Jeju: Where Fantasy Becomes Reality

I've never seen such a mystical place. Jeju Island, off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, has a beauty of it's very own. Just look at it.

There is a double waterfall dropping off a volcanic lava cliff directly into the open sea and creating it's own rainbow. Are we still on earth?

Unicorns probably live here.

I had read about Jeju in travel books and two things hooked me. 1. Lava caves. 2. Highest peak in the country. I had to go. Three of my favorite things in the world are volcanos, caves, and mountain tops. Naturally, Jeju seemed like a dream come true.

Before I left Busan, I tried to contact a few 'couch surfers' (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about) to stay with on Jeju, but had no luck. One host, Colin, said he already had someone booked but he'd be glad to give me some info and recommend a great hostel. Rewind three days: Chatting with Chelson, one of my friends from the hostel on the first night in Busan, we discovered that not only were we flying to Jeju on the same day, but HE was the couch surfer that had already booked to stay with same guy that declined my request. Such a small world.

I arrived on Jeju Island on a Tuesday afternoon. I made my way to my hostel, dropped my bags, and headed out to wander around. I walked along the coast a bit. At one point, a middle aged lady stopped me and said something about taking a picture in broken English. I assumed she wanted me to take a picture for her, but she actually wanted to take a picture of me on my own camera in this little field of flowers. It turned into a five minute long photo shoot where she told me where to stand and how to pose while she snapped away. It was adorable.

There is quite an artsy scene and one of the neat things is a well maintained, scenic trail running along the coast line, circumnavigating the island. The entire trail is 262 miles long.

After grabbing a bite to eat from the market, I headed to bed at a decent hour and rose early to meet up with Chelson and Colin. Colin, originally from Ohio, has been living and teaching English on Jeju Island for the past nine months. He is intelligent, open-minded, and generous. Even though he was ill during my time there, he selflessly took Chelson and I out for a morning walk to the waterfall (pictured at the top), through some nice areas of town, and to meet his local friends in the market, all the while sharing his knowledge of the history and culture of Jeju and South Korea. He even taught me the Korean Alphabet, which I studied on the bus. Now I can read and write in Hangul, except I have no idea what I'm saying.

Colin went off to work and Chelson and I hopped on the public bus to see the volcanic "tuff cone" at the eastern edge of the island.

The photo above shows how anticlimactic the top of the actual crater was. It looked like a giant dinner plate of grass that we weren't even allowed to walk on. The photo below, however, is a view of Jeju from the top of the crater, showing the beautiful and unique landscape of the island.

We headed down the many stairs to the small beach below, took a short boat ride around the crater, then watched the "Women Diver Presentation."

The geographic formations were stunning.

There is a group of elderly women who gear up and wade through the shallow waters, hunting for seafood. I had mixed emotions watching the "performance." These women have been doing this for decades. When they started, it was a necessary practice in order to feed their families. Over time, the activity has become more of a tradition built for tourists. I could see in their faces how tired they were. Watching them, I felt like I was at a zoo.

Afterwards, we got back on the public bus and made our way to the lava tunnel.

It was an impressive tunnel, over 13 kilometers long and the size of a cathedral in some areas. Only one km was open to the public, but I'll take what I can get when it comes to caves.

I'll admit, I've been in caves way more awesome than this one, but I was happy just knowing I was walking through a tunnel created by the cooling of lava that had burst out of the earth 5,000 years ago.

Chelson and I met back up with Colin for dinner, then headed to bed early again. We had a big day ahead of us.

Everyone said that hiking Hallasan, the highest point in South Korea, would take about nine hours round trip, so Chelson and I packed some fruit, snacks, and water and got on a bus that would take us to the trail head. Although it's low season, the trail was packed. There were school groups, tour groups, families, and solo hikers, all geared up to get to the peak.

Chelson and I agreed that we wanted to smash the crap out of this volcano, so we went full out, hiking straight up, no stops, passing everyone along the way, guessing how fast we could go. Chelson poked fun at the Koreans for their attire while I usually responded with "Oh my god, Chelson, shut up! They can do what they want!" They usually are wearing a full matching hiking outfit, complete with sun hat, backpack, and trekking poles. They always look like they are headed up Mount Everest regardless of how short and easy the day's hike will be. I think it's funny, but I also love how excited and impressed they get when they see me trucking it up a trail wearing just shorts and tank top.

When I arrived at the top, I gave a "whoop!" and offered a few high fives to some Koreans around me, which of course caused them to laugh and ask to take selfies with me. When Chelson arrived at the top, he collapsed onto the deck, mumbling something about how he needs to stop smoking and also that we won, even without the trekking poles, or "pussy sticks" as he calls them. Even though Chelson and I tease each other to no end and he's a total diva, he is truly a great guy. He is very entertaining, smart, confident, and genuine. I consider him a great friend.

The summit was filled with people resting, eating, and taking pictures.

Although the sky was a bit hazy, the view was still gorgeous.

We took a different, longer, less crowded trail on our way down, which ended up taking us just as long as it did to get up (2:15), making our round trip about five hours.

Another point of interested I wanted to see on Jeju was the lava columns. There is a long stretch along the southern coastline where hexagonal lava columns jut up out of the water, creating cliffs that look as if they were made of Legos.

I would have loved to spend more time exploring this strange and beautiful island. In my opinion, I'd rather leave a place hoping to go back someday than leave feeling like I stayed too long.

So, Jeju, until next time.