Today we set out early to hike Mount Halla, which would turn out to be one of those how-did-I-survive moments.
At 7:00A.M. sharp, the five ladies and I scarfed down eggs and toast to charge up on energy, as we were told that the hike would be over 4 hours long. One of the hostel guests warned us about the wind and how cold it was, and advised us to wear warmer clothes. We, all dressed nonchalantly in summer P.E. clothes, failed to take the man's advice. This would turn out to be our downfall.
The cab ride to Halla-san took about an hour long, but it seemed endless. As soon as the cab left the city, we were completely surrounded by forests, with the mountain slowly revealing its colossal size as we got closer to it. Luckily for us, the cab driver was a bro and gave us his card to call him after we were done.
As soon as we got out of the cab, we realized that the hostel guest's advice should've been taken seriously. My goodness, it was FREEZING (albeit it was a sunny, beautiful day nonetheless!)
At 7:00A.M. sharp, the five ladies and I scarfed down eggs and toast to charge up on energy, as we were told that the hike would be over 4 hours long. One of the hostel guests warned us about the wind and how cold it was, and advised us to wear warmer clothes. We, all dressed nonchalantly in summer P.E. clothes, failed to take the man's advice. This would turn out to be our downfall.
The cab ride to Halla-san took about an hour long, but it seemed endless. As soon as the cab left the city, we were completely surrounded by forests, with the mountain slowly revealing its colossal size as we got closer to it. Luckily for us, the cab driver was a bro and gave us his card to call him after we were done.
As soon as we got out of the cab, we realized that the hostel guest's advice should've been taken seriously. My goodness, it was FREEZING (albeit it was a sunny, beautiful day nonetheless!)
 |
The ladies ended up buying thermal leggings to warm themselves up, whereas I, the man of the pack, deemed it too unmanly to wear women's leggings, despite the fact that my legs were completely numb after being outside for 7 seconds.
We began our hike, which turned out to be relatively easy. We weaved through the forest path and made our way along a ridge, where we were able to get a breathtaking view of the southern side of the island...where we were barraged with gusts of unbelievably cold wind. It got so bad, that once we hit the midway point, we decided that it would be best to head down. Here's some pics:
We began our hike, which turned out to be relatively easy. We weaved through the forest path and made our way along a ridge, where we were able to get a breathtaking view of the southern side of the island...where we were barraged with gusts of unbelievably cold wind. It got so bad, that once we hit the midway point, we decided that it would be best to head down. Here's some pics:
 Shaka brah |  Sound advice for hikers! |
The peak was within our reach...
Once we got to the bottom, we cabbed it back to the hostel to change into beachwear. We then visited Hamyang Beach (black sand) and Hamdeok Beach (white sand). Both were very beautiful and quite reminiscent of Hawaii's beaches, although the water was unbearably cold. We ended up venturing around both beaches and took too many pictures. Here are some of the nice ones:
Hamdeok Black Sand Beach
 Failed Jumping Picture with Julia |  Nice wall art |
Hamdeok White Sand Beach
 Nice, ladies! |  A petite bridge |
Two more friends flew in this morning and ended up meeting us at Hamdeok beach (so now, I'm not the only guy). After cruising in a seaside cafe, we headed back to town for dinner where we feasted on Jeju's delicious fish. The fish was as fresh as fresh can be, as we literally witnessed them being killed right before us. Of course, fresh fish is always delicious, but only one item on the assorted sashimi platter was pretty much inedible... It was the sea pineapple, known in Korea as meongge (the reddish thing on the top right side of the platter). It was bitter and had a taste that was quite indescribable (in a bad way). However, I must say, the grilled mackerel was bomb.com:
 Assorted Sashimi |  Grilled Mackerel |
Tomorrow, we plan to venture to the easternmost part of the island to take a ferry to Udo Island. Lookin' forward to it!
RSS Feed
