4 on honeymoon island

Jeju-do oct. 21-25

The last 2 weeks where intense!
Fibi and Ursi came for a visit and therefore there was a lot going on. I'm going to start with our trip to Jeju-do directly after their arrival in South Korea, but stay tuned for all of our adventures!

Located southwest of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju-do is a volcanic island with several Natural World Heritage Sites. It is sometimes referred to as “Samdado Island” (meaning the “three many”) because of its abundance of rocks, women, and wind. Wind from the ocean blows steadily throughout the year and past volcanic activity has littered the island with an assortment of beautiful and unusually-shaped black rocks. The island’s reputation of having an abundance of women points back to the time when fishing was the primary means of income and many men were lost at sea.

I wanted to utilize the last warm Indian summer days and as Jeju is considered as the most favoured holiday location of Koreans I sensed it the perfect place to go.
Betti and I met Fibi and Ursi at Gimpo airport, where Philip, Kate and Susanna were so kind to take their luggage so we could travel to Jeju with light luggage.
A hour-flight and two hours busride later it seemed lighter than it was before though. Probably because Fibi forgot his bag in the bus and although he pulled off an impressive sprint he couldn't stop the bus anymore. So I jumped in front of the next taxi to stop it and started a wild chase through the whole city.
No bus, no bus, no bus, Korean taxidriver pretending to know where to go, no bus, no bus....but then after a while suddenly a buspark. Luckily we saw the busdriver about to turn around a dark corner, probably on his way home. He opened the bus for me and there it was, the missed bag.
Still on adrenaline but relieved we found a very Korean style Mandoo restaurant where Fibi and Ursi had their first Korean food in Seogwipo, a city in the south of the island and our home for the next 2 nights.

After sleeping in we explored Seogwipo, its wonderful waterfalls, had a picnic on Oedolgae, a place from where one has a lovely view over the volcanic cliff coastline, saw a stunning sunset and ate Korean corn and desserts at the Chilsimni festival.It is is Jeju's only comprehensive festival where people can experience the islands beautiful unique lifestyle and culture. It features diverse art and cultural programs, a parade, as well as a variety of hands-on experiences and closes with pompous fireworks.

 

Halla-san, Koreas highest (1950m) mountain, is located on Jeju. The top was our goal of the next day. We got up at 5am, took a bus to the National Park entrance, tried to wake up with an instant coffee and started walking along the trail. What began quite easy, peaceful and mystic because of the misty weather became exhausting, crowded and stormy in the end. After a 4.5 hour hike, a rest with yummy Austrian bread and cheese and one million stairs we reached the crater rim. Unfortuntely the fog blocked the view and we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces and it was too blustery and cold for a nice rest. You can imagine my frustation not finally seeing the crater lake or at least a bit of the crater. But as the saying goes: the journey is the reward!

We hiked almost 20km and 7.5 hours that day, that's a feat for someone unathletic like me!!!

Although our thighs hurt like hell and even getting up from our beds got a challenge we were ambitious enough to get up at 5am again to climb up Ilchulbong, or sunrise peak, a crater that rises 182m straight up from the sea, to see the next day awakening. It was dark, my body was begging for another couple of hours of sleep, but my will was stronger. Ready to overcome the stairs to this volcanic rock I sadly noticed the typhoon outside. At least my body thanked me for getting to bed again.
Later that morning we took advantage of a short rain break to finally climb up sunrise peak and even though we had no sun at all it was a pretty view from up there. Unfashionable but windresistant raincoats kept us dry for the rest of the day.

The end of our trip was the Manjanggul, a lava tube that formes one of the largest its kind, before we head to Jeju-ci, the largest city and entrance to Jeju, where chicken and beer relieved our tortured bodies.

The impressive natureal sites and the laid-back towns along the volcanic rock coast, the black beaches and the warm sea makes this island a experience you shouldn't miss, even when the weather isn't the best.
Find more pics on the right.