Spring 2024 was our last season in Korea. We made a number of trips, but were so busy we lacked the time to post about them. Now back permanently in the US, we post about these trips to preserve our memories of them and, we hope, for your pleasure. Written some time after the trip itself though, these posts will be more pictures, less prose.
Teresa and I (like everyone else!) loved Jeju, and really wanted to go back before leaving Korea. We did so in March, as part of Teresa’s birthday celebration. We knew just where we wanted to go this time, Seogwipo, on the southern coast, our favorite location when we stayed there last time. This trip was a short one—just a couple of days—but sweet.
The big difference this time around was that rather than going right on the Olle trail to segment 7, we went left to segment 6 (the Olle trail is a famous walking trail that circles the island along the coast). Left was good! We saw great coastline, made somewhat moody by the early spring day. Mostly blooming was yellow canola plants.
There was also a waterfall on this segment of the Olle trail, Jeongbang Falls, the only falls on Jeju that drop directly into the sea.
The next day we hiked up one of the lower peaks of Hallasan, the volcanic mountain at the center of Jeju. Most hikes up Hallasan take at least a half day, but this one was just a couple of hours. Since we had to get back Jeju city to fly out that evening, it was a good choice. The top of the mountain was very windy! On it was also a Japanese bunker from the time when the Japanese had colonized Korea. We looked inside the bunker as well.
We had a bit of time in Jeju city before flying out. We walked some along the coastline there, and went to a pork barbecue restaurant to have some of the black pork for which Jeju is known. You might say even “for which it is famous,” since this barbecue grill had its own spotlight! We topped off our time with a grapefruit bingsu dessert.
We weren’t sure if we’d be able to make it back to Jeju before we left Korea. We’re glad we did!