Jeju Island.
We came here to hike South Korea’s highest mountain, it didn’t disappoint.
- Hiking Mount Hallasan.
Our main reason for visiting Jeju was to hike Mount Hallasan. Technically an active volcano, it hasn’t erupted in hundreds of years so is effectively a mountain. The highest mountain in South Korea.
Highly organised and efficient (in true South Korean style) it was a tad different to other hikes. At the entrance of the trail a information lady gave us a leaflet of the route (there’s only one way up from the Seongpanak Trail). The whole route was beautifully laid out with half of it paved in wooden decking, and ropes to help when it got steep (versus Guatemala’s crawl on your hands and knees approach!). There are also specific times you have to get to different checkpoints, otherwise you aren’t allowed to summit in fear of descending in the dark. This really meant the latest you could start without rushing was 9am. Naturally, all rules are strictly followed.
We had no idea what to expect, in particular the difficulty level, as not many people had written about it in English. It’s 10k to the top and we smashed it – having been told it should take 4–5 hours, we did it in 3 (boom!). To be fair we were going at a speedy pace, and went down in the same time. The final ascent was like walking into winter wonderland as thick frost covered the surrounding trees. The crater at the top is vast and peaking through the clouds we saw the whole Jeju island out to the sea. It was beautiful, cold but beautiful. Before we got frostbite, we wrapped up and tucked into our packed lunch of bibimbap from 7-eleven. (Looking like amateurs as other hikers shot back Korean liquor, Soju, and used heat pouches to have warm noodle soup).
What impressed me the most was how many people were doing the hike. There were loads of Koreans and Japanese, in particular extremely fit older walkers, with their walking sticks (the hiking type) and impressive walking gear. We only saw a handful of gweilos!
2. Jeju Island.
Apparently known as the Hawaii of South Korea, Jeju is a super popular holiday destination for Koreans and Chinese (until China banned tour groups from visiting in 2017). There are two main cities on the island: Jeju City and Seogwipo. Wanting to experience a smaller city in South Korea we opted to stay in Seogwipo (it’s still very much a city!), with the added benefit that the Seongpanak trail entrance. is a lot closer. Like the rest of the country the transport is incredible, Seogwipo is a 1.5 hour bus from Jeju where you can admire the countryside and millions of orange trees on the island.
3. Seogwipo.
There wasn’t loads going on in Seogwipo. We walked the city and visited Jeongbang Waterfall and Saeyeongyo Bridge for beautiful views of the sea, and saw Mount Hallasan from afar surrounded in clouds. Seogwipo Maeil Olle market sold Jeju oranges in all their wonderful different forms as well as plenty of other Korean delicacies!
We visited Jeju in November 2018.
