I found a cheap airline ticket for Jeju island. I was scheduled to leave Saturday and return on Monday morning with 60,000 won.(=$60) Since there was no reason why I should not go to Jeju Island, I paid my air ticket right away. And I worried. Where shall I go to Jeju Island. I never felt the necessity of a driver's license in my daily life. Because public transportation is quite developed in Busan which I live. However, it is a pity that I don't have a driver's license on my Jeju island trip.
I decided to go to Udo Maritime Park, famous for peanuts. I decided to spend my short weekend trip to Udo Maritime Park in Jeju Island. Udo Maritime Park, the largest island in Jeju, is a representative island of Jeju's tourist destination. You can look around the island by motorcycle or bicycle. But I decided to use a cheap tour bus. Since Jeju Island was so cold in December, I could not dare to ride a bike or motorcycle.
You can go to Udo Island with a shipping declaration form + Entrance fee to marine park+ ID card + materials for marine transport industry + boarding fee.
You can only go to Udo Island on Jeju Island by boat. If you want to go to Udo Island from Seongsanpo Port by boat, you have to pay not only for the ship but also for Entrance fee to marine park. (If Jeju residents present their ID card, Entrance fee to marine park are free.) When you buy a ticket of a ship to Udo, you must bring your ID card(or passport) and fill out the registration form. The boat is scheduled to sail between Udo port and Seongsan port every hour. if you are traveling on a day, the last thing you should know is the last departure time from Udo to Seongsan. When returning to the Sungsan Port from Udo, the last departur time vary from season to season. So you must check this out.
[Note 1] Charges 2018
(Based on adult standards) = 3,500 (ship rate) + 1,000 won (entrance fee to provincial park) + 500 won (terminal fee) = 5,000 won (one-way) / 8,500 won (return trip)
[Note 2] You must fill in two shipping reports. You need both when you go and return.
After moving for about 30 minutes, I arrived at udo port. It was cold winter, but the weather was clear. Thank goodness. I'm a person who thinks the weather is so important during traveling. So when the weather is not good, I feel very bad. Fortunately, the weather was clear that day. Yay!
Udo Tour Bus
There is a Udo Tour Bus, where you can easily sit and move to special places in Udo. I was very satisfied with it. So the next year(2015), my family could comfortably look around Udo Island by tour bus. If you get off at Udo Harbor and just look for a parking lot or something liek that, there is a small ticket office nearby. You can buy a bus ticket of Udo tour bus. The buses, which run every 30 minutes, can go good places of Udo. You can get off or on a bus that runs at 30-minute intervals per bus in certain areas. It was very convenient for me to use the bus.
1. Tickets : The Udo Tour Bus tickets are free tickets on a day. (not a single ticket) If you have this ticket, you can get on and off the bus anytime you want.
2. Prices : 5,000 Won for adults (starting from middle school) and 3,000 Won for elementary school children from 24 months (You can use credit card)
3. Start time: The starting time varies depending on the place of departure. So, you should use udo tour bus with time reference.
- Udobong : 20min/50min past every hour on the hour (last departure at 17:00)
- Gummale beach : 00min/30min past every hour on the hour (Last Start Time 17:20)
- Hagosudong: 5min/ 35 min past every hour on the hour (Last start time 17:25)
- Hongjodangui : 15min/ 45min past every hour on the hour (17:45 last departure time)
* The starting time is a 30-minute interval. So, if you travel each place every 30 minutes or 1 hour, you can get on the bus conveniently without waiting for Udo Tour Bus.
4. Note : Udo Tour Bus has signs on the front window of the bus to distinguish whether it is a individual tour or a group tour. You should get on a bus called individual tour. When you get on the Udo tour bus which has the sign written by individual, You can listen to good explanation from bus drivers like a tour guide in each area.
1. Jiducheongsa(=Udobong)
The first place was Jiducheongsa. That is one of the Eight Views of Udo. It was a slightly higher peak but wasn't a very steep slope. A cold sea breeze blew around me. The weather was nice, but the wind was too cold. However, the spectacular sea and the surrounding atmosphere were impressive even if the wind make it so cold.
I could feel that the island is a small island town taking by bus. The bus driver could not move forward as the bus was heading to the parking lot near the Geomulle beach. People on the bus wondered why the bus could not go forward. Everyone looked at the windshield. There was a dog. A dog sitting in the middle of the bus path was watching a passerby. The bus driver blew his horn at the dog, but it showed no interest in the horn. The bus driver laughed. Of course no one had any threat to the dog. Many people said the behavior of the dog was cute. All the people on the bus took out their cameras in this interesting situation.
2. Geomulre Beach
I got off the bus and came to the beach near Geomulle. Although peanut ice cream is tasty, I couldn't bring myself to eat it in this cold weather. Next, I promised to come back to eat again when the weather was nice.(Next fall, I ate peanut ice cream here with my family. Looking around, the scenery here was wonderful. It is easy to see the Eight Views of Udo by boat, but not many people were on the boat. The boat arrived in a circle on the way back from sightseeing. I was curious about the Eight Views of Udo, and I wanted to take a boat tour. But I was the only one waiting to take a boat tour. Perhaps a few people wanted to take a boat trip because of the cold weather.
The boat owner and I decided to wait for another visitor. The owner just got off the boat and he needed a break. And I felt somehow sorry for the man to ride in the boat alone. I enjoyed a bonfire at the beach with the boat owner, talking to each other. I heard the story of the man who had traveled to Busan and my story that I came to Jeju island alone. I talked to him for a long time. Then I found people coming to board the boat from far away. Two people are coming here. They must be visitor who wanted to take boat!
Ps above the two pictures below included photos taken during a trip to Udo with family. When I was traveling alone, it was too cold to take many pictures.
A boat tour at Udo
A total of three people, including myself, took a boat tour that day. The price was 10,000 won(=$10) per person. How was it? I strongly recommend. When you go to Udo, You have to take boat tour. The boat owner explained to us in detail, and there were places we could not see on the ground. In addition, I was very happy to see Dongangyeong cave in person. However, it was too cold on this day, and the boat moved at a fast pace, making it stronger. I was lucky to wear gloves, but the two girls with me on the boat didn't have gloves. They suffered from the cold. After the boat tour, I asked them if it was too cold. They were frightfully cold, but they showed high satisfaction, saying they were still really happy thanks to the boat tour.
3. Hagosudong Beach
I went to Hagosudong Beach by Udo tourist bus. The bus driver of Udo Tour Bus introduced the passengers to various areas of Udo in detail. Each bus driver had different characters, so there were various ways to introduce them. ome of the bus drivers explained like the tour guide, while another bus driver introduced us to Udo through various episodes. There was also a bus driver with a good sense of humor.
The weather is strange. When I arrived at the beach hagosudong The sky above the beach was half clear, but the other half had dark clouds. What is this?!
The weather was cold and I was thirsty, so I went into a small cafe that stood out. Here, I ordered an ice cream set for the Udo peanut Cafe Latte + Udo peanut icecream. Inside the cafe, I could keep myself warm. I tried the Udo ice cream here that I had not tried before. Of course I ordered a small size peanut ice cream. After eating the ice cream, I also found out that Udo peanut was so delicious.
After a short rest in the cafe, a sightseeing bus was approaching from far away. I had the latte of the Udo peanut cafe lette and got on the bus. Many people did not get off at Hagosudong Beach. So, there was little room for a person on board at Hagosudong like me. Luckily, only one seat was available so I could sit there.
4. Seobinbaeksa
Seobinbaeksa, the cobblestone coast, is known by its name. The white sand beach is white. Since Jeju Island was a volcanic island, most black beaches are common, while white beaches are unusual. That's why this place is so well known. Looking at Seobinbaeksa, it looked like a nice beach in another country. Wow, we have such a beautiful beach in Korea.
I met puppy here. It was so exciting that it seemed like a child running around. Puppies are active as they are young and gentle as they get older. (Normally ...) This puppy must be very young. His name is Shinchan. Shinchan was so excited that it was impossible to take pictures. When I approached and took out the camera, I suddenly came up to me and smelled the camera. All I have is a picture of this half-shaped or his nose touching my camera lens.
" I try to take a walk on the sandy beach as often as possible. Just staying at home all day will make him feel stuffy. My dog likes this white sand beach. He doesn't bark or be wary of people. He just loves playing on the white sand. :D"
His mother and I talked about the puppy and looked at him. Shinchan seemed to have made a good relationship with his family.
I was hungry. As I looked around, there was a convenience store and a restaurant. Jeju Island is more expensive than land. Of course it is an island. You can find out by placing an order on the island. The shipping costs are, of course, higher. I couldn't eat great sea food course since I came here alone. So I decided to have my lunch on coral restaurant. I ordered Udo zhajiangmian(black-bean-sauce noodles) with a horn conch. I likezhajiangmian more than Jjambbong. I like the sweet taste. What a horn conch here. It cost 8,000 won(=$8), but I didn't think it was expensive because it was an island food.
I decided to take a walk around after lunch with a coral spot and a chicken stew. Since I moved from Seongsan Port to Udo Island early in the morning, I felt sleepy a little. I left the restaurant and started walking around.
The green grass was impressive on black soil. All these green grass was peanuts. I do not like peanuts. But I realized that it was a delicious peanut in Udo after eating it. After that, I like a peanut very much. All green grass in black soil. The weather here was fine, the blue sky and the sea. It was as if someone had painted the place beautifully.
I just decided to walk around more, but I didn't really have a destination. As I was walking, I arrived at barbershop which was introduced by the bus driver of Udo Tour Bus. The bus driver introduced this barbershop as the only barbershop in Udo. So, he joked that the hair styles of all the men living in Udo are the same. No one has ever visited the barber shop. The number of local residents in Udo Island decreases day by day. Still, it is said that this place is still in business for several decades.
It was not until late afternoon that I decided to go out of Udo Island. We took the bus again and went to the port of Udo. I could see my boat in the distance. I was tired of traveling to the island from morning
on the way back from Odo to Seongsan Port, because I was tired of walking around in the cold wind. So that's why on my way back to Seongsan Port from Udo Island, I slept on the boat for a short journey.
I liked the Woodo which I stayed for a while. There were not many tourists because it was winter. I heard that the island is now suffering from bad manners of many tourists. But in December 2014, when I went, it was good because there was few visitors in Udo Island, and I could walk on the street and look around the village. That evening, I met up with Chinese college students who became roommates in the guest house. When I told them my story of Udo, they asked me in detail how to get there. They saw my picture(in Udo) with great concentration and said that they wanted to go to Udo Island the next day. The island is a good place to travel for both Koreans and foreigners. It is hard to believe that Udo is suffering from such bad visitors. I feel sorry.