Trip to Jeju Island 2014

Welcome to the board! Today we will have a trip to Jeju island.

A few days ago I was sorting my old pictures, and I found some photos from my trips to Jeju Island, which is located in the South part of South Korea. Probably, many of you have already heard about that island, or maybe you already had a chance to visit it. So, some of you will learn something new, and some of you will remind some old stories.

If be honest I have a loooot of photos, so I have a lot of stories to tell you too. But let’s start from the very beginning :)

So, we will take a flight with Jeju Air, and in less than an hour, we will arrive at Jeju airport.

Jeju Island or Jeju-do (제주도) was calles Quelpart Island till 1946. The name comes from the name of a European ship. However, in the past, this island had different names: Donyenju, Juho, Thamora, Somna, Thanna, Thamna, etc.

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Why do Korean people call this island Jeju-Do when foreigners call it Jeju Island or even Jejudo island? The answer can be found in the linguistic meaning of the word. The suffix ‘-Do’ means ‘island’ in Korean language. So, the right name of the island in English is Jeju Island.

Jeju island is the largest island in South Korea, and at the same time, it is the smallest province in South Korea. Also, it is a city too.

Jeju is a volcanic island, therefore it was established as a result of several volcanic eruptions. And island consists mainly of basalt and lava. It took more than 2 million years to make the island appear in the world.

The main point of the island is a Hallasan volcano, the last eruption of which was about 25 thousand years ago. Hallasan or actually it should be called Halla Mountain (suffix ‘san’ means ‘mountain’ in the Korean language), is the highest mountain in South Korea. If you climb up to the top of a volcano, you will see a Bennoktam lake in the volcano crater. The depth of the lake is about 100 meters.

Halla Mountain is located in the center of the island, like a Christmas tree xD. Therefore this mountain is well-observed from any part of the Jeju island. Also, there is a Buddhist Temple Kwaneumsa on the top of the mountain. The temple was built in the X-XI centuries. It was totally destroyed during the war and then rebuilt again.

On the bottom of the mountain, you can find a nice park zone with beautiful nature, and of course, with many souvenir shops and cafes.

A few words about climate on Jeju Island…

Jeju island has not only an interesting establishment history but also a climate too. In comparison with other provinces in South Korea, the climate on Jeju island is subtropical, i.e it is much warmer here than in other parts of South Korea. I have been on the island several times during different seasons of the year, I would like to say, that when it was crazy cold in Seoul, in Jeju island it seemed like fall weather.

When I visited Jeju Island in summer, as I remember it was mid of July, it was super hot here, so it was almost impossible to go outside, especially to stand in the open area. So it took me less than a day to transform from a white choco to the black one.

Therefore, many people, and not only Koreans but also foreigners, come here for a seaside holiday, to chill on the beach.

Few more facts about the island…

The population of the island is about half a million people. Many people come here for a vacation. A few years ago, many people called the Jeju island “Korean Hawaii”, because young couples spent here their honeymoon. Jeju is one of the cheapest options for a honeymoon. And young couples who didn’t have an opportunity to go abroad came to Jeju. But, I wouldn’t say that it is the worst option. Because there are so many things to do here.

The symbol of the island is Haryeban's grandfather, which is made of volcano lava. The unique point of this figure is an always smiling face, round eyes, and a big nose. On the head of the grandfather is a mushroom hat.

Citizens of the island use their own dialect, which can understand only Jeju people. It is totally different from the Korean language which is used in other parts of South Korea. Some phrases of Jeju language may be very confusing, because there are similar phrases in Seoul dialect, and it has a totally different meaning.

Maybe you have already heard about Hallabon fruit, which was cultivated in Jeju. It is a mix of mandarin and orange. It is tasty and kinda expensive. A kilo of hallabon costs about 10 dollars.

Jeju island is a UNESCO heritage. That also makes it MUST SEE place in the world.