Joy & I go to Jeju!
DAY ONE: Sungsan Sunrise Peak, Udo Island
Joy and I started our first day in Jeju by heading to the eastern edge of the island to hike Sunrise Peak on Seongsan Ilchulbong. Seongsan Ilchulbong itself is a volcanic mountain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The hike up took a little under half an hour, including all of the time we spent taking photos along the way. The trail was well-paved and adorned with Jeju's iconic hareubangs - which are the little stone statues that represent their god of protection. They're found all over the island.
At the peak of Seongsan Ilchulbong you get an expansive view of the grassy crater (it's a popular place to watch the sunrise, hence its name). You get a beautiful view of the water and eastern Jeju, it's the perfect hike. We had breakfast at the top before heading back down. Our decent took about 15 minutes.
At the bottom of the mountain, visitors can ride horses and watch the Jeju women divers dip into the ocean.
There's a rich history about Jeju women divers, a community of women who go diving 10m into the ocean to hunt for seafood. They're famous for diving without the help of oxygen masks or any type of technology. Some women divers are 80 years old and can hold their breath for over two minutes!
Before leaving Seongsan Ilchulbong, Joy and I made a quick stop for hallabong ice cream -
Hallabong is a type of mandarin orange, grown in Jeju and named after their mountain, Hallasan.
It tastes like a tangerine, but sweeter.
We walk from Seongsan Ilchulbong all the way to the pier where we bought ferry tickets ($8 roundtrip) to Udo, a tiny island northeast of Jeju.
A plethora of bike rental shops greeted us as we walked off the ferry into Udo. Biking around the island is the most popular activity, and the best way to really experience Udo. We easily biked around the entire island, along the roads next to the beach.
Spending a day in Udo was highly recommended by past Jeju travelers, and after seeing it for myself I can definitely see why. The island is a miniature version of Jeju.
We ended our Udo adventure with peanut ice cream (10/10).
DAY TWO: Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls and Jeongbang Waterfall
In Jeju, as often as you see hareubangs, you'll see stacks of stones. Stacking rocks and stones have couple of different meanings, depending on the stack and location. Locals (and research) say that some stacks are for protection against evil spirits, and some stacks are using as wishing stacks (stacking a stone will grant your wish).
We came across a giant stack of wishing stones and with local instruction, made a wish and stacked our tiny rocks on top.
At sunset, Joy and I went to see Jeongbang Waterfall, Korea's (& maybe Asia's) only waterfall that falls directly to the ocean.
The cliffs and the pine trees that encase the streams helped to make Jeongbang one of the most scenic sites in all of Korea.
DAY THREE: MT. HALLASAN
We hiked South Korea's tallest mountain, it was intense. So wild that it became its own post. Read about it here!
<3,
vic