Warning: there are some “not safe for work” pictures below

With mostly mild weather and beaches, the island of Jeju is primarily known as a honeymoon destination for Koreans. It’s also famous for various museums, beautiful landscapes and good trekking, which were my reasons for visiting.

Following a theme that started in Seoul, I met a fellow traveler at the bus stop closest to the hostel, a German girl who was also escaping her husband for a week. She was interested in the same activities as me, so we spend the next few days together.

The day was already coming to an end, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat before walking across the famous Saeyeongyo bridge to enjoy the orange sunset.

The next day we trekked 4.9 km to the top of Hallasan mountain in the national park, which is located in center of the island and provides nearly 360 degree views. Since it was a weekend, the weather was a perfect 21 Celsius and the followed day was supposed to rain, the path was overflowing with hikers. At several narrow points, we had to wait for slower people to move or make way for others to descend. It was interesting to see so many Koreans dressed in professional trekking gear; it seems looking good is important.

The views from the summit were definitely worth the wait, and it was cute to watch the crowds form a line to take pictures with a stone marker at the very top of the mountain. It was also a good time for lunch and power nap 🙂

As anticipated, the following day was mostly rain, so we leisurely visited to three waterfalls and then went to a Yeomiji Botanical Garden to enjoy the carious vegetation. It was also thrilling to see some Haevneo, as known as “the sea women”. Starting at an early age, this increasingly rare women train to free dive and collect crustaceans for food. Most of them can hold their breath for up to 3 minutes and reach a depth of 30 meters (90 feet). Very impressive!

For the last day, we rented a car and drove to the most famous museum, Loveland. It’s an outdoor park with huge sculptures depicting sex and sexual themes. To know where to walk, you followed penises painted on the ground. Coupled with a good sense of humour, this place was cute and silly.

Subsequent to the park, we drove east to Seongon Park and climbed some stairs to the iconic crater, which is normally displayed in all Jeju advertisements. Along the way up, I teased Kim about Germans and how they famously lack a sense of humour. She defended herself by saying Germans are nice deep down. Without a word, I did a quick search for “Top 20 German jokes”. The first two of were:

Q: Why do they bury Germans 20 meters underground?
A: Because deep down they are really nice

Q: Do you know why Germans build such high-quality products?
A: So they won’t have to go around being nice while they fix them

Owned!