Everyone kept asking me what I was planning to do in Jeju, but I'm the worst at making plans, I kind of loathe them actually. Whenever I have something planned for the day I wake up regretting doing so, although on the other hand, when I wake up with no plans I feel listless and sometimes end up wasting half my day. I know I'm a walking contradiction, but I've found that the best case scenario is to have a plan for myself, thereby affecting no one if I do decide to cancel. Jeju island offers a phenomenal option for such a type of plans, the Olle hiking trails are open year round, require little to no preplanning or reservation and reward those that visit with a day filled with sightseeing, exercise and if you so choose, good food. Over the past year I've been slowly completing the trails I previously couldn't get to, and repeating a few of those I have. I've always enjoyed doing the trails alone as I found it a great opportunity to disconnect from whatever I have going on in life and fully appreciate the beauty and variety of Jeju Island. That also may have been due to the fact that I was often here traveling alone and had no other choice, but still, I definitely enjoyed my alone time in reflection. This year I have been graced with the presence of some wonderful humans, a few of which happen to be just as enthralled with the Jeju Olle trails as I am, leading me to a new type of experience along the way, but more often than night I'm still out there exploring alone. Course 9 is located very close to where I'm living, and even closer to my boyfriends old apartment, so I'm not sure what took me so long to finally conquer this trail. I guess being so close I always figured I could do it later, and finally last week I decided to cross it off my list. The biggest highlight of the trail has to be Gunsan oreum, a place I actually visited for sunset months ago on my second date with my now boyfriend. Aside from that though, there isn't too much to get excited about. I walked the trail in reverse so my 'start' offered beautiful views of Sanbangsan and the sea. The middle portion was kind of dull, but maybe that's because it all felt familiar to me, living nearby. The real highlight is the view from the oreum, as it should be after the steep climb to reach the top, and of course be met by couples in cute matching outfits, sweat-free, who drove to the top. Regardless it was an enjoyable trail, and took me one step closer to completing them all. Similar to course 9, those on the southwest side of the island have evaded me until now. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I finally crossed 14-1 off my list, a trail that I could literally walk to the start of. I guess that's human nature though, the easier something is the more difficult it becomes to accomplish. Last week I had the day off and the weather was beautiful so I decided to venture out to course 13. I'm familiar with the middle half of the course as it winds through and around Jeoji, one of my favorite nearby villages, but I had yet to complete the route. My timing was perfect as the route was lined with beautiful, huge, vibrant hydrangeas, nothing back home can even compete with the bold colors these flowers bloom in here. In stark contrast were the fields of barely, literally golden waves of grain dancing in the warm spring air. Temperatures have been warming up quickly and I broke into an unexpected sweat along the way, but the scenery did more than enough to distract me. Despite living on this end of the island, I'm still unfamiliar with the terrain and found joy in exploring new neighborhoods and stumbling across new sights. The middle of the route passes directly through one of my favorite parks, Chair Park, which is literally just a park filled with chairs (and benches) of all shapes and sizes. I first went here months ago with a teacher from one of our neighboring schools for Saturday morning yoga, and have since returned on multiple occasions for peace of mind and relaxation. There's an observation tower which if you're too lazy to climb the myriad of stairs, offers an elevator to the top, honestly nothing surprises me anymore in this country.
Aside from visiting one of my favorite neighborhoods the end of the trail offered a great surprise. As I sat enjoying my 7/11 snacks and canned coffee I was joined by a grandma who had to be somewhere between 80 and 100. She inquired about my being alone and was impressed by my courage to travel and explore without a partner. She did a lot of talking which allowed me to notice her stellar silver lined dentures, something that added even more character to her already strong persona. I probably understood about 60% of what she was saying, but something I love about conversing with the elderly on the island is their lack of surprise when I answer. There's no "wow you can speak Korea!" rather they just speak to me as if it's the normal thing to do, which of course, if I'm living here, it should be. Another gentle reminder to go open my study books because it has been a hot minute. In fact, being surrounded by English in my working life sometimes makes me think my Korean skill is actually decreasing - I guess this is a sign to go talk to more random grandma's on the streets of Jeju.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories
All
|