Day 17: So Many Places!
- Emily
- Oct 19, 2018
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 4, 2020
Before going to bed yesterday I created a detailed list of everything I wanted to do today including all kinds of potential bus routes and different plans based on how much time everything took. What I was hoping to do this week was fit in as many sightseeing things as possible so I could see lots of the island (this plan only worked for a few days haha).
My plan for today included 9 different places on the south-east side of the island: 6 that I really wanted to see plus 3 potential ones if I had extra time. I left at 9:30 in the morning and got back at 8 pm. It was a lot of walking, a lot of bussing, and a ton of pictures, so prepare yourself. The post may take a long time to load because there are over 100 photos.
This is essentially the path I took:
The morning started off a little rough. I woke up early so I could shower but found out there was absolutely no warm water. I wasted so much time trying to convince myself to get into the cold shower and then had the quickest shower of my life. It was so painfully cold, and I don't ever want to have to do that again. I will have to ask the owner if there is hot water when I get back.
Some things I passed on the way to the Folk Village:
Stop 1: Jeju Folk Village
The route originally required 2 buses, but I took the first long one and then just walked the rest of the way. I passed by a small beach (Pyoseon Haevich Beach) and everything felt very resort-like / Mexico-y. The folk village itself was interesting. It was lots of traditional houses with signs outside each one that explained who would stay in each kind of house. There were display houses and then 'experience houses' where people could actually go inside and see what it would be like. Some of the homes had been used as sites for filming TV dramas and there were signs posted beside them showing pictures from it!
At the end there was a walkway that had stone piles all around it. The path led to a hut where people could take a piece of wood and write a wish. Then the wish could be hung on the trees or rock piles around the house. Of course I wrote one! If you look closely in the tree you can see mine (I turned it around so you can't read my wish though, sorry!).
I spent about an hour in total wandering around the village. There were a lot of different houses and gardens as well as a maze. I didn't love the village, but it was interesting and I am glad that I went!
Stop 2: Jeju Herb Garden
The herb garden was fairly close to the folk village and it only took about 20 minutes by bus. It was way way bigger than I thought it would be! There were maps at the beginning so people could find their way around, thankfully. There were several homes as well as multiple outdoor gardens, a green house, and a cafe. Each of the gardens had all these different sculptures in them that were covered in Christmas lights. There was free herbal tea at one of the houses so that became my first stop. Inside the building there were lots of cute little decorations and also a foot massage / washing class. From the gift shop (where the free tea was) I could see the foot classes. There were lots of older people that had their feet in these small buckets filled with water. A guy was walking around talking and there were other 'stations' where people were doing different things. I got my free tea and went back out to the gardens.
All the gardens were pretty and I liked the greenhouse, but it definitely would have been better to go later in the day when it was dark out and the lights were on.
Greenhouse:
Not really sure what this house was:
On the way out I stopped by the cafe and got a small stone grandpa keychain and some scones. The cafe and gift shop were both so pretty! There were lots of places that would be really good for taking pictures or just relaxing. I had noticed stone grandpa statues throughout the garden and thought the keychain would be a good souvenir for the place. I later found out that he is actually important to the island. My friend told me that there were originally 13 stone grandpas (literally sculptures of a character grandpa) but now the island is covered in them. I began to notice him everywhere I went after that.
Stop 3: Sincheon Mural Village
This was one stop that I was super excited about because I love to look at graffiti and wall art. I took a total of four buses to get here even though it was only supposed to take two. The trip also took awhile because I got on one bus and then had to wait a long time for the second one. Then I got on the wrong bus when the second one came and ended up in the middle of nowhere. I had to wait at least half an hour before a bus arrived that would take me back to the stop I was at before and then I had to get on the right bus. I learned to make sure to double check the bus stops and numbers after that.
So, four bus rides later I finally made it to the mural village (we almost drove by it because the bus driver was having an intense phone conversation, but then an ahjumma yelled at him and he stopped). There was absolutely no one there. It was awesome to just walk along the street at my own pace and take tons of photos.
The mural village is basically a long winding road that has houses on either side and the majority of the houses have some kind of image painted on the side of them. The pictures range from a huge hulk to a detailed underwater scene to a cartoon looking donkey, but all of them were very well done! I walked to the end of the street and then made my way back to the main street to hop on a bus to my next place.
Stop 4: Seopjikoji
The bus ride didn't take long, but my map said it would take another 50 minutes to walk to the actual location. Seopjikoji is on the edge of the east side of the island and has a cliff with a little lighthouse surrounded by beaches and hotels. I walked from the bus stop to the lighthouse and it took at least an hour. I tried to take back roads so I could look at plants and cool houses rather than big buildings and, as usual, ended up taking the wrong path to get to the lighthouse so it took much longer than it was supposed to.
If you look at the second photo I was supposed to take the blue path to get to the lighthouse. On the way there I walked the little white path on the far left and then on the way back I walked the white path on the far right.
However, I had relaxing music playing while I was walking and I got to see a lot of beach and beautiful rock so I am glad I took that route.
When I finally made it to the edge where the lighthouse is there were lots of tourists and a couple small shops. I bought a grape-coconut pop and this little bread ball thing that had chocolate inside and was covered in honey and nuts (super yummy).
I walked along a little boardwalk and then up some super steep steps to get to the lighthouse.
Then I climbed back down the other side of the hill (which still had steep steps) and started my way back to the main road.
By this point one of my phones had died and the other was at 30%. Fortunately, I had brought a power bank with me, but I was still stressing about ending up somewhere with no battery and no clue where I was. I took the shorter route back and made it the start of a beach after about half and hour of walking. At this point I needed to figure out whether I wanted to bus to my next stop (a beach) or skip the beach all together and go to stop number 6 because it was starting to get a little darker out. I ended up deciding to go to the beach because it was on the way to my last stop. I looked up when the bus would arrive and realized that I could walk all the way there before the bus would even get to Seopjikoji (buses come every hour or so to more remote/ less popular locations).
Stop 5: Gwangchigi Beach
The walk took me through lots of back roads where I could see fields, sand dunes, horses, and all sorts of other cool things. It was really relaxing to walk there and definitely better than sitting at a bus stop and waiting.
Saw this and thought of my dad (I think they look similar to your Simpson dudes?).
When I got to the beach there were a few other families there, but it was still fairly quiet. The rocks on the edge of the water were super cool and there were lots of people taking pictures on them. Someone had also written 'Happy Birthday Jimin' in the sand so I took a quick video of that. The temperature was nice out and I decided to continue walking along the beach to get to my final stop.
The walk all the way from Seopjikoji to Sunrise Peak took about 2 hours. Near the end of it, when I was walking along the beach, all I could think about was when I had to do the beach run event at lifesaving competitions. Beach run was probably one of the most awful events because we had to run on the beach and you don't feel like you're going anywhere because you keep sinking into the sand. My legs were so tired by the end of it and it was twice as much work to walk in the sand, but it was nicer than bussing. As I got closer to Sunrise Peak I saw the path on the side that people were taking down and my legs kind of went 'oh crap'. It looked so steep and long and I was not prepared for that.
Slowly getting closer to Sunrise Peak:
Stop 6: Sunrise Peak
I arrived at the entrance to Sunrise Peak (Seongsan Ilchulbong) just as they were doing last call for purchasing tickets so that was super lucky! The lighting was beautiful and everything had a kind of gold glow to it. I recognized the place once I got there! I had watched a variety show several months ago that featured a k-pop group called IKON and they had come to the field here to film.
The hike up was a struggle. It was super steep and there were so many steps, it seemed to keep going forever. The view at the top was amazing though and definitely worth the trek. I think this view will probably be something that stays with me for a very long time.
Sunrise Peak was originally a volcano that erupted and formed a huge crater. People can't walk near or around it, but there is a little viewing area at the top of the path where you can take pictures from one side. I arrived at the perfect time because I was able to watch the sunset from the top! I could also look out and see the entire area that I walked from Seopjikoji to get here. I made sure to take a picture so you can all see that I wasn't exaggerating that it was a long way haha.
By the time I made it back down it was getting pretty dark so I started walking to the bus stop. I passed a place that made bibimbap on the way so I just had to stop to eat dinner there. It was the most expensive bibimbap I have eaten since arriving in Korea, but that's what I get for buying food by a major tourist destination. After eating I caught a bus home. I had originally wanted to try and go to one more place on the way back but it was too dark by the time I got on the bus.
When I finally got home I went straight to my room and collapsed on the bed. I was so tired from all the walking! About half an hour later the adorable host from downstairs came and knocked on my door to see if I was ok. They hadn't seen me all day and they were worried something had happened (I made sure to drop by and say hi every morning after that). I reassured him that I was fine and then grabbed my laptop to go down to the cafe and write for a bit. While I was writing, one of the hosts came over and gave me some more free tea and bread with a little pile of honey whipped cream that was so yummy. It was a great way to end my first full day of exploring Jeju.
The island is so beautiful and there are tons of places to see. While I really love the spots I have gone to, my favourite part is walking between them. It's so nice to listen to music and just wander.
Hope everyone is doing well,
Emily
(October 12, 2018)
My favourite post! So many beautiful stops Em. xxo