We don't know what the caption says, but probably "I love Jeju" or some similar lie.

The resident giant husky at our hostel, whose name is Doggy.

Video art protected onto the building side

'Healthy But Awesome Flavours' almonds are one of the few meat-free snacks we've enjoyed. Cute tho.

Should have known better, this island has so many red flags.

The volcanic crater at 1,950m (it was completely filled with clouds on first arrival)

Sign on the landing of our hostel, after 6 flights of stairs. Very true for Dan's calf muscles.

Tangerine merch (the orange glasses will be debuted in an upcoming post, rest assured)

Chelsea breaks the rules for the first time in her life

The only waterfall in Asia that flows directly into the sea.

On our way back to mainland Korea... the adventure continues

Jeju

Jul 14–18 in South Korea ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

Our journey to Jeju was a real test of our commitment to slow travel: a taxi, a train, another taxi, a local bus, intercity coach, a taxi, a ferry, two local buses, and a hire car. We started at 7.40am and arrived in Seogwipo at 8pm.

Jeju is advertised as the ‘Hawaii of Korea’, a volcanic island full of waterfalls and beaches, which is the favourite holiday spot for most Koreans. The flight path between Seoul and Jeju has been the busiest flight corridor in the world for many years, with hundreds of flights every single day leaving at 10-minute intervals. We spent our first day at Jungmun Saekdal beach, the best beach in South Korea according to the government. Conclusion: it’s… fine. But a little disappointing, considering the hype. Maybe we're spoiled, but it’s nothing on even the mid-tier beaches in Sydney. Nevertheless, we had a nap in the sun and a swim, and Dan ate a ‘tornado potato’ which is a MUCH better description than ‘chips on a stick’.

We also tried to visit three separate 'must-see' waterfalls, but all of them were completely dry since it hasn't rained yet this year 🫠

Jeju does boast the highest mountain in South Korea, Halla-san, at just under 2,000m. Dan took the hire car (nicknamed Bill Murray) and completed the supposedly 7hr trek in 4.5hrs. Chelsea’s injured knee was not happy after our previous hike in Sacheon, so in the meantime she stayed in town and tested her not-inconsiderable administrative skills against the recently-launched Chinese visa application website. Annoyingly, almost all European tourists are welcome in China, 30-days visa free. Not Brits though. The French and Poles we met in Seogwipo were very smug about this. We will discover whether her admin has worked on Wednesday.

With Dan’s legs pretty sore from the 19km hike we spent our last day having a long lie-in and a visit to the local Seogwipo Olle Market. This is a traditional covered market specialising in two things: black pork and tangerines. We have been very hungry in Korea: everything has pork in it, even the vegetable croquettes. Even the three cheese burrito in the 7/11. Honestly, even the doughnuts. Chelsea is down to a croissant, a coffee and a tray of gimbap a day, with Dan stocking up on convenience store tuna onigiri. This has been the toughest country so far to find vegetarian or pescatarian food. Korean restaurants are basically out for us, and street food is either sickly sweet or meaty (or both, as in the case of white sugar sprinkled on a hot dog 🤮). We did enjoy the thankfully meat-free tangerine offerings, sufficiently for Dan to acquire some themed sunnies.

Jeju feels like a tired little island, and we're not sure it bears up to a comparison with Hawaii. But we knew this was going to be a rest break on our way to the north of the country, so we're not too heartbroken that it hasn't been a vintage stop. You can't win them all!

Next up, the diagonally opposite corner of South Korea for more hiking (Dan), and reading (Chelsea) before we catch up with friends in Seoul next week.Read more