Apparently there are four primary trails leading up Hallasan that were only created relatively recently as the many free climbing hikers who took to the mountain each day had quickly started to destroy the landscape. Of the four routes, we went with the one most highly recommended by LP and the travel literature on island, the Eorimok Trail. The scenery on this hike is said to be beautiful and it is the most moderate of all the routes taking about 2 1/2 hours to get to the top.
The Yeongsil Trail ends at the same place as the Eorimok but via a substantially easier route. The Gwaneumsa and Seongpanak trail are both over 8.5 km and take a minimum of 4 hours up. Though, the advantage of the later two routes is that one gets to actually summit Hallasan and get a peak into the natural crater lake that has formed on top of the mountain. The former two hikes, including the one we took, do not go all the way to the summit as the trail is temporarily closed, until 2011, to allow regeneration of destroyed wildlife on the western side of the peak. Oh well, maybe we'll make it to the top next time!
After heading into a thick forest, we hiked for about a half kilometer before we were faced with a steep set of ascending stairs made of rock. This, unfortunately, turned out to be about the majority of the hike. Up we climbed, and climbed, and climbed, through thick sub-tropical jungle, continually hoping to get a view out over the south of the island but never actually getting a chance. Climbing higher the forest continued to grow thicker. While an abundance of wildlife is reported to live in the area, it seems as though the majority has learned to stay far away from the hiking trails. That is, except for the giant black magpies.
Finally, after an hour-plus on the natural StairMaster we burst out into a clearing, obviously passing some sort of tree line for the mountain's favorite residents. In only a matter of a few steps we passed from the dark green of a lush forest to a dry and barren gold of drying vegetation! The expanse was startling. For over an hour we could see no more than a few meters in each direction yet now the sky opened above us as though we had stepped into a recently harvested field on the Great Plains.
Big Sky, JejuAfter filling up on spring water we continued onwards at a much more manageable grade. While some of the trail was composed of loosely piled rocks, the majority was actually lifted up above the ground on wooden planks. My guess is that this was done in order to protect the wildlife underneath rather than make the hike easier for, as it seems, Koreans don't really dabble in simplicity when it comes to their hiking. The harder, the better!
Having started out at around 1,100 meters, we eventually made it to the mile high point as averred by the marker seen below.
Mile High in the Jeju SkyWe continued winding our way along the wooden platforms, all lone for the most part except for the occasional herd of school children who would come barreling past in the opposite direction, brushing us off the path as though we didn't exist. Thanks for saying excuse me guys!
In to the distanceWhile I've heard reports, and seen pictures, of Hallasan in bloom, we clearly missed that by a few weeks. All the tall yellow flowers noted for their impressive beauty had since died out and the only real color we were left with were a few blooming rhododendrons located sparsely throughout the climb.
Where are the flowers?After breaking out of the forest, it took just under an hour for us to reach the Witseoreum Shelter, the top of our climb! Here we were afforded a beautiful view of Hallasan's peak but unfortunately, the nearby cliffs rose up to high and prevented us any real view of the sea down below.
Witseoreum, We Made It!Luckily Laura and I had pounded down a pair of gimbap earlier in the morning because the refueling station at Witsereum was rather light. To much on we had a choice between ramyeon, and well, ramyeon. There were choco pies of course for desert but we both opted to pass on the gooey marshmallow treat. Slurping down the last of the noodles, and the high sodium broth, we packed up and headed back down the trail, anxious to get going. Who wouldn't be when your next destination is the high acclaimed resort area of Jungmun Beach!
Back of the mountain we relieved ourselves of a whole lotta spring water then hopped back in the car and shot down cross-island highway 1139 towards Jungmun. Just before pulling into town, we veered off towards the coast to check out the 'legendary' Cheonjeyeon Pokpo (or waterfall).
A three tiered fall, we only managed to visit the top two before deciding that we had conquered more than enough of our fair share of stairs for the day. Anyways, the view from the footbridge spanning the falls was perhaps more spectacular than any view of the falls themselves!
Cheonjeyeon Footbridge
Cheonjeyeon's First FallFrom the falls we took the short drive down towards the beach where we cruised in and out of the different resort complexes. While accommodations such as the Vegas-style Lotte Hotel (pictured below), art-deco Hyatt Regency and chic Silla Jeju were recommended to us by my co-teachers, we figured that 300,000 Won wasn't quite worth whatever they had to offer. Even so, they certainly were worth exploring as the grounds of these three establishments are pristine!
Lotte Hotel was by far the most interesting as it's enormous property is situated on a cliff overlooking Jungmun Beach. The palace-like hotel is further accented by an enormous pool area that includes a paddle-boat pond, mini-volcano and even three enormous Dutch-style windmills.
Lotte Hotel was by far the most interesting as it's enormous property is situated on a cliff overlooking Jungmun Beach. The palace-like hotel is further accented by an enormous pool area that includes a paddle-boat pond, mini-volcano and even three enormous Dutch-style windmills.
The Lotte Hotel, JejuFinally making our way to the beach I'll have to admit that I was far from impressed. Widely recognized as the ritzy-resort area, I assumed Jungmun would be flanked by white sands as far as the eye could see. Rather, the beach reminded me of a wet sandbox that no one really wants to play in. The only truly interesting part about the beach was that is backed up to a lush escarpment that shot up towards the base of the hotels.
Either way, with the sun out and shining we took off for the far end to see what was going on. Although we certainly weren't alone on the beach, it didn't appear as though anyone had come with the idea of 'going to the beach' in mind. Everyone, literally everyone, was fully clothed and most even worse shoes. The few who were braving the chilly sea were equally as covered. From prying eyes or the suns rays I can't say with certainty. Therefore, in an act of defiance, I decided to whip off my shirt and give my torso a good ole' dose of Vitamin D that it has so long craved working under fluorescent lights, my arch nemesis, all day.
Jungmun BeachHaving had enough of the mediocre sand and cold surf we headed topside to check out the small boardwalk. Only a few steps away from the beach access is the Jeju-renowned Pacific Land. This rather small indoor venue hosts a slew of daily wildlife shows using dolphins, sea lions, and monkeys to entertain the masses. While I briefly entertained the thought of attending, as I did miss the dolphin show at Seoul Grand Park, seeing how poorly the animals' living conditions were in their less than capacious outdoor cages was enough to deter us from supporting the place any further. To be honest it looks rather aged and unkempt, almost as though others have begun to frequent it less and less too. . .good going!
Outside Pacific LandGrowing hungry we began to discuss our dinner possibilities. So far, all we had really seen on the island are two choices, hwae, raw fish, or Korean bbq. This is why a sign pointing towards an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet quickly grabbed our attention. While normally such a deal just outside of an animal theme park would seem a bit off putting, the idea of eating fresh seafood while overlooking the sea seemed, well, seaworthy.
Turns out just to get to the restaurant involved a bit of a hike itself as we had to go up down and around and down some more to get to the water front restaurant pictured below. After surveying the place and the menu we decided that the 35,000 was worth it, especially as we had worked up quite a hunger that day. So, we hightailed it to the main office, which also operates the sailing cruises and unfortunately Pacific Land. Inquiring as to making a reservation we were told that there was only one time left available, 5:30. Being 4:30 as it was this seemed like a ridiculous notion, especially as we had yet to find a hotel and showers were certainly in order. We did after all climb to 1,700 meters earlier in the day!
We politely declined and turned away disheartened right before I dashed back inside and assured them that we'll be there. All but picking Laura up and throwing her in the car I was determined to find a place to get settled and then get back to the Shangri-La Restaurant before 5:30. . .or, at least around then!
The Shangri-La Seafood Buffet from the Jungmun BoardwalkWe both agreed to simply plug in the best sounding LP recommendation to Navi and and just do it. Turns out this was a great idea! The Gold Beach Minbak was no more than a mile up from the beach and our third floor balcony room offered a superb view of the falls, botanical garden and South Sea! For 50,000 this was by far the nicest place we stayed on the island. Might not have compared to Lotte but we still had cash left over for dinner at least!
Gold Beach MinbakIn a random twist of fate, or a meticulously planned maneuver, we somehow both managed to shower, change and make it back to the Shagri-La just after 5:30. While they at first pretended not to acknowledge our hastily made reservation, a quick call to the office top-side straightened everything out and got us a seat, next to the door and across from the waiters table. Hey, you can't win 'em all!
For the next hour 'n a half we dined on an array of seafood treats, some familiar and others, well, anything but! Sashimi and sushi of all varieties, king crab legs, fried octopus, boiled squid, hot chicken wings, seafood filled egg pancakes, noodles, rice, samgyeopsal, jelly fish (which we both did try) and much more! Oh yeah, plus an array of fruit and most importantly, ice cream, for desert! While the seafood wasn't the best I've ever had, it sure beat eating gimbap or another overstuffed night of bbq! Mmm mmm good, and, who can argue with free Cass on tap!
The Shangri-La Yacht and Seafood Club
Lars pounding down the sea creatures!After dinner, trying to move anywhere was like pushing a cruise ship into port with your bare hands. We slowly and uncomfortably ambled up the steps at the beach towards Lotte Hotel to check out the romanticized views. While none of the sunsets on Jeju were spectacular by any means, the final rays of light that came up over the far end of Jungmun did a great job of reminding me why I will always be a sucker for island life!
Sunset on Jungmun Beach
Out to sea. . .Hoping to catch a glimpse of the resort town's nightlife, we ambled from the Lotte to the Shilla and all the way down to the Hyatt in search of something happening. Turns out, nothing was. We ducked in to the casinos at each of the hotels but the two that were open (Shilla's was actually closed) seemed deader than the crab we had just finished eating. So we moved on. Finally, at the end of the road, meaning the Hyatt, we hopped in a luxury taxi and bolted back up towards Golden Beach where we figured we might find something more exciting on the commercial strip. Again, we were wrong. Maybe it was being there mid week, or perhaps the excitement really is all contained within Pacific Land but from what we found, Jungmun was a lot of bark and no bite to follow up!
Time to get to bed, tomorrow we got a big day of rock 'climbing' ahead!
Time to get to bed, tomorrow we got a big day of rock 'climbing' ahead!
Lotte Hotel's windmills at night
3 comments:
nice pictures! Also it awesome to have somebody to go to my country and teach other people about our biggest mountain in south korea! Thank you ^^
You're welcome Angela! I had a wonderful time in Korea and hope that others can learn and benefit from my experiences, shared here! Thank you for commenting. ^^
What was Gold Beach Minbak like? I'm looking for a self-catering place to stay near Jungmun. How far is it to walk/drive here from the Shilla? Do you know if you can book online?
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