Jeju to Yeosu

There's a bit of travelling to do today, a one hour bus trip, a 40 minute flight followed by another one hour bus trip.

At breakfast I chat to a young Melbourne guy who's cycling his way around Jeju. That's the way to do it, no waiting for buses or being stuck in traffic jams. Then I give instructions to a couple of French girls about how to get to the Yeongsil trail. So breakfast takes longer than usual ...

I had planned to spend more of the morning in Seogwipo but decide to take the 10:25 bus to the Jeju airport. I pack up, farewell my gracious hostess and hit the road with my luggage. Well as far as Cafe Wookun anyway, which is on the way to the bus stop. I stop in for a final flat white then cruise to the bus stop.

Catching the 181 bus back, it's pretty much on time. We pull into the airport around 11:30, I find a seat and have something to eat and drink. No rush. I check in my luggage a little after 12 and head to the departure gate. Even though I'm flying domestically to Yeosu, I still need to present my passport at a checkpoint before the usual security screening. No fingerprint check or retinal scan fortunately.

Done and dusted, I browse some of the shops and spend 5000 KRW on a box of Jeju cactus chocolates. I like the taste a lot, not sure whether they'll make it back to Brisbane! We board at 1:15 and I spy an English language Korean Times newspaper as we board, so I snaffle that to read on board.

Not that the flight is long enough to get through the paper, it's barely 40 minutes from take-off to landing. As we fly lower to land, a vista of islands is presented below us. I see some sandy beaches and bridges connecting islands. Very picturesque.

Arriving in Yeosu, my luggage is available very promptly. I haul it to the bus stop and wait for the #35 bus. I'll be on this bus for an hour for the princely sum of $1.30. It takes a while for the bus to show (2:40) and I have to haul my megaluggage on board, where I hold on to it tightly to prevent it assaulting other passengers. Although the bus isn't crowded at this point, the bus goes past a school later and fills up with schoolkids. Me and my luggage take up a fair amount of space!

However most people decamp before I do, so at my stop I'm able to haul my luggage down the stairs and out. It's a 10 minute roll to Hotel Elena, which will be my home for the next 3 nights.

There is an e-mart around a kilometre away so I head up there and spend around 73 AUD on food and drink. I buy a bottle of Chilean red wine, a couple of Somersby apple cider 500ml cans, a 3 pack of canned tuna and vermicelli. Back in the game for home-cooked meals! I am laden down for the walk back, but it's all good as I enjoy the vermicelli and tuna later.

I also duck into a convenience store where I buy a pack containing cherry tomatoes and grapes. I am also curious about Soju (Korean vodka) so I buy a bottle that is maple flavoured (see photo). This is popular with the kids, but it's not the same as our alcopops. It's 17.5% ABV and not particularly sweet. Surprisingly it tastes better drinking out of the bottle rather than a glass.Read more