The hotel was near a metro stop so I went by train to the airport for the flight to Jeju Island. It looked as though most people booked in themselves as the booking desks were free and the woman at the one I used was flustered when I said that I actually wanted to book in with her and I did not know my booking number. I just had my passport and that was usually enough to get on a plane, and eventually it was. Someone came up to me and said that my flight was delayed but that they would put me on an earlier flight, which I had to rush for until my carry-on bag (the only luggage with me) was scanned and was told that I could only take six rechargeable batteries (for cameras) with me with the result that the two extra were taken off me and I was told they could be picked up at the luggage claim when I arrive at Jeju. They were actually there!
I had been booked into the R&T Hotel in the back streets of the city as I had asked the tour agent for a budget hotel wherever I was to stay. It was actually only a few minutes walk from the main street and the room I was given was very big with a kitchen, fridge, plenty of cupboard space and comfortable. Although the main street was only minutes away from the hotel I did manage to get lost for two hours when I went out later. There were not many places open as it was the the Lunar New Year festival, the Korean equivalent of the Chinese New Year but there was a street of Russian shops and restaurants and they were all open and busy.
Before leaving home the travel agent I had found online in Seoul had sorted out what I was to do and see in Korea having emailed me hotel confirmations, tour arrangements, train and flight details and tickets before leaving home. The arrangements for the following day was that I had to walk to a nearby hotel and wait to be picked up for a tour lasting the whole day. This was the East Coast tour with Yeha Tours. All went as planned starting with horse riding. I don't like horse riding but this was different as the horse never went quicker than an amble, knew it's own way round a flat piece of land with the ride lasting no more than 10 minutes.
Then it was to Seongeup Folk Village, a traditional village for the area though some of the houses have been modernised. There were plenty of basalt carvings in the village and about the area especially the traditional stone grandfather statues. It was in this area in the past that the Mongolian pony was originally reared.
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| Village entrance with kimchi jars |
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| Village lady with jar on back |
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| Modernised house |
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| Traditional carving |
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| Stone grandfather statue |
The straw roofs of the houses were repaired every year then completely renewed every 10 years. There was no smoking allowed anywhere in the area. Lunch followed consisting of black pork and vegetables, a traditional meal for the area. I sat with some other foreigners, one who had been at the Norwich School of Art and another who had gone to Swansea University (I live near Norwich and was brought up in a mining village near Swansea). This area of Jeju Island was where oranges were grown and with it being harvest time there were plenty for sale at the side of the roads.
Driving further we arrived at Gwangchigi Beach which looks onto Seongsn IIchulbong, the headland at the end of the beach. We were supposed to see the haenyeo (women divers) going about their daily dives for abalones and conches but because of the Lunar Festival they did not dive that day.
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| Gwangchigi Beach showing Seongsn IIchulbong |
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| Tourist boat from the headland |
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| Lunch of black pork and vegetables |
After lunch the next visit was to the Manjanggul Cave, a lava tunnel where molten lava has flowed from underground to the surface, this one being the longest in Asia. The lines burnt into the walls of the tunnel were easily seen.
I returned to the hotel at 17.45 hrs and then went into the shopping area, quite a bit of it being underground, for some soup in a local cafe.
Then it was back to Jeju City for a Korean meal in a local cafe.
The following morning (7 February) it was raining a little so this made it difficult to get a taxi to take me to the airport. The hotel tried to phone for one but to no avail so I ended up walking to the main road and eventually being able to flag one down. At the airport there was a reluctance to my not booking in at the machines, the collapsible umbrella was x-rayed twice and it helped that I'd kept the airline security envelope for the camera batteries as showing that made it easier to get the batteries on the plane but in another envelope which I picked up when I arrived in Busan. I was persuaded to get into a car by the driver asking him a number of times if he was a taxi or limousine, which I suspected was the latter. He insisted he was a taxi but when he asked for payment on arriving at the hotel I realised that I had been in a limousine. He asked for 48,000 won when I knew the normal fare was about 14,500 won, which I gave him, storming out of the car. It probably helped as there was a police station opposite the hotel! In the Central Park Hotel I was surprised to be told that I had been upgraded to a suite and that I could go straight to the room even though it was still early morning, at no extra cost.
One guide in South Korea mentioned that the elderly South Koreans, especially the men, expect to be spoken to and treated in a different/deferential way to other Koreans and often get nasty if this is not done. She did say that because of this she did not like taking Korean tour groups.
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