Jeju: 5 days itinerary. Part 4: East Jeju, Extended
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On the fourth day of our 5 days itinerary, we took a ferry to Udo Island. Afterward, we hiked Seongsan and enjoyed the view from the summit. Unfortunately, we missed the famous divers’ show but enjoyed the jetty & sea view. LAstly, we had dinner in Jeju City with my friend.
Links to the other parts
Jeju Itinerary, day 4: East Extended
On 4th day of our 5 days Jeju itinerary, we did a lot of walking and hiking. We took a ferry to a tiny island near Jeju main island - Udo. We explored the island on foot, enjoying its scenery and discovered its local peanut-based products. Then we hiked to Seongsan Ilchulbong, a volcanic crater with amazing views. The hike led to the top, where it’s possible to see a caldera and panoramic vistas of the ocean. Afterward, we returned back to Jeju City for dinner with my friend.
Udo island
The day was full of hiking & walking. We started with a trip to a nearby island - Udo island. The island is located about 15 minutes from the main island by a ferry (don’t forget to check the schedule!), which departs from one and only ferry terminal in the area. Udo is ten times smaller than Jeju island and can be walked through in a day. At the jetty on the Udo side, there are a lot of so-called bike rental shops. The places are renting various bike-looking vehicles, but you have to be prepared to present a valid motorbike driving licence. Unfortunately, I didn’t have one, so we had to explore the island on foot.
We walked for a couple of hours across the island, enjoying the scenery and nature. We also realised that the island somehow is popular for its peanuts-based products: alcohol, sweets, ice cream, etc. At one of the local places, we tried a peanut coffee & ice cream, which were pretty decent, and left back to the main island.
Seongsan Ilchulbong
Our last stop on the east side of Jeju was Seongsan Ilchulbong. The park has two observation decks - one leading all the way to the top and the second one has a way to the sea. The seaside has a famous women divers show. The show happens twice a day, so please don’t forget to double check the official schedule (I used this website). We didn’t make it for the show, but enjoyed a small jetty with a diver’s shack.
After the diver’s jetty, we went all the way up to the mountain. It’s a reasonably easy hike with an astonishing view of the volcanic caldera at the end. The interior of the caldera is adorned with lush vegetation, giving it a vibrant green hue that contrasts beautifully with the surrounding blue waters and sky. The crater itself is relatively shallow but expansive, creating a broad, bowl-like depression at the summit.
At the Seongsan’s summit, we enjoyed an amazing view of the caldera. Its edge is rough and broken providing amazing views of the island and ocean. The volcanic rock adds to the beauty of the peak. Seongsan is a famous spot for tourists to enjoy the sunset, and I strongly recommend coming over here to enjoy the last lights of the day.
Back to the Jeju City
In the evening, we had a quick dinner with a friend, who also arrived in Jeju. The dinner was only notable by the fact that the restaurant that I picked was closed, and we urgently had to look for something else. Interestingly, this was the first restaurant where the waiter didn’t recognize the usual gesture for asking for the bill—miming the act of signing a receipt in the air. As a response to my gesture, the lady brought us a pencil and a piece of paper. Except for this funny episode, the food was fresh and tasty.
The restaurant that I wanted to visit originally looks pretty interesting: Jeju Gommak Restaurant
64 Gujwahaean-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
If anyone reading the post has been there, please share your thoughts.