Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Jeju (Pt. 2): Seongsan-ri to Seogwipo-si, and Udo Island

Tuesday morning we didn't quite make it up in time for the sunrise hike but it wouldn't have mattered anyways as we were greeted early on by overcast skies and a hazy view. No worries, the sun would soon rise enough to burn off the mist and by then we'd be well on our way to the first full day of Jeju adventuring. Heck, we even did two islands in one day! Enjoy day two from the perspective of Ms. Laura Leigh Black!

Base of Seongsan Ilchulbong Tuff Cone

Driving from our hotel to one of Jeju's three UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites, Seongsan Ilchulbong (sunrise peak in Korean) was only a mere five minutes away. We arrived at the bottom and walked though a little pavilion with souvenir shops only to be met by throngs of South Korean students who were mostly making their way down while we were starting the 20 minute trek up the mountain. The view from the top of the punchbowl shaped crater was fantastic despite the somewhat hazy and windy conditions. The 182 m summit was met with spectacular views of the town Seongsan-ri and sea-cliff exposures that plunged steeply into the sea. We even managed to pass an English speaking family on our way across the top area who were clearly not from the Western Hemisphere.


Windy conditions at the top

On our way down the mountain after making it to the grassy hill that led down to the pavilion, Adam and I broke out in a downhill race. I won, although, he was still injured from soccer so I can't really count that as a win! We grabbed some snacks on our way out at the faithful GS stores which sell everything you could imagine and most of them have outside seating for their customers. We then decided to head over to the ferry terminal to catch a ride out to Udo Island, only 3.5 km off the coast.

Hanging out on the ferry

The ferry terminal was also only 5 minutes away from Sunrise Peak, this was the point when I realized that
Jeju wasn't that big of an island and everything is not nearly as far away from each other as I thought. After parking in the lot with at least a half dozen or so exact replicas of our sweet Hyundai Avante, we walked into what we thought was the ferry terminal. However, little did we know, we were walking into a fish market. Ducking into the next building we finally got it right. A lot of other tourists were taking their cars over, however we decided against it, mostly based on the 25,000 won it would have took to get it over.

Welcome to Udo!

A quick ferry ride of about 15 minutes and we made it to Udo Island! Not really having a clue of where to go or what to see, as the map that we were given at the terminal was entirely in Korean, we walked down the ferry ramp expecting to walk around the island. Immediately after exiting we saw a scooter rental place! After asking the rental price I was informed that it was 15,000 won for 1 hour. Seeming to be a good deal in my eyes, I eagerly replied yes and then was told that it would be 15,000 for 2 hours. The three old and somewhat crippled men in charge definitely sold me. Adam was however rightfully cautious as he was going to be the one driving me while I just got to sit back and enjoy the ride. But before you know it he was taking the scooter for a test spin.

Adventuring on
Udo...
Awesome helmets!

1st stop at Korea's only coral beach!

(picture taken by our Korean 'tour guides,' meaning the cute couple on a scooter ahead of us whom we continued to follow, at a distance)

Our first lighthouse stop

Housing

We definitely saw more haenyo on Udo Island than anywhere else in Jeju. We drove by these old women in wetsuits walking or riding a scooter fresh from their most recent dive. We saw some of their catches being laid out right on the side of the road. It's amazing that these women can hold their breath for up to 2 minutes under water!

Lovely haenyo statue in the middle of a rocky beach

Upon passing the South Korean couple whom we were following, we luckily avoided the awkwardness of deciding who goes first when they pointed for us to go to the road behind them. There was a lighthouse out on the point but the pathway was covered by the rising tide and blocking our passage to the second lighthouse for the day.

Poppies

However, I had a better idea. Since there was no one around and ample open space, I decided to try and drive the scooter. This task is definitely not easy to maneuver, I can't imagine those food delivery boys that speed though red lights on their scooters in Seoul. I couldn't even get the thing going without Adam standing next to me holding up the scooter so I didn't fall! After deciding against me driving any further we stopped to find a beautiful poppy field in full bloom.

Cliffs of Udo

We parked our scooter and walked down to explore the beautiful cliff sides of
Udo Island. This was the third and biggest lighthouse on the island. However, we tried to make our way to Lighthouse Point, only to have turned down 2 wrong roads which lead us first to a water treatment plant and then right back where we started. Having never found the correct road we decided to return our scooter with only about 40 minutes left before the next ferry departed.

Tractor contraption on our way to return the scooter

After returning the scooter we watched as one old man refilled the gas by water bottle while simultaneously smoking a cigarette. We then decided to walk 10 minutes on the road from which we had just come from to stop at a store for some snacks. We ended up sharing ramyeon and watching other tourists fly down the steep road on bikes, scooters, or ATVs. However, one Japanese tourists presumably hit the brakes on his bike too hard and ended up taking a nasty fall, one in which the ambulance had to be called. We then headed back to the ferry and left about 15 minutes early because the ambulance insisted on leaving as soon as possible with the injured tourist.

Goodbye
Udo!

Onto our next stop San-Gumburi Crater. After taking the inter-island road 1119 and the hopping over to the 97 we were there. After paying 6,000 won to enter, we were greeted with loud music and virtually no one around. However scenic the volcanic cone may have been in the misty weather, I don't know quite what the hype was for this national monument as couldn't see any of the various animals that supposedly lived in the crater.


Top of San-Gumburi Crater

Looking down into the crater

Continuing our coastal trek around the island we decided to stop at Pyoseon Beach which LP claims when the tide is low has vast expanses of white sandy beach. After grabbing some coffee at a GS in the town of Pyoseon, we parked and walked out to the beach. About a hundred or so Korean students were playing around in the cold water and being whistled at to come back to their buses. As soon as we reached the ocean it started pouring!

Pyoseon Beach

Sprinting back was quite the challenge as the small puddles of water on the sand had now become large, deep pools of water. After making it back to the car drenched we decided to go in search of the infamous hamburger that's big enough to feed four people, according to LP. After following the vague LP directions, we thought we had found it but it ended up being closed (or so we thought...more on our hamburger quest later!)

Fallin'

Off to
Seogwipo, Jeju's second largest city for our second night in Jeju. We wanted to stop at the popular waterfalls in the city so after seeing a sign for them we parked in a small lot, jumped a barrier and walked through a deserted botanical garden area overlooking cliff sides. When we finally reached the parking lot to Cheonjiyeon Falls, we realized that we were clearly in the wrong place and walked back to get the car and go to the right parking lot.

Cheonjiyeon Falls

Supposedly one of the only waterfalls on Jeju that runs directly into the ocean, though as you can see, it actually falls first into a small lagoon that then drains out to the sea.

After a long day of adventuring, we wanted to call it a day and find a hotel. After visiting two hotels suggested by LP, we decided to try a third one (thanks to the help of our trusty Navi). Named the Bally Hotel, it was much more centrally located than the first two and we had no problem paying the 40,000 won. True to LP, the hotel was "more business hotel than love motel." Obviously whoever wrote that didn't get the room with the circular bed in which Adam's feet hung over. We finished off the day by walking through a fish market (I'm bummed I forgot my camera) and then I tried cheese rabokki for the first time for dinner. The sheer amount of food that one can order for the price is astonishing!

After dinner we decided to walk around
Seogwipo. Deciding to duck out of the rain we went into a place called the Cool Hof where we tried Mt. Halla soju for the first time. I couldn't really taste the difference, but then again, I'm a soju newbie. After leaving the hof, we walked 90% of the way home and then couldn't figure out where we were so we got a cab. Little did we know we arrived at our hotel before the meter even made its first tick...who knows what the price was for this ride! That's the end to our fabulous day 2 on Jeju! Thanks for listening!!

Your Adventurous Reporter, Laura!

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