Finally, there came the day that I had planned to go to the sacred mountain, Hallasan Mountain, which was the best go-to destination for every visitor to Jeju. You cannot come to Jeju and not climb the mountain. If you visited Jeju, you would definitely have to go see the mountain.
It was the second visit to Jeju for me. The first visit was when I was in high school. For some reason, my high school didn't visit the mountain, so I wanted to make sure to climb it this time. A chance of visiting Jeju is quite rare due to its location and the demanding ways to get there. I wanted to make the most of the chance I had especially for the mountain.
I departed to the mountain in the early morning in order to save time. Before climbing a mountain, feeding yourself is so crucial that I bought some 꽈배기(Kwabaegi, Korean-style-twisted breadstick). There is a good shop in Jeju for 꽈배기, whose name is 용꽈배기(Yong Kwabaegi). I highly recommend you to visit it. 씨앗팥도너츠(Ssiat-pat doughnuts), especially, was scrumptious.
1. 용꽈배기 (Yong Kwabaegi Doughnut Shop)
Japchae Croquette is made up of Japchae, which is the Korean style stir-fried noodle. Dae-pa means spring onions and Chap-sal means glutinous rice. Lastly, Ssiat-pat means seeds with red-bean paste.
Prices
1,000 won for a Japchae Croquette
1,000 won for a Dae-pa Chap-sal Kwabaegi
1,000 won for a Ssiat-pat Doughnuts
Rating
4.8 / 5.0
Pros
Cheap prices for each tasty food
Location
85-7, Sudeok 5-gil, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea
2. 한라산 (Hallasan Mountain)
There are two mountains, which Korean people find spiritual and symbolic in the Korean Peninsula. One is Baekdusan Mountain, and the other one is Hallasan Mountain. Baekdusan Mountain is located in North Korea, especially on the border between North Korea and China. It is the highest mountain in the Korean Peninsula and also appears in the Korean national anthem. To that extent, Baekdusan Mountain is considered the most sacred mountain, which is symbolic of Koreans' spirit. I hope I can visit it after the reunification of the Korean Peninsula as a free democracy country.
Anyway, on the other hand, Hallasan Mountain is the highest mountain in South Korea. Jeju was made by the eruption of Hallasan Mountain a long time ago. Because of that, the terrain of Jeju consists of basalt and you can see tons of basalt rocks anywhere you are. Even the walls of many houses are made up of basalt.
There are five routes to explore the mountain. Out of those five, only two routes reach the summit - Seongpanak Tambangno and Gwaneumsa Tambangno. "Tambangno(탐방로)" means trail or route. If you want to reach the summit in person, you should take those routes.
I took the route, Yeongsil Tambangno (영실 탐방로), because it was the shortest route to see the peak - not the most closely - and considered the easiest route among others.
Everything was in thick fog so I couldn't see further ahead. It felt like the mountain was trying to hide its beauty from us. Not only that, I was only wearing a thin sleeveless shirt and had to shudder in the flipping chilly weather. A certain 아저씨(mister) wearing proper climbing gears looked at me and said: "How impressive it is of you to climb the mountain with that thin sleeveless shirt!" Haha... Yes, mister...
I felt so chilly that the cold air led me to a headache. Gosh... it was horrible. Anyone who is reading this and has planned to go to the mountain should gear up for it with proper and warm clothes.
At the end of the route, there was a cabinlike shelter for climbers. I couldn't bear the cold air any longer so got into the shelter. It was slightly better to be inside and some kind 아줌마(aunties) gave us some snacks to share. I didn't prepare any snacks for climbing so I was thankful for the favour from the angels.
By warming up myself inside with the snacks, I was recovering. All of a sudden, however, a caretaker came in and opened all of the windows in order to ventilate because of the coronavirus situation. What the heck! The chilly air infiltrated the shelter and it froze me again.
It drove me crazy a bit so I got out of the shelter. Thankfully, I could see silver linings behind every cloud. The sun was rising! Even though many clouds were still floating on the mountain and the air wasn't fully warmed up, I could see more clearly the beautiful views of the mountain.
The views were stunning. The blue sky and the green grass were so beautiful and it felt like I was walking on the vast field right under the sky. Then the only thing left to do was to see the cherry on top, the summit.
For God's sake! The summit was covered by the flipping clouds for a long time. I really wanted to see it through my eyes though, it didn't fully show its looks like Gandalf, the white wizard who came back to his friends after the revival. I couldn't help but decide to go down the mountain after being tired of the cold air. I felt SO COLD.
Descending the mountain, it offered us beautiful views, which I couldn't see while climbing up. It felt like the mountain was playing with us in return for not fully showing the summit. However, the views were amazing anyway.
Now, there came the time to feed myself with good food after the dramatic climbing.
3. 올래국수 (Olleh Gooksoo, Olleh Noodle Restaurant)
I was recommended for 고기국수(Gogi Gooksoo, Noodle topped with pork) as a must-go-to restaurant in Jeju. For lunch, I visited the restaurant.
As you can see in the picture above, so many people were waiting for their name to be called. The way to order is to get inside first and let a cashier take down your name on a list. After that, you can just wait outside until your name is called by one of the staff.
The menu has only one dish, 고기국수, which is the restaurant's speciality. There's nothing else, only 고기국수.
It was tasty. Especially the stock was savoury and simple in a good way. The pork in the noodle was qualitatively good, properly thick, and had a good proportion of fat in balance. It was gratifying. The only thing that was a bit disappointing was the texture of the noodle. It was too soft for me. I usually enjoy slightly firmer noodles because it gives me some pleasure to masticate. I think it's because of a fast table turnover, which they have to meet.
Generally very good but it should've cost 7,000 won for each, from my perspective.
Cost
8,000 won for the dish
Rating
4.7 / 5.0
Pros & Cons
Pros - tasty stock, thick and juicy pork
Cons - waiting time, inconvenient way to order.
Location
24, Gwiarang-gil, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea
To be continued in the next post!
If you enjoyed this post and give me some help,
I'd really appreciate it!
WORDS BY
Minsu Kim - koreaonthescreen@gmail.com
PHOTOS BY
Minsu Kim - koreaonthescreen@gmail.com
① koreaonthescreen
② emeskei_
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