One of the most popular beach destinations on Jeju Island, Hyeopjae, is home to one of my favorite views on the island, a vast sea with Biyangdo in the distance. I probably have numerous photos that I've collected over the years on each of my trips to Jeju, however, I never actually considered visiting the island. That is until one of my friends here at BHA invited me to do so and I jumped at the chance. I knew there was a boat to the island, obviously people living there need to get off sometimes, but I didn't realize it was a frequently visited tourist destination. The ferry to the island leaves from a Hallim Harbor, a place I had actually been multiple times, the same location as the stamp for the end of Olle 14/beginning of Olle 15. Realizing this when we arrived I was surprised I had never taken in the details of my surroundings, primarily the pier for the ferry to Biyangdo, complete with a large sign announcing such located directly across from the stamp for the trails. There's no need to reserve tickets ahead of time for this trip, but you are advised to arrive 30 minutes early in order to purchase tickets and board on time. The staff were surprised by the fact that the four foreigners were in fact Jeju residents (a detail which rewarded us with a ₩1000 discount ), and maybe even more so at my ability to communicate seamlessly in Korean. The ferry was a quick 15 minute ride over to the island, and as with any transportation in Korea, was right on time. We had only two objectives for our visit, walk around the island and eat, with the later being the real goal of this adventure. Upon arrival there is a small row of restaurants, cafes and accommodation, and we chose a small restaurant with a lovely outdoor seating area. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes outside we decided the wind was too much and moved to one of the indoor tables. The menu had basically three sections, noodles, raw fish and grilled fish and we wound up with a handful of dishes to share, including one of my favorites - grilled mackerel. I believe we polished off three, if not four servings of banchan and needless to say, the owner was impressed with our love of her food. Having eaten to max capacity we were all more than ready to stretch our legs and give our stomaches a break by walking around the island. There's a path circumnavigating the island, and despite the strong winds it was an enjoyable walk. It was bizaree seeing Jeju Island from this vantage point, seeing as we're usually on Hyeopjae beach looking in the other direction, but I enjoyed the change of scenery. As with almost any popular place in Korea there was signage notifying visitors of different drama and movie scenes which were filmed on the island, but I was unfamiliar with any of them. Another option for visitors is to climb to the top of the island, but due to our pre-booked ferry tickets we decided to play it safe and head back to the harbor. Our visit was short, but that's really all you need on the island. Take an afternoon off to enjoy a new view, eat some delicious, local food, and feel like you're in another world for a while. As much as I was enjoying the afternoon, the real highlight of the day came on our trip back to Jeju. The upper level of the ferry is outfitted with a photo zone, including various sailor and pirates hats. The size of the hats were clue enough that this was really intended for children, but you better believe we took part. A solo-traveling ajossi watched as we took photos of each other, and then urged us all to join together as he took a photo for us. His excitement was entertaining enough, but he stole the show when he jumped up to the mock captains wheel and posed for a few photos himself. I was happy to provide answers to this man's curiosity, wanting to know where we were from and how we were all traveling together in Jeju - 2 Americans, 1 Canadian and 1 German, we often get that question. We had a quick chat after the photo shoot and learned that he was visiting from Seoul with the main purpose of hiking the Olle trails. With extra time after finishing course 15 that day, he decided to add on the quick trip to Biyangdo. Living in "the English village" of Jeju Island it's often easy to forget what made me first fall in love with living in Jeju, and that's hands down the random interactions I've had with strangers over the years. As much as I was grateful to have finally visited the random island off the west coast of Jeju, I all the more grateful to this man for reminded me how fun (and random) life here can be.
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AsiaKoreaWhere to start. After living on and off in this country for nearly 10 years I have memories, experiences and stories galore. I'll now always be a bit partial to the Land of the Morning Calm. Filled with delicious foods, beautiful nature and friendly people, I'm always happy to return. Archives
June 2023
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