Honestly, I didn't have any intention to go to South Korea again so soon since I've been there once in 2012. However, at my youngest sister's persuasion, I relented and thought "heck why not" - and so we bought our tickets and packed our bags for another Seoul & Jeju adventure (this time with a different sister!).
I've noticed that AirAsia tickets have progressively become more expensive - their luggages are becoming more expensive and restrictive in terms of booking. Our tickets ended up being RM950 per pax, whereas we managed to get a ticket at RM700 (inclusive of luggage) a few years back. Obviously I can't complain too much since that's still cheaper than most of the other competitors - but if you do manage to score a Malaysia Airlines flight at like RM1200, you might as well splurge on that.
We arrived in Seoul sometime in the evening. After topping up my old T-Money card, we hopped onto the AREX train and set off to Hongdae, where we would be leaving our luggage with our Airbnb before making our way to Jejudo on the next day via JejuAir. Fyi, JejuAir actually has a pretty generous free checked baggage allowance (15kg for checkin luggage), but we decided to pack light for the 3D2N stay.
JEJU DAY 1
Jeju Cherry Blossom Street, Gasiri Village Canola Blossom Field, Jeju Folk Village Museum, Seongsan Ilchulbong, Seopjikoji Coast, Weoljeongri Beach, Dongmun Traditional Market & Underground Market
Jejudo is a self-governing island approximately 400+km away from Seoul. You don't need a visa to visit (although there are exceptions for certain countries), and it's a highly recommended side-trip from Seoul if you have enough time and money to spare. I would honestly recommend allocating at least 3 to 5 days to experience what Jejudo has to offer. Preferably 5 days because I can't seem to get enough of Jeju!
I decided to book Mr. Kim's service for our 2 days Jeju tour, since I was really happy with our previous tour guide's service when we were in Jeju back in 2012. Mr. Kim picked us up directly from the airport and stopped by our hostel so that we could drop off our luggage before continuing with the first day of the tour! I swear the Jeju tour guides are the most exemplary tour guides ever - they do everything from driving us around, being our tour guides, taking our photos (unprompted!), even setting up our poses and ensure the landscape is all set up for us, lol. We felt utterly spoiled under Mr. Kim's benevolent guidance :P
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| Unfortunately for us, most of the sakura has already wilted. |
Our first stop was to be Seongsan Ilchulbong, and we were happy to just let Mr. Kim do his job. I was curious though if there were some cherry blossoms still in bloom at Jeju, and I asked him so. His answer was in the affirmative and without us requesting for it, he told us he would then take us to one of the Jeju streets which are lined with the cherry blossoms :D What's more is that he directed our photoshoot on the streets, waiting until there were no cars passing and asking us to pose in the middle of the streets lol. He was prepared to risk his life to take our photos, so major props for that. (Next tour guide better be that prepared tbh, loljk.)
After that, Mr. Kim took us along a street which was lined with canola flowers, even though we never asked him to do it omg Mr. Kim why do you spoil us sooooooo. Seriously, the canola flowers were beautiful, and our photoshoot there was FOC lol (I know there's a spot you can go near Seongsan Ilchulbong where you can pay to enter the garden and have a selfie-party). Once again Mr. Kim showed his bravery by asking us to pose in the middle of the car-less street.
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| Uh, shouldn't we be out of the road Mr. Kim? ...Mr. Kim? |
We then finally made our way to Seongsan Ilchulbong afterwards :D Seongsan Ilchulbong was the highlight of my trip to Jeju back in 2012, and I was excited to revisit the place. The day was pretty gloomy and super windy unfortunately - both of us were woefully underdressed for Korea in spring apparently lol. Both of us climbed upwards to the crater despite our knees screaming in protest - I'm proud of my youngest sister who's known to have some stamina problems due to her asthma (both of us have asthma actually, so hats off to us lulz).
The view from on top of Seongsan Ilchulbong was no less astounding even with the cloudy weather - definitely worth another trip. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Having had our fun at Seongsan Ilchulbong, it was time for our lunch! While we didn't have lunch at the restaurant my other sister and I went to last time we were in Jeju, we did have lunch at another restaurant around that same area. As expected, lunch was delicious! How I've missed Korean food (I'm salivating just writing about it right now, arggghhhh). We definitely ate too much, because there were so many food on the table for just the two of us; although I honestly I wasn't complaining while I was eating most of it.
Again, it was super windy while we were there, and I was only armed with a thermal and a dresshirt haha. I had it better than my sister, who basically didn't have any thermal layer at all, heh. I really underestimated the weather there, is all I can say.
Seopjikoji Coast was also where we had our weirdest "Muslim moments" haha.
First Instance: While posing for a picture in front of Seopjikoji, a Korean lady ran over to us while covering her head with her scarf, screaming "eonniiiii" - needless to say, after that we had to take a picture with her for posterity lol.
Second Instance: A shy woman requested for a picture with us - hard to know where she was from since we couldn't hear what language she spoke, but she was most likely Asian. We smilingly acquiesced and took a picture with her. Sometimes I wonder what happens to all these pictures that we take with other unknown people... because I recalled back in 2012, a group of Korean schoolgirls also asked to take pictures with us, and I put up their photo on this very blog for posterity lol.
Third Instance: We noticed that a Korean woman and her husband were looking at us while they were discussing something amongst themselves. My sister noticed that the woman was trying to style her scarf in the same way as ours - my sister then approached them for some hands-on help. They were both seriously so cute; the husband was just looking on, smiling indulgently as my sister was helping his wife to style her scarf into something resembling our hijab style.
I guess there weren't a lot of Muslim travellers while we were there, which made the locals think we're some sort of exotic humans. It's one of the more surreal moments to think that we were so different and people would be that curious of us.
Our next stop was the Weoljeongri beach. Since it was still springtime, there weren't a lot of people sunbathing around, but there were locals doing some water sports as well as people just enjoying the scenery while strolling around the beach (locals and tourists alike). Beachside cafes lined the street along Weoljeongri beach, most of them with quirky fun names and lovely bright shades for their buildings. Mr. Kim told us that this beach is very popular with the "youngsters" haha, and yes you will see these youngsters just strolling around the area, having a cup of Americano (the quintessential coffee for Koreans for some reason I can't fathom) or juice, or taking pictures with friends.
We basically just had another photoshoot at this beach aside from enjoying the local scenery - I kinda wish we'd stopped by one of the vibrant cafes at the beach because they look so cute!
Our last stop for the day was Dongmun Traditional Market and the Underground Market! I mean, really Mr. Kim what are you implying by taking us to these shopping places for our last stop? Just because we're women doesn't mean--- oh my God, a cute jacket! (I kid I kid, but we really did need the jacket since it was so darn cold lol.)
Walking through Dongmun Traditional Market was really interesting - we went through the wet market section first before making our way to another section of the market where local foods are packaged and marketed for souvenirs. I personally liked the Jeju chocolates, so I made it a point to buy them for souvenirs this time around as well.
The Underground Market is within walking distance from the traditional market and is basically self-explanatory. The "market" is technically a shopping mall lined with shops which sells apparels, bags, shoes and cosmetics - except for the fact that it's underground lol. The price is pretty standard; personally it wasn't that cheap but my sister did end up buying a jacket here which was okay cost-wise. Even though we didn't set out to shop here, we ended up spending almost an hour here lol.
When we were finally done with our shopping, Mr. Kim took us back to our hostel for a well-deserved rest! I mean, we got up at at 3am to catch our flight and then immediately went on the tour once the flight touched down lol, so it was definitely a well-deserved rest. Also, all I can say is: thank God for automatic heating pads in bed!
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| Good night, Jejudo! |
JEJU DAY 2
Hyeopjae Beach, Osulloc Tea Museum, Yeongmeori Coast, Jeju Olle Route No. 7, Jusangjeolli Cliff, Jeongbang Waterfall, Orange Museum, Mysterious Road, Nanta Pizza
We woke up early to have breakfast at our hostel before we head off to day two of our Jeju tour. We stayed at Lyndon Guesthouse (which used to be called YEHA guesthouse). We booked a room with bunkbed and it was as cheap as it comes - I really liked our room as we had the comfort of our own private bathroom and the bed was comfortable enough. They even had a TV inside the room (of course, the channels were all Korean lol).
Breakfast was a quiet affair - apart from us there was only another group of Malaysians and an Argentinian man. The free breakfast spread was more than enough for us - all you can eat bread / toast (with cheese & jam), eggs which you can cook yourself, free-flow coffee (my favourite!) and other drinks such as tea, juice and milk.
Mr. Kim picked us up at the hostel once we were done with breakfast and we started off the tour with a visit to Hyeopjae Beach. Even though it was around 10am in the morning, the beach has basically been taken over by tourists (including us). There was even a wedding photoshoot taking place while we were there.
It's evident why people flock to Hyeopjae beach, even if it's not the best time to go swimming. The white sandy beach itself was beautiful, and the different hues of blue, blue sea was a beautiful sight. As Jeju is a volcanic island, you will find several rock formations scattered around the area, and we had fun taking photos at some columnar rock area. Definitely a great way to spend your morning.
Unlike Weoljeongri beach, the surrounding area of the beach is not dotted with cafes - I only saw a few stalls selling beachwear and such, and probably a cafe or two around the area. As we were there early, there were only a few stalls opened at the time.
Mr. Kim then took us to Osulloc Tea Museum - the museum itself is not overly large, but they do have the tea plantation across the street where you could pose with the tree shrubs lol. I had no idea these shrubs were here since I didn't remember them being there back in 2012. After we posed for a few pictures, we then made our way to the innisfree store nearby the museum. I swear I had no idea of this store either until Mr. Kim showed it to us - maybe it was recently opened? For those who are planning to do their cosmetics shopping in Seoul, it's much more worth it to buy it in Seoul instead of Jeju - more discounts, plus you don't have to worry about luggage space and all.
We finally made our way to the Osulloc Tea Museum building itself. We went directly to the restaurant area and placed our order - as usual, my go-to menu when at Osulloc is the green tea latte and the green tea roll. The cafe itself has a very nice laidback atmosphere and a beautiful setting, so my sister and I just hung out here for a while.
Once we've had our fill of the delicious green tea goodies, we then made our way to Yeongmeori Coast. Mr. Kim had warned us that the place might be closed as he had called ahead to check with the ticketing place. So when we arrived at the place, we were not surprised (but still disheartened) to see that the coast was indeed closed off due to the weather. Mr. Kim took a few pictures of us at the area in consolation - I was really sad we couldn't go in as this was one of the places I really wanted to go into. C'est la vie.
To make it up to us, Mr. Kim told us he would be bringing us to one of the Jeju Olle Route instead! Really Mr. Kim you shouldn't have!
As hiking the Jeju Olle Route is in my Travel Bucket List (someday), this was definitely a welcomed diversion. So we happily acquiesced as Mr. Kim took us to Jeju Olle Route No. 7. For those who are not sure what the olle route is, the Jeju Olle Route is basically a series of hiking trails amounting to 200km-length, which are all connected and will take you along the south coast of Jejudo. There are a number of hiking trails you can choose to take, and they're usually marked to let you know you're heading in the right direction. Hiking the whole of the Olle Route would take you possibly a few weeks or more (I mean, it's 200km worth of walking!), which is why this will always be on my bucket list until I can afford to take a year off to cover all of my travel wishlist :P But truly, one day I will really take perhaps two weeks off and I'd love to just discover what the olle route has to offer.
The weather was slightly gloomy as we made our way through route no. 7, but we walked on along with several other trekkers. No matter where you hike in South Korea, you will always find comfort in the fact that there'll always be ahjummas and ahjussis who are way faster than you at trekking even though you're half their age, heh. We would just smile at them along the way and they would reciprocate, sometimes trying to talk to us. The conversation would amount to something like "oh where are you from?" and we would answer "Malaysia" and they would just say "oohhh Malaysia" like they know where it is - some of the Koreans we met along the way have been to Malaysia so that made me :'D a little.
I noticed that when we encounter these ahjussis and ahjummas they would initially stare at us (which made me uneasy) but whenever we smile at them first, they would immediately smile back and even try to start conversation with us even though our Korean is super basic so you get the Pimsleur Starter Pack Convo scenario going on. A little smile goes a long way, is all I'm saying. (This was true in Jeju, but not tried & tested in Seoul. Reason #1 why I love Jeju a bit more than Seoul.)
We really enjoyed the trek, and little wonder why the Koreans love to hike - to them it's almost cultural. Hiking trails are clearly marked out, pedesterian walkways are available in certain sections of the hikes, and the spring and autumn season makes the hike almost transcendental. They make hiking so accessible to the masses that it's become a favourite pasttime.
The hike didn't take too long; I think we only hiked for around 1 hour as we only hiked part of the route before we made it to the meeting point we agreed on with Mr. Kim (the route we took would take around 4-5 hours to complete according to Visit Korea's page). From there, he would take us to Jusangjeolli Cliff, which I also went to back in 2012 and loved. There was, of course, a crowd of people, but it's easy to ignore the throngs of people for a view of this beautiful place. The columnar formations of the cliff reminds me somewhat of Iceland's Reynisfjara beach - since both of the formation are of volcanic rock, this is of course unsurprising.
From Jusangjeolli Cliff, our next stop was the Jeongbang Waterfall! I really wanted to visit this waterfall as it's unique in the sense that the waterfall channel flows right into the sea. Due to this, you get the beautiful waterfall as the background and the sea as the foreground of the scene. The trek down to this waterfall was relatively easy, although the rocky surface at the surrounding area itself was pretty tricky as it's slippery so you'd have to be careful where you step on. The rocks make for a pretty shoot though!
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| Our weird detour to the Orange Museum, lmao |
For what it's worth, it was interesting reading about all the different types of oranges - although to be honest my sister and I sped our way through the exhibits haha.
Funny thing, we saw Mr. Kim playing with the interactive games at the museum while he was waiting for us; and with such vigour too! At least one of us enjoyed the museum, I guess.
Our last stop for the day was the Mysterious Road. If your car is in neutral gear or even if your car engine is turned off, it will mysteriously move uphill while you're travelling on this road. To prove the point further, Mr. Kim even poured some water from a bottle (which he had prepared beforehand) and pointed out that the water is travelling upwards.
The reason for this interesting phenomenon is our brain playing mind tricks with us, as the seemingly uphill slope we were sitting on is actually a downhill slope. Due to its higher surroundings, an optical illusion is created in which the slope appears to be uphill. Even knowing that it's an optical illusion, it's still hard to wrap your mind around it as your eyes are looking at it as an uphill slope even if your mind is telling you it's actually going downhill.
And with that, we had to bid adieu to Mr. Kim :'( But before that, he took us to Nanta Pizza since we didn't exactly have a heavy lunch that day (only the odaeng which filled our stomach plenty). We were pretty apprehensive with the size of the pizza, but we finished it so fast between the two of us lol.
We would be leaving for Seoul on the next day. Till then, until I see you again, Jeju!
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| Goodbye & thank you for the great time, Mr. Kim! |
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