Day 862-876: Off to Jeju Island, S.Korea

Mysterious road? Well these are roads which gives you optical illusion that you are rolling uphill but in actual fact you are rolling downhill because of the high surroundings

Yongduam rock

 Will you say ''I do'' here in the glass house... with a sea view?

Gwakji gwamul beach

 Buddhist Temple

 They say.... pray here for success in business

 When night falls... the artificial lotus flowers around the temple light up

 Was so happy when I was taken out to this meal... thought I was going to miss this as it wasn't very affordable for me but thanks to Harry, Jane and sis who happened to be holidaying on the island at the same time... I was treated to a delicious meal of grilled black pork & beef... even tried raw beef salad and raw liver and stomach... man the meat was good!

 Then off to a unique cafe.... coffee after meal... mmmm *like*
This cafe used to be a sweet potato factory before it was converted into a cafe... changes were minimal inside to preserve its original state and the floor is laid with jeju stones and pebbles and planted with moss and ferns 

 After a spin around... they took me to dinner trying different local speciality... 

Sea snail pancake, raw fish in cold rice soup, sea snail noodle soup and sea snail salad

I can't decide which one I like most but they are dishes that are new to me... 

 Had one of the best meal in Korea thanks to them, such big treat and nice time spent together showing me around.... 

Then back home... someone bought mackerel sashimi (I find Korean usually always share food) and we washed it down with beer

what a day!

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 That black glass building is a cafe open by G-dragon and nope I did not go there

 Perfect view of Mt Hallasan on a clear day

 

Went for a short hike up one of the Oreum with my host on a beautiful day

 Catching a glimpse of the sea over many little oreum... do you know that this island has about 368 oreums / volcanic cones around and probably 100+ of these are accessible to hikers who fancy a ''walk''

Biyangdo island at far

 We took a drive out to watch sunset together

 Nice to join them daily for meals and this was my last night... battered fish and kimchi tofu stew on the menu :) yummy

 They love to wrap meat with sesame leaves

 Even cooked me a sumptuous breakfast

Lovely friends/hosts! Always have a home in Jeju now...

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Busy fishermen at work getting the nets ready

Lots of cactus... see the fruits of the cactus? They are used to make into chocolate like below. I wonder what it taste like...

Jeju is famous for its oranges and these are tangerines... traditional market are selling them for 2000w per kg. 

I ventured into Nakcheon village and found this myth wall down the quiet road which is pretty interesting though I didn't know what they actually mean..

Gameunjang baby

Jacheongbi

Seolmundae grandmother

Hanrakgunggi

Jeogeoheulmul black pig

Warrior with wings

Right in the middle of thie village is an old poknang tree over 135yrs old 

This pond is said to be formed by wild boars long ago

This is a kind of water saver in olden days

Close to the village is this 9 ponds built by 4 villages to overcome water shortage in the past

Thousand chair park

An old road that was used to transport goods in the past between villages

 That is shit load of pesticides.... *holding my breathe*

Where trust still exists

 hey what are you doing? 

If a big wave come, you'll be gone!

 Taking a moment as usual

Galchi gook - at a place my friend recommended to check out this dish 

Below is how the hairtail fish looks like

Its always essy to find places to sleep by beach area and they always have toilets and water facilities

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 Jeju's traditional saying.. 3 abundance - rocks, women and wind then theres 3 non-existence being thieves, beggars and gates. Instead of locked gates, they'll have 2 stone pillars and wooden poles like this.. 3 poles across means ''We are not home, please keep out''; 2 down and 1 across means ''We are not home but are within shouting distance''; if no poles are up then it means ''We are home, please come in''

 Brother's island

 Caves below Songaksan

 Sanbangsan and Hallasan in sight

 Hard to ignore this plonk right by the roadside... just passing by

Jusangjeolli / Columnar joints

 Dolharubang / Stone grandfather are all over the island in Jeju and they are carved out of volcanic rocks and.... touching the nose helps women bear a son!

 The road on the south west basically takes you up and down x repeat

Oedolgae rock

Jeongbang waterfall, the only waterfall in asia to fall directly into the sea

Fresh seafood

 hey hey...did you know your house is floating away?

 A short walk from the previous waterfall to Sojeongbang falls

 Omegi-tteok.. only in Jeju I was told. Balls of glutinous millet dough roll with mashed red bean in it.. then coated with red bean or seeds... love it!

 This... tastes...horrible weird haha... don't think they should go together

Udo, an island off Jeju is famous for its peanut and this is their peanut rice wine. Got to try this out from a sweet girl I met who is inspired by the idea of cycle touring...hope to read your stories someday!
 I love peanuts..all things peanuts


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 Lovely guy I befriended in Seogwipo... J, hope you don't have to wait too long to travel out again!

 Forest tunnel

 Beautiful

 Rain, fog crazy headwind

Hiking up Hallasan, S.Korea's highest mountain at 1950m; Gwaneumsa trail.

 8.7km one way to the peak

 Frost

 1700m... 250m more

 Arrived!

 It was... cold and windy! But at least the weather was dry and the sun starts coming out while I was making descend

 In case of emergency press this for help.... it dotted along the trail

 View of Jeju city

This trail is one of the 2 that will take you to the peak and you can camp near the start of the trek.

 I find it amusing that everyone turned up fully geared in their fancy trekking attire, trekking poles, backpack (I don't know why the need for big backpack for just a day) etc as though they are up to conquer some mountains that'll take days.... the trails are really well maintained. I supposed its all about image and style huh.

12 Nov 16: 27.92km
16 Nov 16: 56.91km
17 Nov 16: 41.25km
22 Nov 16: 35.51km
24 Nov 16: 8.31km