Sunday 23 February 2014

Korea Day 2: Jeju

Continuing from my previous Korea post, after 1 night in Seoul, we flew to Jeju for a 3D 2N trip.
J's artistic shot of my arm
We flew via t'way, since we travelled during the Korea's peak period, the flight ticket per pax cost 132,000won (~$158) which comes with 15kg of hand-carry.
 
t'way website only have 3 languages- Korean, Japanese and Chinese. So if you can't read either, do let me know, I will do up a step by step post with translation on how to purchase the tickets :)
 
 
Decor at the entrance of the washroom
We arrived in Jeju at 3.15pm. To travel around Jeju, we rented a KIA morning from AJ rent-a-car at a price of S$101 for 2 full days. I booked it online so as to enjoy the discount and to reserve the English GPS (but sadly when we collected the car, they are left with only the Korean GPS). When you arrive at the airport, look for the AJ counter, they provide free shuttle bus service to their office which is about 5 minutes drive from the airport. The best part about the rental is that they provide the Olleh egg for free, so we get to have access to unlimited wifi throughout our road trip! :)
 
You can make your reservation here: http://www.ajrentacar.co.kr/en/index.do 
 
To drive around Jeju, in addition to your normal driving license, you will need to apply for the international driving permit, without it, you will not be allowed to drive. J collected his IDP at AAS centre at River Valley- upon submission, it takes about 3 to 5 working days for them to process. You can get them to send it to your home at a fee of S$4. The permit costs S$25 and it is valid for a year.
 
For more details and for the application form, please visit http://www.aas.com.sg/
 
 
After settling the paperwork and payment which took about 15mins, we drove to Manjanggul Cave, one of UNESCO's world natural heritage, about 50 minutes drive from the airport and 40 mins drive from the car collection centre.

Opening hours: 9AM to 6PM
Admission Fee: 2000won (adult) 1000won (children)
 
You will get to see the formation of flowlines, lava stalacites, lava columns and other lava fomations. It's cold and damp inside the cave, you have to walk carefully as it is slightly slippery especially the 2 flight of stairs on the way down to the cave. 
 
 
 
 
 
As we arrived at the cave about 5.15pm, we only managed to walk 1/3 through the tube, so didn't get to see the famous lava columns and the turtle. The othe visitors were starting to walk back to the entrance and we were the only ones left, it was too eerie to continue and walking back required some time as we needed to get out of the cave before they close at 6pm. If I ever visit Jeju again, I would go back to the cave to complete the walk :)

As the sun was setting, we hurriedly drove to the next destination - Gimnyeong maze park which was only 5 mins drive away.
 
Opening hours: 8.30AM to 7.30PM
Admission Fee: 3300won (adult) 880won (children)
 


Couldn't take a proper picture, as there were lots of tiny flies flying everywhere, too afraid to stand still to take a photo, and the whole time we had to keep our mouths close, in fear that they will fly in haha.

We took about 15-20 mins to find the end point.
 
It was so dark! Very scary especially when there were no one else and the surrounding was just filled with sound of tonnes of insects! I will advise all to try the maze only in the day hahaha..

 
 
Had late dinner at black pork street, there were at least 6 shops selling black pork, the prices were pretty similar.

 

Entrance of Black Pork Street
 

 
 
The total cost of dinner after discount was 41800won (S$50) for 3 pax- discount was given for those who are staying at The Forest Hostel. After the sumptuous dinner, we went back to rest. We stayed at The Forest Hostel, I booked the deluxe twin room (1 double and 1 single bed) via Agoda, S$137 for 2 nights and breakfast is provided- S$23/pax/night.

Address: The Forest Hostel 1331-1, Ildo 1-dong, Jeju-si  관덕로 15길 7-1, Jeju City 690

Here's my review of the hostel:

Pros:
♥ Spacious room
♥ Room was relatively clean- cleanliness level 3.5/5
♥ Only 5 minutes walk to black pork street
♥ 8 minutes drive to noodle street and dongmun traditional market
♥ Very near the airport, about 15 minutes drive away
♥ Fast check-in and -out
♥ Friendly staff
♥ Quiet
♥ Cheap - ~$23/pax/night
♥  Free parking

Cons:
x Wifi was free but the network was pretty bad
x Breakfast was limited- bread with strawberry jam plus coffee and tea (but can't complain given the price we paid :))
  
PetiteFreckles ♥

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