After a month and a half in Seoul, here we are in Jeju for a week! Over a week, there are a lot of days where we work, so you will see on the blog only 3 travel diaries, corresponding to the 3 days where we actually visit 😀 Let’s get started

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Jeju, késako, and why do we have to go there?

South Korea is very strong in marketing and Jeju is one of the well-publicized destinations abroad. It is an island in the very south of the country, home to many (old) volcanoes, marketed as the Hawaii of Asia… and the lung of South Korea. There are a lot of cosmetic lines highlighting the origin of the ingredients (from Jeju), we are told about Jeju tea as the best of the best.

Jeju is also directly linked with many international airports, and unlike South Korea, there are many more countries that are visa free when they visit Jeju only. However, if you can stay up to 3 months in South Korea, you can only stay in Jeju for a maximum of 30 days.

All these advertisements and communications around Jeju made us want to go there, to see how true it is, and especially to spend a little more time in nature (we spent too much time in Asia this year in big polluted cities).

Seoul – Jeju

We take a low-cost plane to Jeju. We have to pay an extra charge for a 15kg hold luggage
JB is randomly selected for a hold baggage check (this isn’t the 1st time it happens to him, he is often selected by chance like that). He got scared at one point because the two Japanese knives he bought for his brother can be seen a lot on the X-ray, but the airport employee just checks that there are no forgotten batteries in the hold baggage. YES! It would have hurt us a lot to throw away these two handmade knives, bought at a high price.

Arrived in Jeju, we take a red bus (the red and yellow buses are for tourists because they serve the most touristic places of the island), number 112, which drops us in front of our hotel, Ramada Jeju City Hall. The bus is super comfortable and there is even a screen which gives us the name of the next station. We can use the T-money card bought in Seoul to pay (using the T-money card vs. paying in cash is more advantageous because we get 2 free changes I think).

I find that on this picture, I look too much like a Korean woman. Tap water and cosmetics have gradually turned me into a Korean woman ahahahaha:D

Bus or Car?

We are super disappointed by the choice of the hotel. We chose it to be close to the Bus Terminal (a blogger recommended to be next to the terminal to be able to take the various tourist buses). BUT we did not take into account the very high hill on which is our hotel => super annoying to go to the bus terminal, it is tiring, especially when it is hot. We discover moreover that these buses do not pass regularly, and we will spend more time waiting for the bus than visiting.

As for the cab, we realized that if we show the addresses written in Latin alphabet, they don’t recognize the place at all, whereas if we show the addresses written in hangul, everything is fine. Not wanting to do Google Translate and bother to find the name in Korean, written in hangul, we abandon the cab track.

After 2s of reflection, we reserve a car (2 days in advance) on the site of Lotte Rent a car. By becoming a member (it’s free, you just have to register in fact), you automatically have -65% => 28,000won/day càd 21€. In short, why bother waiting for the bus when car rental is so cheap?

Surprise, they give us a Chevrolet, automatic in addition! With a GPS in English which is too strong (it indicates all the speed cameras and finds all the points of interest of Jeju). Having found a map of the daily tours at our hotel the day before, I just base my itinerary on the daily tours, zapping all the stuff I don’t like (k-pop, museums etc.)

Gongsaemi 59

Our 1st destination is a restaurant recommended by our Korean girlfriend. They propose very economical dishes based on the black pig of Jeju (very famous, smaller than the normal pig and more tasteful).

I admit I didn’t like it, but JB really enjoyed his shrimp dish.

It looks like a famous restaurant because it isn’t close to any tourist place, hidden in an alley but there are always people. It is true that it is also pretty with its small garden.

Jeongbang Falls

We then go to Jeongbang Falls, which is about 15 minutes away by car. The entrance fee is 2000won/person.

It is the only waterfall directly overlooking the sea in South Korea. In spite of the absence of rain, the flow is impressive, it is very beautiful! On the rocks, there is a small ephemeral restaurant, I believe that they sell shells in sashimi.

Accessibility info: you can’t get there in a wheelchair, but there is a place near the ticket office where you can see the waterfall from afar

There is a small traditional garden near the parking lot, very nice

Cheonjiyeon Falls

Then we visit Cheonjiyeon Falls, which isn’t as beautiful as in the pictures because of the lack of water. However, the whole place is wheelchair accessible (I specify this info because I am asked from time to time) and there are many corners where we can sit, it’s perfect for couples/families. If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t come here, the entrance fee is also 2000won/person

Legend has it that a dragon lived here (below the waterfall is a huge pool).

Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff

I put you a photo of visitkorea because we can see better these columns of lava.

The lava flows down to the ocean and when it is mixed with water, the (cold) water makes it crack, fracture and form beautiful columns like this.

Unfortunately, being on high footbridges, we can’t see very well this beautiful cliff.

Cheonjeyeon Falls

This place is really impressive (not at all wheelchair accessible though) because it is composed of 4 surprising places.

The first one is Cheonjeyeon Falls, it’s just a small waterfall, but the rocks around are impressive. They look like Tetris/columns… some pieces of which have fallen down, creating an extraordinary spectacle (the shape reminds us of what we saw above, at the cliff). The water is blue and transparent, it gives too much desire to swim! I think it was allowed in the past, but it created such a chaotic spectacle that they prefer to prohibit swimming.

Then we visit the “2nd Waterfall” which is my favorite waterfall. We can’t see well on the picture but there is vegetation hidden by the water, the water flow is super strong… moreover we are really in the middle of the nature, it’s superb!

We cross the Seonim-gyo Bridge, it is so inclined that I have a little difficulty to climb. And when we reach the top, I feel dizzy and I don’t even dare to look at the landscape below, we must be a hundred meters (??) from the river below.

And then we walk a little bit to discover the “3rd waterfall”, less impressive, but in the middle of nature too.

On the street food level, we liked to taste the fruits (which seem to come from Jeju itself) and the squeezed orange juice.

JB is a bit disappointed by today’s visits because of the too “Disneyland” side of things for his taste. There are huge parking lots around, convenience stores, restaurants…. you walk on wooden footbridges. He had, in his imagination, a more “natural”, more virgin image of Jeju; and is disappointed that these tourist attractions are finally just oases in the middle of an urban area. Moreover, swimming is forbidden even though bathing suits and towels were provided. What could be more pleasant than jumping in the water when you see a waterfall?

We are glad we took a car because if we had to wait 20 minutes for each bus to see“only that“, we would have been too disappointed/nervous.

Hyeopjae Beach

We could have gone to Hello Kitty Island and Osulloc Tea Museum (it’s on our way) but as we are a bit tired, we just zap them and go another day. We go rather to Hyeopjae Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches of the island.

The sand is very fine and super white. There are few waves and it is shallow. But the Koreans don’t like the sun so they swim all covered from head to knees.

Here, the parasols are very appreciated but there are huge beds sheltered from the sun, to spend good moments with the family.

The water isn’t deep, at 20m from the beach, the water is barely above the knees.

On the way back, one is struck by the beauty of the sunset and stops ASAP in a café.

From the balcony you can see a path along the coast, Jeju has several hiking trails like this around the island, which are called “ollegil”. The most famous is the number 1, on the east side of the island.

Unfortunately, we will not see the sun disappear behind the ocean because of the clouds, but it is still a magical moment.

This is how our first day of visit ends. We dine in a Japanese restaurant, which is as good as in Japan and we are going to return there several times (whereas we stay only one week in Jeju looool). The restaurant is called Sushi Hongsam (or Sushi Red Ginseng). This sushi boat cost us 52,000won (+ a lot of complementary dishes, miso soups, rice, side dishes…). I recommend it!

Part 2: Practical Tips

• Car rental (more info here) :
  
  
  • To rent a car, go to: https://www.lotterentacar.net/eng/main/index.do Sign up for a 65% discount (reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance). You don’t have to pay right away (but you are entitled to a small additional discount if you do), you can pay when you come to pick up the car
  • Take the all-risk insurance with no deductible (about 10,000won/day) it’s cheap and it saves you to make an inventory of the car because any scratch, problem … will be 100% covered by the insurance
  • Please note, when you pick up the car, you will need (1) a valid international driving license* (2) your passport (3) a credit card IN YOUR NAME. We wanted to pay with Anh’s card the reservation made by JB: impossible.
  • *you aren’t sure if the driver’s license must be more than one year old or the French license must have been issued more than one year ago
  • There is a shuttle that takes you free of charge to Lotte Rent a car from Jeju airport. This shuttle can take you back to the airport once the car is returned.
  • The traffic in the city center is horrible because there are red lights every 100m. To make 30km on the main road, cars will take 1 hour and buses 1h30. Take this into account to establish your itinerary.
  • Download the Naver Map application. Enter the place names I give you on this article, I chose to give you exactly the name shown on Naver Map.
  
  
• There aren’t many Wifi spots on the island, buy a SIM card at the convenience store upon arrival at the airport. You will need to activate it (by taking a picture of your passport) so stay at the airport to do all these steps until you have 3G on your phone. JB explains it all here
• When you arrive at your hotel, take the hotel card right away, you will need it for cabs (in case you take the cab) as they only read the address written in Korean(hangul). Cabs aren’t expensive, if you travel 2-3km, it is better to take a cab (it will cost less than the bus – from 2 people). However, for long distances, the bus will be more economical.
• Be prepared for it to be a bit disappointing vs. the vision you are being sold of Jeju. There are hikes everywhere on the island, yes, but everything is marked out, secured, we aren’t at Koh Lanta 😀 It remains a particularly photogenic destination. Even the amateur photos that we take are too beautiful, it seems that we are in the middle of the nature, but the roads are rather like that: