part one, part two, part three, part four Day Two: Hamo Beach - Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) GOTTA GET UP! GOTTA GET UP! GOTTA GET UP!
What better way to start the day than with a blast of Black Box! Apparently not, according to the rest of the crew, but that's tough luck because this became the anthem of the tour. Ha ha! From the crack of dawn to the dying moments of the night I made sure that this song penetrated the darkest corners of everyone's mind. I hope it remains there like a flash mark for the rest of their lives!
Sean was full of beans on day two. With exclamations of feeling superhuman that morning I can only assume one of two things: A) Being woken up by a blast of "Ride on Time" worked wonders on his battered soul. B) Anyone would feel superhuman after the emotional hell ride he suffered the day before.
This is the garden at our pension at Hamo Beach. It wasn't the cheapest but it was some pretty sweet accomodation.
The entire crew sets sail.
Sean, trailblazing!
This is Sanbongsan. The view dominated our morning. We were going to take a short cut to save time but opted to stick to the coastal road on the most south-western part of the island. It was well worth it as it is a stunning little detour and it was not strenuous at all.
"If Scotland or Ireland had a subtropical love child with Jurassic Park, Jeju would have been born"
We tried to take a shortcut down to Jungmun Beach but ended up stuck on the Olle Trail behind the Hyatt Hotel. It was a nice little snack break with amazing views, but it was a pain cycling back up the hill - probably the steepest on the island.
The majority of the stretch along the southern coast was on the cycle path of the 1132 which was not very inspiring. There was a lot of traffic and it wasn't all that peaceful. That said the views were still pretty amazing as we had a perfectly clear view of Hallasan (see below), which was a first for me and this was my third trip to Jeju. On previous trips the mountain was always cloaked in clouds.
This is Oedolgae. It's a very popular tourist site and you can probably imagine why. Jeju is sold as a honeymoon island to Koreans and at any given opportunity they will capitalise on that, whether it be "Loveland" the weird erotic park, the Teddy Bear Museum, or a humongous rock phallus rising from the ocean. There is no mistaking that this is clearly the cock and balls of a giant man lying down just under the surface. I wonder what else is going on down there? I dread to think.
I didn't manage to stop off at this point as we were on a tight schedule this day. I visited this spot on the edge of Seogwipo in Feb 2011. Behind the fisherman is a nice little lagoon with clear blue waters. It would be perfect for swimming in as the bridge that you can see dips just beneath the surface of the water keeping any trash out out of the area. I'd like to come back to this spot and take a dip when it's a bit warmer.
This was the first coastal road all afternoon and it was long overdue. It leads up to Pyoseon Beach and was a welcome change from the 1132. Jenny's knees were starting to ache quite badly at this point as her seat had been too low the previous day. She decided to stay in Pyoseon Beach whilst Sean, Andy and myself pressed on to Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) as we had some concrete plans to fulfill. I know I'm a terrible boyfriend but the sunrise at Seongsan Ilchulbong is pretty special and I knew Sean would need some extra help getting Andy out of bed at 5:30am, that help coming in the form of my secret weapon: Black Box's "Ride on Time", the most obnoxious alarm tone on the planet. Andy's not a morning person. I should know as he's answered the door to me a dozen times wearing nothing but his whitey tighties.
We took the coastal road for the final 20km to Seongsan Ilchulbong. We didn't get there until dark. It's a really scenic route but we didn't get to fully appreciate it as we were in a rush and the sun was setting fast. We chose to stay at a nice "minbak" on the edge of town call Seongsanpo Village (성산포빌리지). I stayed there last winter and the views there are amazing, if you stay there make sure you get a room at the back so you get views overlooking the sea. Above you can see the view from our room at night, a little sneak preview of the the views to come. We paid 55,000 won for a large room with windows that gaze over the water to the Sunrise Peak and a balcony that looks south west towards Hallasan for the sunset. Room 301 is the room you want to snag. (photos: Alasdair & Jenny) part one, part two, part three, part four
I'd been planning to do this cycle trip (which we dubbed the "Jeju-icidal Tendencies" tour) around Jeju Island with Sean and Jenny ever since my cycling trip from Seoul to Busan. The latter trip was pretty tough, 500km over 4.5 days starting on a tequila hangover as I had just DJ'd at SHAKE the night before, so I knew this Jeju excursion was going to be pretty mellow in comparison. Sean had threatened to bail out when the Jeju trip was looming because of his heavy workload for his masters degree, but he got his priorities straight and was soon back on board. Also joining me was Andy, jumping straight in at the deep end having only bought his bike about a fortnight before the trip.
The trip started in Gwangju on a Saturday where we had to stow our bikes under the bus and head to Mokpo. It was pretty cheap, about 5,000 KRW. From there we would cycle across town and take the ferry to Jeju, a journey that would last 5 hours. The staff in the main Mokpo terminal were pretty useless at pointing us to the correct terminal so if you plan on taking this trip be warned. "저기요" (over there), she barked at us, which hardly illustrated that we had to actually go and find a completely different terminal.
The Jeju ferry only cost 30,000 KRW (15 quid) including the bikes so it was pretty good value. We bought a few bottles of makkoli to keep us ticking during the journey which would see us through to sunset. Initially we set up shop on the top deck but it got ridiculously windy so we sought out the massage chairs and spent most of the journey there, listening to music and lapping up the amazing Mokpo makkoli (see below). Those four bottles seemed never ending.
The aforementioned Mokpo makkoli. You must try it.
I couldn't get to the front of the boat to do a Titanic impression, but it was windy enough to do one without any railings to lean against.
Sean and I making the most of the massage chairs.
The makkoli starts to work.
Andy (right) and I in the Jeju Brewery.
Sean, Jenny and a little Korean girl (right). She kept coming over to play with us until she knocked over Sean's nearly empty drink. Her Dad was pretty embarassed by that and bought him a brand new drink despite our protestations; we were about to leave anyway. Now we had to finish it off! Ha.
This is the last I saw of Andy and Sean. Jenny and I headed back to the hotel at midnight. Those bottles of mineral might make you think these boys were being sensible. You'd be wrong!
The route, Jeju City to Hamo Beach, via the country roads. 72km.
A picture says a thousand words, but I'll keep on typing anyway. This is the sorry sight of Sean and Andy on Sunday morning. Sean greeted me at 9am with a beaming grin and a coffee in his hand declaring,"Hey, you're not dressed, we're ready to go!". I had guessed that he had headed to the hotel shortly after Jenny and I the night before, but it transpired that he had actually stayed up with Andy until about 7am. Andy was still fast asleep, Sean was winding me up, but he didn't have the last laugh. His smile quickly turned to a frown so we swiftly sought out the first haejangguk restaurant we could find to consume some "hangover" soup. It was to be a long day for those two. What happened that previous night we shall never know. (One thing is for certain though, don't mention room 601!)
Spritely dorks with a map.
Jenny's cheap Lespo bike adorning a jazzy Selle AnAtomica saddle. Damn comfortable saddle.
Things are looking up for Sean. Caffeine high ensues.
Jenny tries to mimic the Haenyo statue (below)
These haenyo statues are everywhere. Jeju is known for it ageing lady divers who can be seen all over the island gathering all manner of shellfish from the ocean. I got plenty of snaps of the real haenyo in action later in the trip.
Nap time in Hallim, an industrial port. The snooze started in glorious sunshine, but they awoke to gloomy skies. To sum it up in one word: "suffering". That's the price you pay for staying up all night. I sure felt smug after that good night's sleep!
Meanwhile, I sampled some local makkoli. I could swear it tasted like black pig (a Jeju speciality)
There are a few hills dotted around the north/west coast, but nothing drastic. Just enough for some enjoyable downhills.
I don't believe for one second that palm trees are native to Jeju, but I like them nonetheless.
Windswept trees; evidence of high winds, about the only bad thing we encountered. There wasn't a single day without wind and we always seemed to be cycling into it, no matter what part of the island we happened to be on. That's the downside to cycling here in autumn. Although there is virtually no rain and the sun was shining most of the time the wintry winds that you experience in Korea are just starting to pick up speed.
Cabbages? I'm talking about these vegetables, not Sean and Andy.
There are a lot of wind farms on Jeju and I quite like them, although some of them are in the most ill thought out places blocking otherwise amazing views. They've started building a few out at sea which I guess will be more costly but at least they don't obscure the view way out there.
I prefer these to wind farms.
"화이팅!"
Koreans are always yelling "Hwiting" (fighting) for encouragement when they pass you. Sean takes those words on board as his vital organs go into meltdown.
When I cycled around New Zealand there was roadkill everywhere. In Jeju the only roadkill I saw were snakes and there were plenty of the little ones dotted about on the tarmac. That said, Jenny spotted a squashed kitten (sob!). Is roadkill an uncountable noun? Answers on a postcard.
Refreshing Jeju orange makkoli for fuel!
After 72km cycling we dropped our stuff off at a pension next to Hamo Beach. I can't remember the name of it, but it was huge and can be seen right from the beach. We were starving! Andy doesn't eat seafood so we sniffed out a beef restaurant and ordered the largest beef dish possible. We were presented with this (see above). I had grilled beef on the mind and they brought out this platter of raw beef and organs. I managed to stomach a few pieces of raw liver and bit of the beef, but I had to stop there. This was not the hearty protein feast that I wanted to shovel down my throat. We were all feeling utterly disappointed at dropping 80,000 KRW on a bunch of entrails as can be seen by the expression on Jenny's face below
Jenny. Not impressed.
But then, what's this? At last a humongous plate of beef! Assah!
Oh delicious grilled beef, how much we needed you! The disappointment quickly dissolved away when they brought out a sizeable plate of beef, not an organ in sight. We wolfed it down and hit the hay pronto. Day 1 was a lot of fun, for Jenny and I at least. Sean and Andy were still falling apart at this point. Sweet dreams! (photos: Alasdair & Jenny) part one - part two -part three -part four
