Jeju Island

Taking advantage of our 3 day weekend, Andrea and I visited Korea's own Hawaii—Jeju Island. Situated at the Southern tip of South Korea, Jeju is a volcanic island which boasts Korea's highest mountain and most popular volcano, Hallasan. Despite its tropical climate, the temperature was still a bit cool during our visit allowing us to miss the peak tourist season, which occurs in July and August. 

Our hotel, KAL, was located on the southern edge of the island in Seogwipo. Its private location meant we were a distance from the touristy area, but the sprawling and well-manicured grounds (which reminded us of a mental institute... but in a good way) that overlooked the ocean made up for any hindrances. 

Opting for a relaxing weekend, our schedules were relatively wide open making us available for trips to the waterfalls, volcanos, and beaches. In an effort to save money on the expensive island, we perused the grocery store and stocked up on fresh fruit and bread for lunchtime picnics. Nothing is better than a beach picnic with fresh tangerines, a Jeju staple; bananas; pineapple; and apple jam. 

Day 1

The hotel grounds...

On our way to the airport via bus. Within a 4 day period, we spent:

8.5 hours on a bus

1.75 hours in taxis

2 hours on airplanes

A view from behind our hotel. Notice the gigantic lawn reminiscent of an "institute."

From our hotel balcony. Unfortunately, the pool was only 10% full due to the off-season (yes, June is still the off-season for swimming!).

Beautiful hotel landscaping

I love palm trees

Day 2

In search of a waterfall...

A deserted hotel that I found to be completely eerie yet incredibly attractive.

Things didn't seem quite right after we passed the above hotel and found the waterfall sign in some very "mature" bushes.

Unique and cost-effective signage

The waterfall seemed much smaller than we imagined. We later found out we had discovered the wrong one. Not too far away was the actual waterfall listed on our map, Jeongbang.

Ahh, the right one! Much more impressive!

According to the Jeju tourism board, Jeongbang is the only waterfall in Asia that empties directly into the ocean.

At the base of the falls on the rocky shoreline is a made-to-order "restaurant." The food is caught fresh from the ocean only 20 feet away!

I could've climbed up had it not been for my skirt.

After a 1.5 hour bus ride, we arrived at Seongsan Ilchubong (Sunrise Peak). The volcanic crater sits at the easternmost point of Jeju Island and is, therefore, the first place to see the sun, hence its nickname.

The hike up is surprisingly steep, but affords many impressive views. You can barely make out Mt. Hallasan in the background.

A tree-trimmer on the side of the volcano without any ropes!

The view of the crater from the top is a let-down unless you're flying in a helicopter overhead like in the picture below. Unfortunately, I wasn't given the opportunity so I copy and pasted the next picture from the Internet.

image courtesy of www.triptokorea.com

An attempt at capturing the complete "panoramic."

4 of our co-workers also made the trip down to Jeju, though all separately; and we met up with Lee & Nicki for the day.

The Haenyo Divers' port of departure. For generations, women in their forties and fifties have provided supplemental income for their families by diving for shellfish, abalone, seaweed, and other marine life off the coast of Jeju Island. As if that's not impressive enough (Korea was, and still sometimes is, a Confucion culture where women were typically ranked lower than men and did not bring in substantial income for the family), the skilled divers do not bother themselves with things like oxygen tanks. All year round, the women dive to depths of nearly 65 feet while holding their breath up to 3, or even 4 minutes! The past success of divers has allowed them to send their children to University, however, the tradition is slowly dying out and may one day become only a memory in Korea's history.

A beachfront house (not the luxurious type) housed a field of grazing horses. Unfortunately, the skeletal horses need more than good scenery to maintain their health. I choose to naively believe they are being rehabilitated by their current owner and will live a long and healthy life. Either way, I love them.

Day 3

Nothing but the beach... perfect