Thyra Travels: Getting Out of the Big City: Jeju Island and Busan

After my six weeks in Seoul, and before my month trekking across Vietnam, I wanted to go see other parts of South Korea. I decided to travel to two places, the volcanic island of Jeju, and South Korea’s second largest city, Busan.

Jeju

I started in Jeju, I had three full days to discover the beautiful island. I was so nervous going in because I had read that it was really hard to get around the island without renting a car. I am Team Public Transit over here. Luckily, it wasn’t hard at all and I feel like I got mini tours of the island when I was whizzing through the mountains on the city bus. My first day I started early and ventured to the southern part of the island. I spent the day trekking around and saw Jeongbang Waterfall, one of the only waterfalls that goes directly into the ocean, Cheonjeyeon Waterfalls, and Daepo Cliff. Everything was so gorgeous and the weather was beautiful. I ate lunch in this little restaurant on a pier. It was run by several grandmas and I didn’t even order. I just sat down and they brought me this delicious oyster stew. It was heaven, even though I got a lot of stares by the other patrons in the restaurant. Typical Monday.

The next day I had booked a tour of eastern Jeju and it was like it was meant to be since it rained all day. I was thanking baby Jesus for the tour bus and not having to queue for the city bus. The tour took me to some awesome places. We saw Seongeup Folk Village and tried traditional tea and horse oil. After that we went to the Seongsan Ilchulbong Crater which I hiked up, along with seeing a woman diver show which was unbelievable (more on this in another post!). We ended the day hiking the Manjanggul Lava Tubes which was so cool and spooky! After the tour, I had dinner at the Dongmun Night Market.

I spent my last full day on Jeju strolling through Hallim Park in the morning and several beaches in the afternoon. Hallim Park is this huge park that contains more lava tubes, along with flowers, vegetation, and even animals. I could have spent hours longer in the park! After lunch I went to the nearby Hyeopjae Beach, which was unreal pretty and sat next to the sea for almost two hours. I closed out the day by going to a cafe a few miles down the coast, a cafe I had wanted to go to for months (Instagram is a wonderful tool)! Next to the cafe was a beach boardwalk that I strolled on for hours after finishing my americano in the sheesheelala cafe. I made another visit to the night market when I got back to the hotel because how could I not! Jeju was so beautiful and captured my heart with its food and natural landscapes but it was time to move on to Busan.

Busan

I was meeting my friend I met in Seoul, Aida, in Busan but I got there one day before her. I spent the day by strolling (shocking, right) next to the beach and visited Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, a buddhist temple built right into the cliffs next to the sea. It was one of the most beautiful temples I have seen and after I toured it I walked along the coast for about two hours. The next morning I went to go meet Aida at the train station and we set off on our day! We walked through the Jalgachi fish market, hiked through Gamcheon Cultural Village, and went to four Baskin Robbins on the hunt for the expresso ice cream. All of what we did was so picturesque and it is such a change from the hustle and bustle of Seoul! Even the people look and act different. Because it was Aida and I, we ate our lives away, planning most of our excursions around food. We checked into our hostel and were overjoyed to see that not only were we in a room alone but we had our own bathroom as well! Heaven on earth for both of us.

The next day we got up late and went back to the Yonggungsa Temple since it was so beautiful. We strolled along the sea for hours and hours before arriving at the real reason we had gotten out of bed that day, a grilled eel restaurant I wanted to go to. Aida had never tried eel and this eel was so fresh it was still moving a little when we grilled it. Man, sometimes I eat food and almost cry it is so good. We decided to walk to the closest Baskin Robbins and were finally able to get our cherished expresso ice cream, the best flavor they have. Bellies full, we walked back to the hotel and relaxed, listening to music and laughing.

The last day together, we hung out at Haeundae beach before traveling to drop my bags off at the hostel I would be staying at until I went to Vietnam. We spent hours strolling downtown Busan before going to the unbelievably crowded Lotte mall to get some toiletries. Famished, we went to a burger place we had researched and devoured burgers in mere minutes. By comparison, the couple next to us were using utensils to eat their burgers. We sat next to the ocean for a while, people watching and listening to music. I dropped Aida off at the train station back to Seoul with promises to visit her in Barcelona. I went back to my hostel and passed out on my bunk bed.

My last day in Korea was spent relaxing, doing laundry, and going to the infamous PC Bangs (Internet/gaming cafe) to get some writing done. I am going to miss Korea a lot but oh man, it is getting cold here and I am excited to move on! I leave for Vietnam tomorrow and have to take a taxi (my first in Asia!) because my flight is so early. I am ready to try the vietnamese cuisine!

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