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The island of sea women
  • Around the World with Jan
  • Around the World with Jan

The island of sea women

Jeju Island sits to the South of Korea, level with Japan. I'm here to walk part of the Jeju Olle Trail around this beautiful volcanic island. Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 5, 2025
    Around the World with JanThe island of sea womenAround the World with Jan
    1

    Walking the Jeju Olle Trail

    November 9, 2025 in South Korea ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This is the island of sea women – the haeyneo - who free dive to great depths without tanks to collect their bounty from the ocean. We’ve watched them at work and hopefully we’ll get to meet some of them on the second half of my journey.

    I’ve been on Jeju Island for just over a week and we’ve covered quite a lot of ground on the north coast - there’s quite a bit more to go. I wouldn’t say the hiking is hard - the scenery goes from urban to forest with the ocean as a constant backdrop.

    The terrain varies from coastal to farmland, forest and small peaks offering great views up and down the coast. Hallasan dominates the landscape wherever you go and when the weather is as good as we’ve had it, you can always see it as a centrepiece to the island.

    The coastline is sprinkled with signal towers and the remains of fortresses built to keep out pirates and other invaders, all built from pieces of lava.

    Jeju has had it's share of grief during the Japanese invasion, the coastline dotted with memorials to those who died trying to resist. It's also been an island where prisoners were once sent and islanders weren't allowed onto the mainland, all of which has helped make this place unique.

    The black of the lava rock dominates – what surprised me was how beautiful the ocean has been – the most stunning shade of aquamarine in the shallows near the shore which makes the black rocks stand out even more.

    There are hundreds of mandarin trees and vegetables growing everywhere taking advantage of the volcanic soil.

    Because of its historical isolation, Jeju has developed a character all its own. People are friendly and the food is fabulous. The public transport is extensive and inexpensive, so is the food.

    This is hiking in style – after a day of walking, you can have a hot shower, relax and wander down the street for dinner.

    I’m looking forward to the next section of the Jeju Olle Trail – we’ve only just touched the surface - there are 27 trails covering over 400km in total and we're only doing a small number of them.    Read more

  • Around the World with JanThe island of sea womenAround the World with Jan
    1

    One more mountain to climb

    November 23, 2025 in South Korea ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Trip number two is now finished and I’ve climbed Hallasan. I’m pretty tired right now.

    It’s not that the walking along the Jeju Olle was particularly hard – climbing the mountain was. Ice and snow made the trail quite a challenge as if a 1900+ peak and 9.6km trail weren’t hard enough. Marcus swears that it’s 11km each way – it certainly felt like it.

    The terrain on my second trip was very varied as you’ll see from the photos. We had oreum (volcanic cones) to climb, quite a lot of urban walking then these beautiful wetlands and stunning black sand beaches. We walked through more farmland and lots of mandarin trees.

    The hikes were split over two places – Seongsan and Seogwipo. Again, getting around has been so easy with buses running to all the starting or end points of the trails. I walked over 100km combined so I got my 100km certificate and a joint certificate because I’ve done the Portuguese coastal camino.

    I’m off to Seoul tomorrow, not sure how much energy I’ve got left but I’ll probably take it easy before I have to head home. There’s a lot to see and do in Seoul, it's a very big city. And, I believe the autumn leaves are out – there’s only a hint of that up on Hallasan because it’s milder here. I’m looking forward to the colour.

    The weather has been spectacular as you can see from the photos.    Read more

  • Around the World with JanThe island of sea womenAround the World with Jan

    A city of contrasts

    November 28, 2025 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    Seoul has been a shock to the system. Not because of its size or population but it’s very cold, being a few days from winter. This morning - -3, yep, that’s right, -3. Thank goodness I brought the beanie and gloves. I’ve needed them.

    The metro is frequent and fast and very inexpensive to use. Though I’ve walked as much as I can, there’s so much more to explore on foot.

    People are very helpful, if you look lost they’ll ask if they can help, even if they don’t speak very much English. Most of the guides I’ve had on palace tours here have great English – most of them have lived or studied overseas.

    The contrast between the ancient and the modern in Seoul is striking but add to that the brilliant colours of autumn, even on a cloudy day, it is stunningly beautiful.

    Insadong, the area where I’m staying, is very central, not only to art galleries, ancient palaces and more shops than you can poke a stick at, it also has the oldest hanok village in Seoul, I discovered completely by accident.

    Vising the DMZ was an experience. Sadly, we couldn’t see much of North Korea, it was too foggy and pictures are strictly forbidden once you cross into the DMZ zone. I was surprised to find that most of the dos and don’ts for this area are not dictated by either North or South Korea, the UN holds sway and if they say you can’t, you can’t.

    As I head for home (and warm weather) I realise how much more there is to see here even in Seoul itself. But next time, I’ll be coming in spring.    Read more

    Trip end
    November 30, 2025
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