This winter break, some friends and I took a six day trip to Jeju Island. Jeju is an island situated south of mainland Korea and is a popular vacation destination amongst Koreans. Ever since I’ve been here, everyone has told me that I must visit Jeju and I’m so glad I finally did.
Our trip lasted six days and since we did so much this post is very long so I apologize in advance :) We flew out of Gwangju at 9:40 on Monday morning and shortly afterward touched down in Jeju around 10:15; it was the quickest flight I’ve ever been on! When stepping out of the airport I noticed two things right away. 1) The fresh air! The sky was so blue and the air quality was amazing! No sign of pollution at all. 2) The palm trees. In front of the airport there were palm trees everywhere. We were definitely on an island :)
Day One
We dropped off our luggage at our Airbnb in Jeju City and then got lunch at a Mexican restaurant nearby. There aren’t many Mexican restaurants in Korea so I was excited to eat Mexican food. After lunch we walked about an hour and a half to go to a traditional market in the city. Although we could’ve taken a bus, we decided to walk in order to see more things in Jeju and experience the fresh air as much as we could. It was also much warmer there than in Gwangju. Throughout our trip it was between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit and usually sunny which was amazing. However, the downside to that was that since Jeju is an island it’s very, very windy which meant it was sometimes chilly.
The market was pretty big and almost overstimulating at times. There were so many smells, people, and things to see. Some of the more common items that were being sold were seafood and oranges. There were piles of crabs, various fish in tanks, and lots of dried fish for sale. Jeju is known for its oranges and some of the stores were solely dedicated to selling orange products like juice, tea, and souvenirs. We ended up buying hotteok from a food stall as a snack. Hotteok is a popular Korean street food that’s essentially a pancake with fillings. This hotteok had brown sugar and nuts inside. It was delicious.
After enjoying our hotteok, we walked a bit further to see the ocean. We ended up on a pier of sorts from which we had a clear view of Mount Halla above us. Hallasan is a shield volcano that makes up the center of the island and is also Korea’s tallest mountain at 1,947 m (6387 ft). It was pretty surreal to look one way and see the ocean and then the other and see this snow covered mountain. And then we headed back to the Airbnb to get groceries and figure out our plan for the rest of the week. It was a good first day!
Day Two
Tuesday was garden day. We left the apartment around 8:30 the next morning to go to our first destination: Yeomiji Botanical Garden. Since it was on the opposite side of the island, the bus took us a little over an hour to get there. Then we walked about ten minutes to get to the entrance. The garden cost 10,000 won ($8.37). I was pleasantly surprised with the garden. As it was winter I wasn’t expecting to see too much in bloom, but there was a large greenhouse that housed several gardens within it. Inside were gardens such as the cactus garden, tropical fruits garden, flower garden, and jungle garden. They also had an area with carnivorous plants which was pretty cool as well as a spiral staircase in the middle of the greenhouse that led to an observatory where you had a great view of the rest of the gardens. My favorite garden was probably the tropical fruits because I liked seeing the different fruits like bananas, papayas, and some I didn’t even recognize. Outside they had more gardens like the Korean, Japanese, French, and Italian gardens. It was a great botanical garden and we spent a few hours there roaming the grounds.
After the garden, we looked at the map and saw we were close to a beach so of course we had to check it out. We walked about 30 minutes (we made a few wrong turns) and then came upon a beautiful beach! It was a deep blue color and it was so relaxing to sit and watch the waves for a bit. We stuck our feet in the water and it was freezing, yet refreshing…kinda.
From there, we took a short taxi ride to Camellia Hill, our second garden of the day. Camellia Hill is a place known for, you guessed it, the beautiful camellias that bloom there. These flowers blossom during the winter months and there are hundreds of variations of them in Jeju. The entrance fee to the garden was 9,000 won ($7.53). It was very busy there and during the beginning of our time there we followed a line of people walking through the camellias. Upon entering, you were immediately surrounded by camellias in various shades of pink and red. As we ventured further into the garden, we came across multiple greenhouses with other flowers, ponds, souvenir shops, and a grass garden which was pretty fun.
When we were done with the garden, we were very tired and we didn’t have enough time to do anything else, so we caught a bus home for the night.
Day Three
Our third day began with a bit of a disappointment as the sculpture park we wanted to visit was closed for renovations. Luckily, right next door was an art museum so we went there instead. Admission was only 1,000 won ($0.84) for youth which were people aged 18-24 years. It was pretty nice to get a discount and good to know for our future admission fees on the island. The museum had multiple exhibitions going on at the time, one of which focused on the Haenyeo, Jeju’s female divers. These women dive 10 meters (30 feet) to collect various marine life like sea urchins and abalones. Some of these divers are 80 years old and have passed their knowledge to younger generations. This exhibit was probably my favorite just because of how much awe I have for the divers.
After the art museum, we took a 40 minute taxi to the O’Sulloc Tea Museum. As we approached the museum, our driver excitedly pointed out the tea fields on either side of the road. I’ve never seen so much tea in my life! There were fields and fields of it in every direction. The museum turned out to be not as much of a museum and more of a gift shop. We were disappointed because we wanted to learn about the process of making tea, but we did enjoy looking at the various tea products and sampling some of it. I got green tea ice cream and it was delicious! We were also able to go walk around in the fields which was also a fun experience.
Since our original plans didn’t take as much time as we’d thought, we quickly found another place to spend the rest of our afternoon: Sanbangsan Mountain. This is a steep, rocky mountain that just appears out of nowhere located right along the coast. At the base of the mountain are two temples, Sanbansa and Bomunsa. A path between the two mountains leads to the Sanbanggulsa Grotto. We took two buses to get there and it took around an hour to arrive. As we got closer to the mountain we saw fields and fields of these beautiful yellow flowers. Many people were taking pictures within the fields so when we got off the bus we thought we should check them out too. We ended up having to pay 1,000 won ($0.84) each to enter the fields, but it was worth it to see the flowers with the mountain in the background.
We finally made it up to the temples and explored those for a bit before walking up the grotto. As we approached the top we heard chanting and we saw a woman praying within the grotto. There was a huge statue of Buddha and candles set around him. It was a cool thing to witness.
From Sanbansan Mountain we walked down to the coast and around the shops in the area. Then, as it was getting late and we had a long ride back home, we caught a bus back for the night.
Day Four
This was my second favorite day because we were able to see many different landscapes on the island. We started off by taking two buses to the Manjanggul Lava Tube. It took us about an hour and half to get there, but the drive was along the coast so it was absolutely beautiful. The Manjanggul Lava Tube is basically a long tunnel that had been formed thousands of years ago by lava traveling through it. It’s very well preserved making it an important place for scientific research. The total length of the tube is about 7.4 km (4.6 miles) and at some places its width is 18 m (59 feet) and height is 24 m (75 feet). It is multilayered and because the ceiling collapsed in certain areas it has three entrances. Tourists are only able to enter the second entrance and are allowed to walk 1 km (0.6 miles) into the tunnel. Entrance to the tube was 2,000 won ($1.68).
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the lava tube exceeded my expectations. Right away, it felt otherworldly and I could almost imagine the lava rushing through the tunnel. It was extremely dark inside even with lights helping to guide the way. It was also pretty damp too and water droplets would often fall from the ceiling. The tube would narrow in some places and then open up in others. On the walls you could see ledges formed by the lava levels called lava shelves. There were also lava rafts, which are bits of rocks that were carried in the lava before stopping and lava toes, which are the ends of slow-moving lava flow that eventually become immobile. At the end of the kilometer walk, we saw a lava column. This is what Manjanggul Lava Tube is famous for as this lava column is the highest known lava column in the world at 7.6 m (24.9 ft). Overall, I greatly enjoyed the lava tube because it was unlike anything I’d ever seen.
Following the trip to the lava tube, we took a bus to Woljeongri Beach where we had lunch. The restaurant we ate at was right along the beach so we had a beautiful view of the ocean while we were eating. Although we didn’t spend much time at this beach, it might have been my favorite just because of its bright blue color. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen water that particular blue and it was stunning.
From the beach we took another hour-long bus to our final destination for the day: Seongsan Ilchulbong. Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone formed by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. It’s located right along the coast and is similar to Sanbansan Mountain because it seems to appear out of nowhere. It’s also known as Sunrise Peak because it is the easternmost point of Jeju.
You are allowed to hike to the top of the peak which is what we decided to do. Admission to hike to the top was 5,000 won ($4.20) There was also a path that was free to walk and it led down to the area where the Haenyeo, jeju’s female divers, usually work. For whatever reason, COVID or it being winter, they weren’t diving that day so we weren’t able to see them. However, we really enjoyed being able to walk around on the beach and look at the sea beds. We saw a lot of wildlife such as hermit crabs, urchin, and a thing I called a sea slug. I’m pretty sure that’s not the right name for it, but it’s what it looked like. There were also thousands of shells along the shore that were mainly intact. I’d never seen so many big shells like that.
We finally, and almost reluctantly, made our way from the shore to the hiking path. It was a pretty steep ascent as most Korean trails have proven to be, but luckily it only took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top. At the top, there were multiple seating areas that all faced the giant crater that was the peak. It was cool, but kind of disappointing just because there wasn’t much to see. However, I think the views from the hike going both down and up were well worth the money and time we spent there.
After the hike, I bought some Jeju orange juice because you can’t visit Jeju without trying it. It lived up to all my expectations and was probably the best orange juice I’ve had. To end our longest travel day yet, we caught an hour and a half bus and then took a 40 minute taxi before finally getting home. What a good day!
Day Five
Friday was my favorite day of the entire trip. We only had one thing on our agenda: hiking at Hallasan National Park. Our original plan had been to hike one of the two longer trails to get the peak, however, we weren’t aware that you had to make reservations to hike those trails and the trails were already at capacity when we tried. Instead we decided to hike the Yeongsil Trail which was a recommendation from a friend.
We started our day around 8:30 and after a very crowded hour bus ride with many other hikers we arrived at the lower parking lot for Yeongsil Trail. On the bus ride there we’d started in Jeju City where there was no snow at all, but as we moved higher and deeper into the national park there was a thick layer of snow everywhere. I was a bit concerned because none of us had ever hiked in snow before and my friends didn’t have crampons. One of my coworkers had lent me hers so I was all set, but I was worried that the path would become too dangerous for my friends.
After getting dropped off at the first parking lot, we had to walk 2.5 km (1.5 miles) up a windy, icy road to get to the actual trailhead. Luckily, once we got to the trailhead there was a store that sold hiking equipment and my friends were able to buy crampons. From there we were all set!
Our hike began through a snowy forest of red pines. We passed a ruler in the snow and it said there were 10 inches of snow on the ground. We walked in the forest for maybe a kilometer or so before starting an uphill climb. This was the point where the crampons became absolutely necessary. Without the crampons, we would not have been able to hike at all. At this point if the trail had been clear of snow I think we would have been walking up stairs, but with all the snow it was just a ramp instead which made it much easier to climb. We climbed upwards for about 45 minutes and had a great view of the mountains around us. It was very cool to see the snowy peaks and the frozen waterfalls as I’d never hiked in these conditions before.
Once we reached the top of the stairs, we came upon a bit of plateau or alpine plain of sorts that was filled with trees and bushes. On our hike up the trail had been very busy, but when we reached this part it was quiet. We walked maybe 15 minutes through this forest before reaching a clearing where we had an unreal view of Mount Halla. It was absolutely stunning! It felt like we were on a different planet; there were these huge snow-covered plains and then this gigantic volcano in the distance. Amazing. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
We walked around the top for a bit and then decided to turn around since it was getting late. The way down was nice because it wasn’t as busy as before so we were able to pick up the pace a bit. However, since it was fairly warm out and sunny, the snow had melted and become slushy which made the decline a bit slippery. All in all, it was one of the coolest hikes I’ve been on just because it was a completely new experience for me.
When we got back home, we went out for Korean BBQ to celebrate our last night in Jeju and to try some black pork. Black pork is famous in Jeju and all of my students said I need to try it. It was pretty good, but I couldn’t tell the difference from other types of BBQ I’ve had here. It was a great way to end our last full day in Jeju!
Day 6
During the last day, we faced that travel dilemma of wanting to do some things, but not wanting to get too far away from the airport just in case something happened. So we had a late start to our day and headed to the traditional market to get some doughnuts from a stall we’d seen earlier in the week. Then we searched for these cute horse-shaped lighthouses that we’d seen pictures of everywhere. There is a horse breed called, “Jejuma,” that is native to Jeju which explains the shape of the lighthouses. The lighthouses were cool and ended up being by a popular beach so there were some restaurants and shops nearby.
After seeing the lighthouses, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and then went to the airport to catch our flight back to Gwangju.
This was such a great trip and each day we discovered a new part of Jeju. It was my favorite place I’d visited so far and I highly recommend you to visit if you ever have the opportunity!
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