Sorry! I’ve been busy with school work and I didn’t bring my laptop to Jeju Island.
Day#19-22: These days were just full of studying for Korean Vocabulary quiz and writing my midterm paper for the Hallyu: The Korean Culture Wave class. It was pretty tough, and the night before was spent at Cafe Arvo having some Iced Citron Tea. That morning, I had coffee from a new place and I ordered a Caramel Machiatto. I also had my first jajangmyun at a close by place, but I thought it was bland. I’m not so sure if that’s what it was supposed to taste like though. Anyways, I don’t know if it was the coffee, the tea, or just worry about the midterm, but I couldn’t sleep until 6am. I lied in bed and rolled around hoping to fall asleep. I woke up early to do laundry and pack because I was leaving on Thursday night for Jeju. The day went slowly, and there was a short blackout in class. We all hoped that it wouldn’t turn back on so that we could end class early, but those wishes never come true. I left Korean class an hour early during one of our breaks, but I had already told my Professor that I had to leave for Jeju beforehand, so she was like “Go, have fun!” We took a taxi there with three people to Gimpo airport, and suprisingly, the sun and the clouds were finally visible in Seoul. The price came out to be about ~5,000 won each person and only a 20 minute ride. We arrived quite early, and the security checks and all that were so quick. It was funny because I poured out all my water thinking that it wasn’t allowed through the check, but people had coffee and drinks in their hands walking through the metal detector. My friend also had large bottles of toiletries in her carry-on backpack. However, it was for Domestic flights, so maybe that was why security was not very tight, but I was surprised. We flew with the company called T’way and everything waent quickly and smoothly. I would actually say, don’t go two hours early because you won’t know what to do with your time waiting. The flight was only 1 hour long and the flight attendants provide one drink along the way unless you ask for more. I just went to sleep because I was so tired from the staying up most of the night.We stayed at the Rainbow Guesthouse at Jeju and paid 80,000 won for 4 nights. They include free breakfast and picked us up at the airport. They also have wifi, towels, hairdryers, hangers, and little closets to store your valuables. It was a nice experience for my first time in a hospital because everything was cute and they had small lounges on the first and second floor. They also had tea bags and coffee bags. There were 6 people in each room with three bunkbeds and only one bathroom. I wasn’t happy about staying with other people because I don’t want to disturb strangers and vice versa, but everything was okay. We slept late to plan out what we were doing on the island. We also had samgyupsal for dinner, and it was so good! I have pictures!
Day 23 (HIKING MT. HALLA): We got up around 8:30AM to have breakfast and take showers before heading out because the night before was too late. We didn’t get out until ~10 and we headed to the intercity bus terminal to take us to the entrance of the hiking trails of Mt. Halla. On the way to the bus terminal, we also bought some snacks, and I have discovered the amazing banana cheetos (banana puffs with no cheese). They aren’t The bus leaves every hour, and we paid only about 1,500 won. The bus ride was ~50 minutes and we got off at the Eurimok Trail to head up to the mountain(?). IT WAS GRUELING. Even though there was shade most of the time, I got burnt, and unevenly burnt. Thank goodness my face didn’t burn though. It was about a 2km hike up and we didn’t go all the way because there was a couple that said the Yeongsil trail, which we wanted to take down was closed. A lot of family were also turning around, so we just turned around, but one of the girls in our group likes to hike, so she went further up and found that the trail wasn’t closed. They were talking about another one. Anyways, Igot burnt because I didn’t expect the sun to be so strong. I did reapply suncreen many times, but the result was still terrible. We all faced the wrath of the sun, and thank God I brought Aloe Vera from Nature Republic! It was a life saver and all four of us needed to keep applying the Aloe when we were back at the hostel. The trail consisted of a long hike (not really a hike since basically stairs were there, more like climbing tons of stairs) but it was hard to catch my breath and like it was so hot and carrying my schoolbag was a burden. However, the hike was really scenic and beautiful. Coming back down was also terrible because we were already so tired and our knees had to take all of the pain! We waited for a bus and then when we were at the intercity bus terminal again, we took a taxi to have some Indian food. Seeing as we haven’t had a meal for the whole day (except for my eggs and toast for breakfast) I split a two person meal with my friend and that stuff was amazing! Tandoori Chicken, Samosa, one prawn, CURRY! it was a sweeter one, that we had with nan and the food was just delicious and sooooo filling. The day was so tiring, but it was so hard to sleep at night because the ac was located at the foot of my friend’s bed and it got too cold for her the night before so she had shut it off. I am on another top bunk so it was still really hot even when she turned it back on so I just slept on the floor until around 5Amwhen my bed finally felt the cool air.
Day#24(Waterfalls, Beach, Black Pig Samgyupsal): Had breakfast again and I made scrambled eggs with some orange juice and buttered toast. As always, eggs are good. We had to take the intercity bus again and the sights were beautiful. However, there were many stairs again and our legs were just on fire. We went to a waterfall first and then headed to the beach. At the beach we paid 40,000 won (we get 10,00 back) for a table because they have like tables with umbrellas ready and you can sit there the whole day. It was beautiful and fun, but you couldn’t go very far out because there were ropes to separate people from the surfers. We were wiped out and extra burnt, so off to find food! We had some cold drinks and ice cream/ snacks to cool us off, so we took a taxi to see the cliffs and the view was just amazing. Check out the pictures tomorrow! We had black pig samgyupsal at night and it was reaaaally goood. We took the intercity bus back and we were once again wiped out. We slathered the aloe onto our extra burns and now I have different tan lines haha. Went to sleep after the showers. Oh yeah, we also tried some of the famous tangerines, and they are sweet and basically melt in your mouth. Delicious.
Day#25 (Udo-do Biking): Breakfast, intercity bus, ferry to Udo. We biked around the island in three hours and took beautiful pictures. It was so damn hot, but we did it with many applications of suncreen and breaks. At the end, we took this speed boat like ride to see some sights you cant see when you are on the island itself, so it was really nice. Udo is called that because it looks like a sleeping cow. I also spilled chocolate all over myself. Only this would happen to me haha. The boat felt like it was going to throw me off. It was like a rollercoaster for us on the water which makes it extra scary. We had a spicy fish pot for dinner after we took the ferry back to jeju island. It was good. We did facemasks at night and it was funny. I had a really great time.Maybe some more details tomorrow because I am really tired right now.
Day#26: We had an early flight home. It w as a smooth flight and I was next to the window. When we were back in Seoul, the weather was really dreary and depressing. We took the taxi back, but it was apologize for late posts. Tomorrow, I will upload an outline of what we did on jeju and the prices. I will also have my pictures up on flickr tomorrow. Goodnight y’all!
The most beautiful beach ever. on Udo-do
