Summer Vacation in Seogwipo, Jeju
On Monday, August 9, I flew from Gimpo Airport to Jeju at 6:30 pm. The flight over was gorgeous. I got to see the sun set while flying into Jeju. Once we landed, we took the bus to our hotel, The Jade Hotel, which was located near to Dongmun Market.
When we entered the market, it was full of souvenir-type shops. There were lots of tangerine-inspired trinkets. When we got further into the market area we came upon the food market area. The food stalls were all blasting their own music and one stall was putting on a fire show while cooking their food. It felt like being in a club while not being in a club. It was definitely an experience. I ended up ordering dumplings and Jeju black pork. We took our food and sat by the stream to eat.
After eating, we walked alongside the stream and explored the area. There was a nice platform that we walked up and saw a better view of the stream. We could even see the stars. It was a nice end to our first day in Jeju.
Day 2
In the morning, we packed up and took the airport limousine for almost two hours to get to Shin Shin Hotel in Seogwipo. We arrived around 1, but we couldn’t check in until 3, so we stored our luggage at the hotel and decided to do some things.
Initially, I had planned to go to some beaches on the west coast of Jeju, but when I looked up the transportation time, it said close to two hours one way. Since we had travelled so much earlier, we decided to go to places closer to our hotel. The first place we went to is Hwanguji Haean. We took a taxi to get there. It was a beautiful area that looks out on the ocean. We got to stroll along the cliff side. The path was so green and there were giant plants and palm trees. It was boiling hot, but still so much fun.
I called a taxi via Kakaotaxi and we rode over to Jungmun Saekdal Beach. The beach was extremely crowded. We stayed briefly to dip our feet in and then we headed back up the path.
At the top of the path, is the really popular cafe/restaurant, The Cliff. There was a DJ in the building playing some good music. The cafe itself is impressive with lounge chairs and platforms outside with a view from the cliff of the beach and ocean. Inside the building, it is decorated very colorfully. The drinks and food is quite expensive but delicious.
We didn’t want to go back to our hotel just yet, so we decided to go to Jeongbang Waterfall. We took another taxi over and relaxed in the a/c on the ride over. On arriving, we paid the entrance fee and then walked the short distance to the falls. It was very, very pretty. It felt even better with the mist hitting us and cooling us down in the humid weather.
We wanted to go to Chilsimni Food Street for dinner so we took the path to Seobok Exhibit Hall from the waterfall. The path there was so peaceful and beautiful. It was golden hour, so the light was hitting the plants and water just right.
Walking along the food street, there were many restaurants offering seafood. The walk along this street was so nice. There was a great view of the ocean and a little island. Close to the end of the food street was a Jeju black pork BBQ place. We opted to eat that for dinner. It was simply delicious. The staff was so kind and made sure we were comfortable by turning on the a/c and fans for us.
After eating, we walked the fifteen or so minutes back to our hotel. The view of the harbor and the sunset was amazing.
While checking into the hotel, the woman at the front desk was so nice. She was asking me if I could understand everything she was saying in Korean and was so relieved when I could. She asked how I learned and I told her that I had just watched tv shows. It was a nice experience.
Our hotel room is so nice. It has a view of the little island and the harbor. The room itself has so much space and is really modern.
Day 3
We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel at 9:00. It was buffet-style and there was Western food and Korean food.
After breakfast, we took the bus to Spirited Garden. We paid the entrance fee, and since it was raining the lady had us take the fancy white umbrellas that they had provided. The garden itself was absolutely stunning. So many different bonsai trees, or in Korean, bunjae, are in the garden. There were even ones with fruit. The rest of the garden was extremely gorgeous with the peaceful landscaping. An impressive part of the garden was the three large koi ponds.
We took the bus a short distance to the O’Sulloc Tea Museum. There we got some tea and ice cream while we rested. After resting a bit, we went out to the tea fields and walked around for a while.
Again, we didn’t want to go back to our hotel just yet, so we decided to go to Geumneung Beach. It is one of the beaches that I had planned to go to on the second day. Thankfully it wasn’t raining, so we took the chance to go while the weather was cooperating.
There were lots of people at the beach just splashing around, doing water sports, and just chilling on the sand.
Geumneung Beach is right next to Hyeopjae Beach, so we just kept walking. Hyeopjae Beach was a lot more crowded than the other beach. It seemed like there were tons of people there. People were eating, playing in the water, etc. It was overwhelming. We found a good spot near the end of the beach and waded in. The water was so nice and it was fun to just chill there. My shoe broke so I had to go to CU to get some flip flops.
It started raining, so we took the long bus ride back to Seogwipo and trekked over the bridge to Saeseom island. It’s that little island that can be seen from our hotel room. It started really raining but we still walked around the island in the quickly descending dark. I got four new mosquito bites from the stroll on the island. It was fun though.
This concludes the adventures in Seogwipo, and tomorrow I’m heading over to the east coast to spend a few days. See you there!