, we drove to Yongduam Rock ??? (Dragon Head, phone number: 728 3918) which had many tourists around. We saw haenyeo ?? (women sea divers) again selling fresh seafood. After snapping a few photos, we got back in the car and drove to Mysterious Road (phone number: 728 2755). This road created an optical illusion where it seemed like things were rolling uphill. I couldn�t really see it but others got out of their cars and bent down on the side of the road to examine the optical illusion.

Yongduam Rock

Mysterious Road was not far from Jeju City so we drove there to visit Dongmun Market ?????? (phone number: 752 3001). We passed by a food stall selling tteokbokki, gimbap and other snacks with a long queue. When we got closer, we saw that they had pictures up of when the popular k-variety show, Running Man, visited their shop.

Dongmun Market

Tteokbokki shop visited by Running Man

Running Man photos displayed at the shop

We got tteokbokki ??? from another shop further into the market and it was so good. It was served with egg and fishcake and the rice cake was longer than the kind they sell in Korean restaurants abroad. The rice cake maintained its chewy texture despite being cooked and heated for a long time. Or maybe they were sold faster than I thought and were constantly refilled to the batch. Definitely another yummy snack that I wish was more widely available back home.

Read Day 1 here - Hallim Park, BBQ Pork

Read Day 2 here - Jeongbang Waterfall, Yongmeori Coast, Saeyeon Bridge, Seopjikoji

Read Day 3 here - Sangumburi Crater, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Dongmun Market

Read Day 4 here - Seongsan Ilchulbong, U-do, Jeju City