I spend my last full day on the island doing exactly what I said I was going to do - see the beach. I drove all up and down the sea road around the Woljeong-ri beach area and had a lovely time. Every now and then I would park the car on the side of the road and get out to take photos. One time in particular, this police car stopped. And two police men got out. And they walked over to me. And then they offered to take my photo with the beautiful scenery! And then they asked if they could take my photo with my rental car for a rental-car-safety advertisement. Sure! I thought that was so cool. Then they got back in their little car and drove off smiling! So cool.
Because most of the day was spend lounging around beaches and trecking over lava rocks on the beaches, I'll leave you with my advice on Jeju.
Number one, spend the money and send away for your international driver's license. There is no other way to do Jeju than with a car. I would have hated it were I without a car. And I'm sure I would have cried. Rent a car. Mine was about $75 for 2.5 days, plus a tank of gas, through KT Kumho Rental Car. If you become a member for free online, this is the price. If not (which they direct you to, anyway), the price would have been higher, at around $250 for the same time period. But as I said, they direct you to become a member anyway in order to be able to rent the car at all.
Number two, beaches. I did my research on beaches to see in Jeju. I read about Jangmun beach. I read about Iho beach. And that was pretty much it. Not once did I read about Woljeong-ri, which is hands down the best, most beautiful, most scenic, most photo-worthy beach on the island. Skip the others if you don't have the time and head directly to Woljeong-ri. It's just past the road to the maze and lava cave, coming from Jeju-si.
Number three, tourist attractions. The maze was fun, I recommend it. Not much farther down the same road is the lava cave. You can't spend 5,000w any better for an afternoon of adventure and fun. Loveland... it was interesting, but overpriced at 9,000w, and quite small. Give it a go if you must, but if it's not on your list, don't worry about it. Chocolate museum. Ugh. I seriously hope the "one of the ten best chocolate museums in the world' tag line was a made up lie. Because there is absolutely no way it can be. Plus it's about an hour and a half from Jeju-si and eats up about a 1/4 tank of gas getting there and back. However, it's on the way to the Jangmun resort area, which is worth a see if you want to go to that beach and walk around the gardens there. That was a pretty area. Plus the Nymph Bridge and the 3 waterfalls are on the same road, right nearby.
Number 4, hostels. If you're looking for a hostel, the one I stayed at was HK Jeju 1. There are three. One and two are in the Jeju-si area, while three is in the Seogwipo area *near* the Jangmun resort. It was a good hostel and the people there were friendly. However, I didn't meet any other people because most of them were Korean and, frankly, I never really saw anyone else. (I did sleep in and miss the coffee/toast breakfasts, though.) I'm sure there are other good hostels, but this one was nice because it was almost right across from the sea wall and the Ramada, which has a lovely western-style buffet dinner, as well as a la carte, and a well-stocked bar. All with a fantastic view of the water. The hostel is also about a block from the Chilsung-ro shopping area, as well as many seafood restaurants. Also not far from that dragon-head rock. (I never went to see that. It just looks like a rock to me. Meh.)
Number 5, enjoy! Jeju is fun and there are lots of things to see and do. By no means is this an all-inclusive list. You can go horseback riding, paragliding, island hopping... the list is almost endless. Just do what you want to do and enjoy it at your own pace.
Happy travels!
Because most of the day was spend lounging around beaches and trecking over lava rocks on the beaches, I'll leave you with my advice on Jeju.
Number one, spend the money and send away for your international driver's license. There is no other way to do Jeju than with a car. I would have hated it were I without a car. And I'm sure I would have cried. Rent a car. Mine was about $75 for 2.5 days, plus a tank of gas, through KT Kumho Rental Car. If you become a member for free online, this is the price. If not (which they direct you to, anyway), the price would have been higher, at around $250 for the same time period. But as I said, they direct you to become a member anyway in order to be able to rent the car at all.
Number two, beaches. I did my research on beaches to see in Jeju. I read about Jangmun beach. I read about Iho beach. And that was pretty much it. Not once did I read about Woljeong-ri, which is hands down the best, most beautiful, most scenic, most photo-worthy beach on the island. Skip the others if you don't have the time and head directly to Woljeong-ri. It's just past the road to the maze and lava cave, coming from Jeju-si.
Number three, tourist attractions. The maze was fun, I recommend it. Not much farther down the same road is the lava cave. You can't spend 5,000w any better for an afternoon of adventure and fun. Loveland... it was interesting, but overpriced at 9,000w, and quite small. Give it a go if you must, but if it's not on your list, don't worry about it. Chocolate museum. Ugh. I seriously hope the "one of the ten best chocolate museums in the world' tag line was a made up lie. Because there is absolutely no way it can be. Plus it's about an hour and a half from Jeju-si and eats up about a 1/4 tank of gas getting there and back. However, it's on the way to the Jangmun resort area, which is worth a see if you want to go to that beach and walk around the gardens there. That was a pretty area. Plus the Nymph Bridge and the 3 waterfalls are on the same road, right nearby.
Number 4, hostels. If you're looking for a hostel, the one I stayed at was HK Jeju 1. There are three. One and two are in the Jeju-si area, while three is in the Seogwipo area *near* the Jangmun resort. It was a good hostel and the people there were friendly. However, I didn't meet any other people because most of them were Korean and, frankly, I never really saw anyone else. (I did sleep in and miss the coffee/toast breakfasts, though.) I'm sure there are other good hostels, but this one was nice because it was almost right across from the sea wall and the Ramada, which has a lovely western-style buffet dinner, as well as a la carte, and a well-stocked bar. All with a fantastic view of the water. The hostel is also about a block from the Chilsung-ro shopping area, as well as many seafood restaurants. Also not far from that dragon-head rock. (I never went to see that. It just looks like a rock to me. Meh.)
Number 5, enjoy! Jeju is fun and there are lots of things to see and do. By no means is this an all-inclusive list. You can go horseback riding, paragliding, island hopping... the list is almost endless. Just do what you want to do and enjoy it at your own pace.
Happy travels!
such fun ! we will look for your photo on the rental car commercial.
ReplyDeletelove, mom and dad