Going to Jeju-do?

Beeyang-do (Beeyang- island)

Well, my friend and I have learned two (important) things that one should do before they visit the beautiful island of Jeju-do; 

1. Get your international driver’s license so you can rent a car, and 

2. Make sure you can understand Korean and the bus system, to some degree, if you want to get around without one.  






*There is much less English here than in Seoul.

WOT?!

We found these things out the hard way.

We came to Jeju-do, the famous island south of the Korean peninsula, and decided that we would explore the island starting on Friday.  We got here in the afternoon on Thursday and were told that we would have to make our return to our place by about 7 because the buses stop running at 10:00 pm. So we settled in for the night and ordered pizza to this really cool apartment we booked.

The absolute best thing we did was rent this place for our time here.

It’s called Tei house and it is pretty close the main city, Jeju-si. The owners were so kind, they even ordered the food for us.

View from the window

~Cafe Five~

 There is a bus line quite close to the apartment, next to the 7-11 (Oh, Thank Heaven! Because it really saved our selves) so that helped a lot.

Our adventure went something like this…

The first day we simply went to a movie and a really good coffee place. 
I would totally recommend it, called Cafe Five in Jeju-si. 

(Downtown Jeju city) It is in the same building as the theater.

We walked around hunting for dinner until a lady pretty much pulled us into her restaurant and served us some amazing black pork. She had seen us wandering around the street looking for a which place we should eat at.

So delicious

We then found our bus, where the driver stopped us and demanded "어디가습니까?!" 
(Where are you going?!) Once I told him (in Korean, of course) he let us on.

 We returned to our room to relax and plan out the next days adventure. ^_^

The next morning we had everything planned out and excitingly waited at the bus stop to go to the museum.... for 40 minutes. 

We found the bus route for the first place we wanted to visit. After a scary ride through a beautiful mountain pass and the bus driving yelling “Where are you going?” (in Korean) we found our stop. It had been two hours, and our stop was on the side of the highway. 

As we approached we looked around. Then we looked at the map. The way there (we knew) was a thirty minute walk. However we now realized this walk would entail crossing the highway, 

Ooops.... he didn't make it.

Frogger-style, and walking through a field .... for the next thirty minutes. 

We didn’t get off the bus.

Day two venturing out wasn’t much better than the day before. The ride was supposed to take an hour and twenty minutes. It was closer to 3 hours. Halfway through we were routed to the bus terminal. This was something we didn’t expect. It ended with the bus driver yelling at us to get off. And that it was our new stop.

Where the hell am I?

Cafe Coji

 We were about two miles out from where we planned to be, however we got there eventually.

 We happened upon Cafe Coji that had sumptuously soft baked bread (something that is a hit but mainly miss here in Korea.) 
The view out the window was pretty fantastic (however blocked by patrons, so no photos). 
Definitely worth the stop.

 We walked a couple miles around the little town,complete with all the important make up shops, so nothing was lacking. We were Looking for a restaurant that served a specific dish we had been recommended by our hosts.

We finally found a restaurant. The woman working there ran away from us when I said I had a question (in Korean) and I mean literally RAN WAY.
 She crossed her hands (meaning no) and ran the other direction.
 My friend and I looked at each other and just laughed.

감사합니다

We didn't have a lot of time to spend here because we had to turn around and get on the bus again to head back to our room, and the ride could be a long one.  We also learned that the taxis didn't want to pick us up, and if they did they just might try to cheat you - (yes this happened).  In one case I didn't speak until the end of the ride. I had my friend practice speaking Korean while I listened. He told us he was going to drive around the block, because the restaurant didn't open for five more minutes. That's when I asked "Why" and that "here was fine,"  In Korean. Once he realized I spoke Korean (well enough) - he stopped and let us out.

 

Hallim Park, the air was so fragrant.

Day three the owners of the place we’re staying took pity on us and took us on a tour (with a few detours) to Hallim Park. 

It was beautiful with blue skies and fresh air. 

They dropped us off at a really cool traditional market  

 (동문재래시장)  where we walked  underground in the fresh open markets eventually weaving back through the busy little the town before heading back to Jeju-si for our bus.

The little one was ours

Before we went back, we picked up a cake to say thank you to the people who were so kind to us. We called them up under the guise of needing help.

This morning I said good bye to Jeju and headed back to Seoul and ran to class… my lungs hate me now.