From country to country, and even city to city I have yet two have any two days which are the same - even if the elements contained within them are very similar.
I'd like to say that's a testament to my organisational and decision-making skills which have ensured that I have been doing different things each day, but it probably says more about the diverse nature of the places I've visited.
Even in Bali where I applied the rinse-repeat formula into going to the beach every day it felt like I encountered a wide variety elements which made up my day, and overall I feel like I have spent my time doing some very diverse activities from one day to the next.
Perhaps this can also be attributed to not staying in any one place for an overly-extended length of time, although I feel like the timings on my journey have been pretty spot on. Naturally I try to make sure that my days are filled, and although I rarely ever do anything on an evening aside from typing up my blog and catching up with the day's sports news there haven't really been any times when I have felt like I was bored or that I needed to introduce some more exciting activities into my routine.
I'm kept relatively busy with blogging and sorting through my pictures, and when I'm not doing that then I am usually found planning for the next stage of my trip by researching places to go or booking flights and hotels. I can't ever really say that I'm stuck for things to do.
I feel like I've improved as the weeks have gone on at properly assessing what I am capable of doing in one day, and it can be quite difficult to make these judgements, even if a lot of the time it's guesswork. Putting everything together can be challenging on a daily basis, but I feel like preparing ahead of time, knowing roughly how long my travel times will be, and also having back up plans in case things don't work out are all essential steps to making things run smoothly.
That being said I am very much at mercy of a number of factors, namely the weather as I discovered in Busan on Sunday, and also on the information that I researching being correct....
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I felt like a bit of an earlier night might do me some good, but I still woke up at some random times of the morning perhaps due to whatever is going on with my body, but when my alarm did go off I tried to make sure I resisted the temptation to have too much of a rest day just because I wasn't feeling fantastic.
When I'd looked at what to do last night I'd considered perhaps going on a hike into Hallasan National Park today, but quite a lot of the trails seemed to suggest that it would take seven or eight hours to do a round-trip, and I felt like with the way that I was feeling, even though the fresh air would do me some good, it might not be ideal to go climbing up a volcano, especially as it was looking a bit cloudy when I opened the curtains this morning.
As Hallasan sits at the centre of Jeju Island it's not really possible to ignore its presense and I believe there are five different routes which you can take to reach the upper regions of it. Only two of them actually go to the top and take you to the crater which I've seen pictures of and looks magnificent.
To me, just looking at it from a distance has been fascinating, especially on the bus as I described last night, and I often wish I could just make all the buildings invisible for a couple of seconds so I can take a picture of the whole thing in all it's glory.
I remember going to Greece in 2011 and having the same kind of fascination with the Acropolis in Athens. It sits so far above everything that it's hard not to give it all your attention, and no matter where you look, your eyes seem to be drawn to it.
To me, just looking at it from a distance has been fascinating, especially on the bus as I described last night, and I often wish I could just make all the buildings invisible for a couple of seconds so I can take a picture of the whole thing in all it's glory.
I remember going to Greece in 2011 and having the same kind of fascination with the Acropolis in Athens. It sits so far above everything that it's hard not to give it all your attention, and no matter where you look, your eyes seem to be drawn to it.
It is exactly the same with Mount Hallasan which catches your eye at every turn, and although the peak may disappear behind a tall building for a couple of seconds it isn't long before it returns to view. I really would like to go up there some day, although I feel like it probably takes quite a lot of equipment and planning. I read a few blogs on the climbing trails last night whilst making my decision and they seemed to suggest that the climate on the way up was totally different (as you'd expect due to the altitude) although all of these crazy people seemed to be doing it in winter when there were a few feet of snow which tends to make it unclimbable for all but the most hardcore of hikers.
I decided to settle on something related to Mount Hallasan, but not as dramatic as climbing to the summit, and figured that it would be interesting to go to the opposite end of the scale and start at the base rather than the peak.
On the north-eastern side of the island, about 20 or so kms away from Seongsan Ilchulbong where I visited yesterday is a place called the Manjanggul Caves which are lava tubes of about 7.4km long believed to be the longest in the world, and one of many places on Jeju where a natural disaster left its mark on the island.
Just whilst I'm discussing distances, let me just say that for a relatively small island it take a long time to get from one place to another on Jeju. I left relatively early this morning with that in mind, having discovered yesterday that to do a quarter circuit of the island took about an hour. I'm not sure if it's because the bus stops so often or because it goes around the very permieter of Jeju but it makes it feel so much larger than it is. I managed to cover the full length of the country last week going from Incheon to Busan, and in a quarter of that time I probably managed to cover a much shorter distance.
I figured it would be quite an interesting trip with some good scenery, and allow me to get close to the national park even if I wasn't going to visit there today.
I boarded the 780 bus which goes between the bus terminal in Seogwipo and the bus terminal in Jeju city which is in the northern part of the island. As predicted it was an interesting drive as we slowly ascended before reaching our highest point at the entrance to the Gwanseumsa trail. I was very surprised to see how busy it was up there although I guess a lot of people made an early start to get there. Gwanseumsa is one of the two trails that goes to the top and at a reported distance of around 9km it takes probably about eight hours round-trip to make it to the summit and back. Nobody is allowed to begin walking up the trail after 12 noon as at a regular pace they wouldn't make it back before dark, although this is extended in summer and shortened in winter.
One thing I did notice is that the buses to all of the trails stops running at about 4.30pm which seems very bizarre although I guess it means good business for the taxi drivers who get the rule of the roost after that time.
One thing I did notice is that the buses to all of the trails stops running at about 4.30pm which seems very bizarre although I guess it means good business for the taxi drivers who get the rule of the roost after that time.
Despite the shortened route it still took over an hour to get to Jeju city, and it was a strange to go from one end of the island to the other with plenty of countryside in between.
Luckily when I got there the bus to go to the caves was just about to leave although there was some slight confusion when I wasn't allowed to buy a ticket on the bus (as I had been on every other trip) and quickly had to run into the ticketing office to purchase one before jumping back on board.
Luckily when I got there the bus to go to the caves was just about to leave although there was some slight confusion when I wasn't allowed to buy a ticket on the bus (as I had been on every other trip) and quickly had to run into the ticketing office to purchase one before jumping back on board.
I got off at the stop for the caves where just to make sure you knew where you were there was a massive sign which erased any doubts in your mind:
Manjangul Caves are slightly inland from the exterior route that the bus takes so I had to walk about 2km before I eventually got to the entrance. On the way there were some other smaller lava tubes which had seemingly been made above ground and there were piles of rocks presumably following the line of where the lava had gone. Thankfully the last time Hallasan erupted was in 1007, but I'm not sure when these tubes were created.
At the entrance it was looking fairly quiet, but as always I seemed to arrive at the same time as a large number of people so I paid for a ticket and headed down the steps in order to be able to stay in front of them:
I can't say caving is anything I've ever done seriously before; I did try in Kuching but unfortunately the caves there were closed so I never made it, but I honestly can't remember the last time I explored something underground like this.
It wasn't exactly warm outside but the temperature drop as you went down the stairs was noticeable and due to the moisture in the air there were quite a few drops from the cave roof onto the floor which had created some puddles:
It wasn't exactly warm outside but the temperature drop as you went down the stairs was noticeable and due to the moisture in the air there were quite a few drops from the cave roof onto the floor which had created some puddles:
Quite often on this trip I have been awe of things that I have seen, but usually those have been man-made. Yesterday at the waterfalls I was fascinated by them, but once I'd seen it and taken a couple of pictures there wasn't much more left to do, here it was totally different. I was absolutely amazed by everything I was seeing and one thing which struck me was how wide and open the cave was:
It was quite well lit with interesting natural elements caused by the flow of lava everywhere:
Although the tube is 7.4km long, you can probably only walk about 2km of it for safety reasons and once you get to the end there is seven metre tall lava column which stands proudly as a landmark feature of the cave:
Although it's a bit of a strange tourist attraction I have to say that I was totally taken by how it has been created and it was incredible to think that lava flowing naturally through there had created the shape of the cave and dictated all the assets of everything that was contained inside it. As it was pretty cold and damp inside there it's not the kind of place that you'd want to sit and marvel at for a long time, but I could certainly appreciate it's natural beauty as I took a walk back to the entrance.
Walking back to the bus stop I hopped back on the bus which arrived about ten minutes later and headed back in the direction of Seogwipo. I was going to head back in the direction of Jeju City and take the bus that drives along the western coast just so I'd completed the full circuit but that route looked even longer and more complicated so I decided to go back in the direction I'd come from yesterday. Instead of getting off in the usual place I was going to stop at the Seogwipo terminal and walk towards the Jungmun Resort complex which seemed to be where the vast majority of hotels are be in the southern part of Jeju.
We'd driven through there on the airport bus when I arrived on Monday and I'd seen that there were a few tourist attractions that were in there that I'd thought about exploring but simply hadn't had the time.
As I was even further out than yesterday it took almost TWO HOURS to get to the Seogwipo bus terminal, needless to say I managed to go through a fair few podcasts on the journey, but started to feel extremely sleepy as I took the journey half way around the island.
When I eventually got to the bus terminal I could well have jumped on another bus, but I felt like I needed the fresh air so set about walking the signposted 9km it took to get to the Jungmun Resort.
When I eventually got to the bus terminal I could well have jumped on another bus, but I felt like I needed the fresh air so set about walking the signposted 9km it took to get to the Jungmun Resort.
The place I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of was the Jungmun Daepo Columnar Joints which were down by the waterfront. I'd figured that it would be something I'd be able to just walk to like I had done with Lonely Rock the other day, but when I got there it appeared like its status might have led it to become a more popular attraction which you now have to pay to go and look at. That was fine by me as I was quite intrigued to see them, but the entrance gate was closed so looks like I had just missed the time it was open until. Looking through the magazine I picked up on the bus there was no opening and closing times mentioned like there was for everywhere else so I guess I didn't get some very useful information there from the guidebook I've been praising for so long!
There was a little park nearby which I walked through and just next to the sea front was what looked like a very modern and space-age building which turned out to be the Jeju International Convention Center. By this point it was getting towards time to get some dinner so I took a few pictures of my view through the trees before heading inside to get some food:
To say it was quite a busy place pretty much all the restaurants I saw inside of there were closed which was pretty disappointing as one of them was a place I'd eaten at before in Seoul called Kraze Burger which I'd visited and loved on several occasions. I could definitely have gone for one of them after what seemed like half of the day spent either walking or on the bus, but it wasn't to be so I grabbed a couple of pots of noodles from the convenience store on my way back to the hotel.
I was thinking about catching a taxi to get back to Seogwipo but chanced my arm on catching a local bus which I thought I'd seen driving around close to where I'm staying.
As I got on I tried to pay the driver with a W10,000 but he just shook his head at me and said something in Korean which I didn't understand. I emptied the contents of my wallet to discover that I only had W10,000 notes of a W500 coin which I showed the driver. He gave me a thumbs up and waved me on which must have meant he was in a good mood as in other situations I'd probably have been ordered off for not having any change. I guess he felt sorry for me being a foreigner out in the dark!
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It will be a sad moment to say my goodbyes to Korea for a second time, but I hope that I can return for a hat-trick in the near future.
My second experience here has been totally different to the first - largely due to the cities I have visited, and the circumstances of my visit.
Honestly, it did take a while for the surreal feeling to wear off, and more than anywhere else when I arrived here I felt confident and like it was somewhere I come often. Although I'm disappointed not to have been able to spend any time in Suwon or Seoul I think it has probably been beneficial to my experiences to have visited both Busan and Jeju, and I certainly have no regrets about selecting them as destinations.
Honestly, it did take a while for the surreal feeling to wear off, and more than anywhere else when I arrived here I felt confident and like it was somewhere I come often. Although I'm disappointed not to have been able to spend any time in Suwon or Seoul I think it has probably been beneficial to my experiences to have visited both Busan and Jeju, and I certainly have no regrets about selecting them as destinations.
There really was so much to do in Busan, and even in another few days there I think I'd still have been coming up with new activities to do. Jeju has been a great experience, and it's been interesting to come at what seems to be a quieter time of the year allowing me to see the sights without everything being hugely over-crowded.
One thing I feel like it has emphasised to me which perhaps I had forgotten or maybe not realised is that unlike many other parts of south-east Asia there isn't too much of a tourist element to Korea. In the same way that somewhere like Laos is still developing as a popular place for people to visit, for slightly different reasons I feel like Korea is still working on this element (particularly Jeju) and I think that in a strange way the language barrier has been much more difficult here - especially when it's come to food.
It's more of a reminder than a revelation, and obviously being on my own this time rather than having others to struggle along beside me has really brought that fact to the forefront of my mind.
It's more of a reminder than a revelation, and obviously being on my own this time rather than having others to struggle along beside me has really brought that fact to the forefront of my mind.
I now have about six weeks left of my travels and four countries left to visit, and after the slightly familiar surroundings of Korea, tomorrow I will be heading back into the unknown...
Going Underground
The Jam (1982)
The Jam (1982)
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