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| "Hello Jeju". An odd choice of phrase for departing travellers. |
The weather in South Korea was trying its hardest to make me feel at home when I arrived in Busan, and the next day it could still only be described as "dreich". Many of the attractions in Jeju require you to be outside, so I lounged about all morning until I remembered that I'm Scottish and should be used to a bit of damp, so headed out for a bit of exploration.
And the fruits of my exploration were a fish market ...
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| That sold other stuff |
... some sea-life statues along the waterfront ...
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| Note the bird sitting on the dolphin's nose |
... and a rather underwhelming rock formation (edit: Just realised I missed the main big rock thing so my apologies to it).
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| Oedolgae Rock |
The next day, I was determined to do something a bit more exciting, so I hopped on a bus and then another bus, with intent of climbing South Korea's largest mountain, Mount Hallasan, which sits 1,950m above sea level (and the bus takes you up the first 450m).
On paper, it should have been pretty easy. Much of it was actually proper stairs ...
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| In case you don't know what stairs look like |
... and the parts didn't have steps, had a clearly defined path.
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| There were nice views to be had on the way |
The main problem was the unrelenting steepness. It took nearly three hours to get to the top, where thankfully you could see quite far due to the clouds clearing. The summit was incredibly busy, so I can only imagine the other route to the top had a chair-lift or something.
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| Hundreds of people queueing to get their picture taken (click to expand) |
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| Baengnokdam crater. Over 100m deep! |
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| I really should invest in a pair of gloves |
Coming down was a real struggle and took nearly as long as going up. I went on my arse a couple of times due to the steepness and slipperiness, and the risk of snapping an ankle was high for a clumsy impatient oaf like me. It's certainly one of the toughest climbs I've done (although I appreciate that since I've only done 8 out of a possible 282 Scottish munros, I'm hardly Hillary or Tenzing).
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| No idea what the text says, but the picture seems to say "Getting airlifted off mountains is great fun!" |
This was my last night on Jeju, and eager to avoid another chopstick humiliation, I opted for an eatery imaginatively entitled "Chicken and Beer", where I partook of some chicken and beer, and invented a new mealtime game called "Guess the Cutlery".
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| And today's answer: a fork and tongs |
So it was back to Seoul for my final night in Korea, but before I go...
I've met hundreds of sound people on this holiday (and remarkably only one arsehole so far!). It is the people far more than the trips and tourist attractions that make this trip memorable. I was lucky enough to spend some time with a couple of Korean people (both of whom had excellent English).
The domestic departure area at Busan airport doesn't have much going for it - especially when your flight is delayed by more than three hours. However, I was lucky enough to get chatting to Ji Sue, who was moving to Jeju to work on a green tea farm. She was very chatty and friendly, and the four or so hours I spent in her company seemed to fly in (excuse the pun).
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| She even gave me a Korean name. I'd thank you all to refer to me as Park Min Sue from now on. |
And back in Seoul for one night, I decided to head back to my original hotel, mainly because Ham was working there on the night shift. Ham is a great chap - and as he is planning a round the world trip / work avoidance similar to mine near the end of the year. was happy to hear me prattle on about my experiences. And likewise, he was more than happy to answer all the questions I had about Korean life that I should have asked on the first day here, not the last!
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| He even treated me to some tasty Korean chicken. Minus points for the lack of tongs though. |
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