We were
lucky to Visit Jeju Island (known as Jejudo in Korea)after only having spent a
month and a half in Korea. As my mom’s visit coincided with our short school
vacation, we decided a trip to one of the world’s 7 wonders was ideal.
Jeju is
known to be similar to Hawaii and Bali. The island has everything from natural
world wonders, beaches and 5 star resorts, to rural villages and “diving
grannies”. The whole island is actually one of the 7 wonders of the world,
and it’s not surprising.
As we only
had 3 nights in Jeju (2 full days), we researched a fair bit how best to spend
our time and make the most of it. Jeju has an endless supply of things to do,
both natural and kitsch (check out www.jejumandarins.com
for everything you need to know) but we ended up thoroughly enjoying our
holiday and we pleased with all the places we managed to visit.
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| Jeju's famous Dolhareubangs are cute grandfather statues that are all over the island. They are made from volcanic rock and the reason for them is not known. |
We stayed
in a motel in Sinjeju called Monaco Motel. I have learnt that motels in Korea
are really decent and great value for money and so far I have had good
experiences with them. Our motel was in a good location around the corner from
many shops and restaurants. We also hired a car while we were there (Dean has
an international drivers and lucky for us, was brave enough to drive-Korea
driving on the opposite side of the road and all). Hiring a car was definitely
worth it because I think we would have wasted a lot of time using the buses.
Luckily one of Dean’s teachers helped us book a car through a Korean rental
company because as we visited Jeju during peak season, only very expensive cars
were left for hire at most of the rental companies.
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We were
lucky enough to organize cheap flights on eastar jet from Gunsan with the help
of our director. A rather interesting flight as it involved a giant game of
rock/paper/scissors.
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On our
first day, after fetching our car and briefly checking into our motel, we drove
to Hallim Park. Hallim Park basically gives you a taste of the whole of Jeju in
one park. It has caves, stone statues, flower gardens, bonsai gardens and Jeju
houses. It's ideal if you don't have much time on the island. It is a relaxing place to visit, with not many crowds and it is lovely
to stroll around.
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| Entrance to the caves. |
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| Inside the lava caves at Hallim Park. |
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| That's how you grow a bonsai! (For you Kyle) |
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| Diving grannies! (More on this later) |
Near Hallim Park is Hyeopjae Beach. We stopped here for a
quick swim in the evening. Korean beaches are really frustrating as they fence
your swimming area. Many Koreans don’t know how to swim and it really irritated
us that we couldn’t properly enjoy swimming in the warm water
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| An island in the distance. Many small islands are scattered around the cost of Jeju. |
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