I was looking at what to do over my summer break (since 3 days in the US was not sufficient for the effort it would take to get there), and decided to look at prices for Jeju flights just to take a break from figuring out my trip to Japan. (Yup, stay tuned, I'm going to Okinawa.) With Coupang, the Korean equivalent of Groupon, my coworker and I found tickets for...drumroll..$116.
Done.
Ideally we would have gone over Memorial Day weekend since it was three days instead of two, but we would have had to pay quite a bit more. We decided on the next weekend instead.
Instead of trying to find a hotel, we decided to crash in saunas. It ended up giving us more flexibility - we decided at the last minute to switch up our itinerary and stay the first night in Seogwipo instead of Jeju-si. It was also significantly cheaper: less than 10 dollars a night each. Granted, we were sleeping on the floor in a community area, but that's nothing new to us. Saunas are our friends. (LonelyPlanet has a lovely guide to Korean bathhouses/saunas that might give a clearer idea of why this is a good budget accommodation.)
Day 1: Going to Jeju!
I have Korean classes every Saturday and Sunday from 9-2. Fortunately, our flight left at 5pm, so I didn't have to miss Saturday's class. As soon as class was over, I booked it out of there and went straight to the airport. I'd never gone through Gimpo before, so I was very curious how different it would be from Incheon. It definitely has the feel of a smaller airport, but checking in and getting through security was really fast. (Side note: not having to take off your shoes at the airport is wonderful. I've never had to take off my shoes anywhere but the US.) On top of that, since it was a domestic flight, I was a little excited that I could get on a flight without my passport for the first time in years. Obviously I still brought it just in case, but I ended up only ever needing my Korean ID.
Along with many other firsts, this was my first experience with a budget airline. We flew with Jin Air, and I was pretty impressed. Check-in was quick and easy, we got nice seats (you don't get to choose in advance), and everything was clearly marked. Our flight did get delayed by about half an hour, but that was no big deal. There was no screen on the back of the seat in front of me, but unless I'm on a flight that's longer than 6 hours I hardly use that anyway. What I think I liked best, though, was that it felt very relaxed and casual, yet still professional. The Jin Air employees all wore uniform polos or button down shirts with nice jeans and Converse (high tops, of course), and they were all very nice and helpful. I was actually disappointed when our return flight got canceled and we were moved to a Korean Air flight. (Korean Air is Jin Air's parent company and is known for being all-around excellent.)
After we landed in Jeju, we had no checked luggage so we went straight for the bus. The first bus was easy. The second one we waited for took a bit, but it wasn't too bad. The third bus....well, the third bus never showed up. According to the tables we found online, we figured there would have been one or two more buses that were going to the "station" (post on the side of the road) where we got off. Nooope. We sat there for an hour before deciding to just hail a taxi to take us to the sauna.
Day 2: Adventure day!
We got up at 5 a.m., got ready, and left by about 6ish. We caught a bus to the first destination: 천지연폭포/Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. I'm pretty sure that this bus and the first bus we took from the airport were the only ones we didn't have to wait forever for on this trip.
At the waterfall park entrance, we had our first encounter with the dol hareubang (돌 하르방): the famous "stone grandfather" statues.
People say the hats are supposed to look like mushrooms. Yeah...mushrooms. Right.
It was drizzling, so the park was practically empty. There was a small stream with beautifully clear water, and the waterfall at the end was gorgeous. I really wanted to go swimming, but we were short on time (plus I don't think swimming is allowed there, even though I didn't see any signs). My coworker wanted to jump off the top, but I'm not quite brave enough to want to try something that daring. We ended up agreeing that it would be a bad idea, though - the water at the bottom was probably too shallow.
Next stop was Jusangjeolli Cliff (주상절리). It was a long bus ride followed by a bit of a walk to the ticket booth, but once we actually got to see the cliffs...man, it was worth it. The water was a gorgeous emerald color, and the dark color of the volcanic rocks made it pop even more. At first there were just average volcanic cliffs with beautiful water...
...but then we got around the bend in the path and saw what we had come for. Somehow the lava here had naturally formed into hexagons.
Look at that water. Absolutely gorgeous.
I wish there had been a little more space where we could stand and look. Even on a cool, overcast Sunday with near-constant mist/drizzle, there were quite a few people competing for space next to the railings.
After that, it was off to 만장굴 - the lava tubes! We made the long walk back to the bus stop, where we caught the first of three buses we intended to take. Our planned route had us going (roughly) clockwise around the island, from the cliffs to Seogwipo City, from there to Jeju City, and then from Jeju City to the lava tubes. We were the only two people on the bus when we first got on, so the bus driver asked where we were going. I told him, he asked how we were getting there, and he insisted that there must be a faster route. He then proceeded to call the Jeju Island information center, ask them for a better route, and then after the phone call he forwarded me the text message they sent him with directions. We thanked him and took the new route, but halfway through the insanely long bus ride we realized it was a counterclockwise route that had us going for nearly three hours on the same bus. I had deliberately planned on avoiding that route simply because we would be spending so long sitting on the same bus. Oh well.
We finally got off the bus after what felt like forever, and we walked 2km to the lava tubes. Once we got there, we discovered that there were lockers where we could store our backpacks. Score! Then we went down into the cave. As soon as we went below ground level, the temperature dropped dramatically and I found myself wishing for the jacket I left back home in Seoul. It was pretty cool to see all the different parts of the cave and read about how they formed.
This was once an underground river of lava.
Leaving the lava tubes was the biggest bus SNAFU of the whole trip, and that includes the bus that never arrived. We missed the bus to Jeju City by about 5 minutes, and we had to wait an hour for the next one. While we waited, a dude in an OSU shirt walked by and we chatted for a bit before he grabbed a taxi. We thought we were the smart ones for fending off the pushy taxi drivers. The bus finally got there...and it didn't go where we needed it to go. Whaaa? Apparently all the buses with the same number don't actually go the same route. The driver said he would drop us where we needed to transfer, so we figured that would be the end of it. Nope. We had to wait another hour at that stop as well, and we spent a decent chunk of that time trying to figure out if it was even going to show up.
Lesson learned: Jeju buses are ridiculous. You might think you have them all figured out, but that is a lie.
Eventually,after quite a bit of effort, we made it to Jeju City, sat in a Starbucks and charged our phones for a while, and then made our way to that night's sauna for dinner and relaxing.
Day 3: Going home
We thought we woke up in plenty of time to walk to the airport, but we ended up catching a taxi halfway through because we realized there was no way we would be able to walk there in time. Oh well, no big deal. The person at the check-in counter had trouble with our names and how they were processed in the system, but in the end we got our tickets without too much extra trouble. Then we saw the line to check the tickets. Not get through security, just go from the ticketing area to the place where we would go through security. There were probably three different massive travel groups ahead of us, and we started to worry that we might be cutting it close.
We got in line, and I finally learned firsthand why Chinese tourists have a bad reputation. We were waiting in line between the poles and ropes, just like any other reasonable and rule-abiding travelers. The line was double-file, but there was a little space on either side because nobody likes to be squished up against the boundaries and/or other people. Instead of waiting in line properly, a huge Chinese tour group starts pushing through the line. There was space to move? They took it. An orderly line became total anarchy. I ended up getting death stares from an old grandma because I wasn't letting her pass, and then returning those death stares when she eventually managed to barge past me.
Eventually we made it through the line and through security. I picked up a quick breakfast at a convenience store and we waited at the gate. Soon we were joined by a large group of deaf Chinese tourists. The language nerd in me was really excited because sign languages are fascinating and I got to see a non-English one being used in real life and not videos. On top of that, I figured the previous group must have been the odd group of rude people, so this group was probably much nicer and knew how to queue properly. HA, wrong. Once it was time to board the plane, they were worse than the first group. There was an older Korean family in front of us (in the LINE where you are supposed to WAIT YOUR TURN because that is how queues WORK) and they actually turned around and made a great effort to convey to us that the people being rude were not Korean and this was not how Koreans acted. Seriously, how rude do you have to be to cause locals to turn and try to make sure foreigners don't look at their country poorly because of your behavior? I'm sure not all Chinese people act like this when they travel, but still, geez...
Despite the delayed flight, my coworker and I still made it back to Seoul in enough time to drop our things at home, change, and relax for a little bit before heading in to work to teach at 1:00. Another nice thing about flying in and out of Gimpo is that it's actually in the city of Seoul and not an hour away in Incheon.
Overall, I had a lot of fun on Jeju Island. I definitely want to go back sometime and actually experience the beaches (and some nice weather), but I don't think I want to rely solely on buses again. That was a nightmare. My experience with a budget airline was also a pleasant surprise, and I'm much less antsy about my upcoming budget airline flight to Okinawa.
