The Hawaii of Korea, Jeju Island Part 1

Hey there!

Last week I've been to Jeju-island. I had planned to go there from the very beginning because I heard a lot of good stuff about this vulcanic island. I was lucky because Jeju is beautiful all year round so it wasn't an issue going in winter. In fact it was a very nice escape from the freezing temperatures in Seoul but let's get started right away:

DAY 1

We took the plain at 7:50 am from Gimpo Airport which means we had to wake up at 4:30 to be able to get on the first subway leaving for the airport. Since it was a domestic flight the whole thing went by really smoothly. Since we decided to stay in Seongwipo AND Jeju-si we had to make our way to Seongwipo first. It’s about a 1h 30 min drive from the airport. One thing I noticed during the way too curvaceous bus-ride was, that even though it was much warmer than in Seoul, there was definitely more snow. Although both of our destination cities were big cities on Jeju-do the atmosphere was totally different from Seoul because it already felt much calmer than the metropolis. That might be because nature was dominant rather than infrastructure. Mark my words because this also applies for transportation.
We could check in our Air BnB at 4 pm which means we had a lot of time to kill that day so we decided to just chill a bit in Starbucks until we were hungry. After that we tried to reach our Air BnB which was located a bit outside the main city. On our way to find a bus (which is definitely more challenging than in Seoul) we discovered Saeyeongyo Bridge which lead us to Saeseom Island. Despite the fact that we had to carry all our luggage around the island it was a very beautiful walk and the scenery left us breathless. It was also the first time for us to see the clear water of the island and when I say clear I mean really clear. After arriving at our Air BnB the day found an early end because we were definitely sleep deprived.

DAY 2

After we slept in, our plan was to go and see some waterfalls since Seongwipo was known for that. The biggest and probably most stunning one that day was Jeongbang Waterfall. It is located almost directly in the neighborhood of the main city and quite the tourist spot. Entrance fee was about 2.000 Won (1,50 €) which is even less than the admission to the palaces in Seoul. This waterfall is the only one in Korea that falls directly into the sea so we didn’t just have a nice view of the fall but also were at the coast between black rocks and cliffs. That day we also payed Cheonjiyeon Falls a visit. There were three of them and we had to take the bus further down the coast to reach them. The atmosphere was very peaceful and there even was a beautiful bridge which lead us to a little market where they sold freshly squeezed tangerine juice. (Jeju Island is very very famous in Korea for tangerines. No wonder that everywhere you look you can see tangerine trees.) Because my friend had to return to Jeju-si in order to buy new stuff for his camera, I decided to spend some time on the rooftop of the cafe next to our AirBnB. Although it’s supposed to be winter the air in Jeju is much more welcoming with about 10 degrees everyday. To wrap up the day we had some black pork at the restaurant in the same building as we were staying. (Black pork is another thing Jeju is greatly known for)

DAY 3

Main attraction that day was definitely Nohyung-Supermarket. Most of you might be thinking about an actual market but that’s far off the grid. This is actually something quite different so I don’t even know how to describe it. I think the best way to put it is a digital art museum. First you start entering a door which is designed as a Korean supermarket (that’s where the name is coming from) but everything is black and white. After that you enter a small room with rain-lights hanging from the ceiling. It felt like entering one of those fantasy movies I always wanted to be in haha. The main hall where you can watch a beautiful 3D show with different themes was the main attraction though. If you go down to the main floor even your footsteps change the light show which gives off the feeling of really being part of it. During my visit I felt like I was in a whole different world so it's a really nice escape for who ever might need it. 10/10 would recommend. I think the photos down below will probably help much more visualizing the whole thing.

That's it for part 1, stay tuned for the next three days in Seongwipo!

See you~

Luisa