Jeju-do Olle Trails

Follow these ribbons to find the trail...

The Olle Trails are the best thing about Jeju Island, especially if you're a budget traveler like us.:) See this website for details about all the trails on Jeju:  http://english.jeju.go.kr/index.php/
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We stayed in a lovely inn at Seogwipo Harbor, one of two cities on the island.  If you're ever on Jeju, I highly recommend staying at Tae Gong Gak Inn, which you can find here:http://www.lepotel.kr/ It's right along the airport bus path and near many of the most popular tourist sites.  Views over the harbor are also lovely, and Seogwipo downtown has a great local market and many restaurants and coffee shops to

Sunset from the roof of TGG

explore when you tire of all the nature.:)                                                                                            
We were right along the path for both Olle Trail 6 and 7.  Our first day on Jeju, we knew it was going to be pouring rain, so we suited up in our rain gear and headed to the first stop on the trail, Oedalgae Rock.

The Jeju Olle are a relatively new addition to Jeju, I think they were finished in 2007.  They run along the coast of the entire island and showcase some of the best places in Jeju.  They are also FREE!   Most you can do one-way on a day trip and catch the local bus back to your place of origin.  The two I hiked required a relatively good level of fitness, especially if you intend to hike the entire 12-18 km of most trails.

Suited up and ready to go in front of TGG.

Olle 7 is one of the most popular Olles on Jeju.  Despite the pouring rain, the trail was crowded with loud tour groups of high school boys and older women, which was surprisingly uncomfortable.  This trip was our first trip out of Japan in over a year and a half, and it's amazing how you become accustomed to the quiet and polite atmosphere that surrounds most places in Japan. These tour groups literally hurt my ears with their high-pitched squealing, and I was offended by their unapologetic aggression; pushing and shoving without heed for those around them, blatantly taking chairs or viewing spots if you stood up or moved for even half a second.  Japanese people are rarely so rude.  In fact, I was on a crowded train from Matsumoto at rush hour just the other day and a girl who was sitting down got up to throw her trash away in a bin on the platform.  Two ladies took her spot, but when she returned to the train, they got up apologetically and offered her the seat.  I offered the girl the spot next to me, and the two ladies gratefully sat down,with much thanks.  That's how we roll here.:) 

At any rate Oedalgae rock is undeniably phallic.  There are many phallic rocks on Jeju that have been turned into sightseeing spots, and whether or not that has any meaning I will leave for you to decide.  There are many legends about their formation, generally involving people turning into rocks for various sad reasons.  Oedalgae Rock is nice, but a huge tourist trap, so if your goal is secluded nature, I don't recommend stopping here long.

Oedalgae Rock

When not pouring rain, I think this trail would be lovely as it walks along the coastline showcasing some beautiful rock formations, cliffs, and spring flowers. Additionally, though you feel like you are out in nature, you are actually very close to civilization, so it's easy to pop to a shop for a coffee or snack or bail on the trail entirely and hike a small ways up to the main road and catch the airport bus.

It is quite difficult however, because there is a good 30-40 minutes spent clamboring over slippery wet rocks along the coastline.  As it's crowded you can usually just follow the line ahead of you, but if there's no one around there are very easily missed paint marks on the rocks to guide the way. If you're lucky you can see some of the women divers with their buoys working out in the sea gathering sea creatures.  People on Jeju are very proud of these women.  Everyone asked us if we'd seen them yet, and told us where possible viewing spots were.

Also (and my information is second hand) apparently they are building a military base in the middle of this trail (you can see and hear the construction), so part of the trail is closed.  I believe there is a detour, but we chose not to hike that far.  We stopped at what we dubbed the "Poontang" resort because we couldn't pronounce the actual name.  It starts with a P and has some oo's in there, no disrespect intended.

Black sand beach, Soesokkak

My favorite Olle was actually the first half of Olle 6.  A chose to stay in Seogwipo and hit up the coffee shops, so I hiked this one solo.   I had the bright idea to try and hike it backwards, which is not advised.  Olle 6 starts at Soesokkak estuary, which has a beautiful black sand beach and is generally quite a good spot for relaxing.  So because we were already in the middle of Olle 6, and we'd already seen the end (Oedalgae Rock) hiking backwards seemed not only logical but also a beach would be a good place to rest and recover at the end of a long hike.  However, not only myself but several other groups of hikers got misdirected after leaving Jeongbang waterfall and ended up doubling back through downtown Seogwipo.   I then caught a taxi to Soesokkak for only $7 and hiked the trail from the beginning.

This trail is perfect if you are looking to avoid people (as I usually am:).  It is less popular than the other trails, and though the two main tourist sites on the first half (Soesokkak estuary and Jeongbang waterfall) are a little crowed, most of the trail I hiked alone.  It's also the perfect trail if you want to experience almost everything for which Jeju is famous.  It has a beach, flowers, the sea, waterfalls, oreum, traditional markets and phallic rocks.  The only thing missing is a lava tube.

You begin at the black sand beach at Soesokkak estuary.  Though all the tourist guides recommend taking a boat ride there, I wouldn't bother.  Enjoy the sand and the sea and continue on your way.  The next stop on the trail is a small oreum, or parasitic volcano.  After climbing to the top of the oreum, the trail winds through traditional villages with old rock walls all along the coastline.  Many people were working on the rocks and in

The sun came out for the first time in 2 days!

the sea gathering sea creatures and fishing.  Just as you're about to break a sweat, cool breezes arrive to cool you off.

This trail does not have much difficult terrain, even the hike up the oreum is well developed and fairly short.  That being said, I would still hike this trail in appropriate hiking gear (boots, pants, backpack etc.) It is much farther from "civilization", so bring plenty of water and snacks.  It's also about 8 km until you circle back towards the main road, so once you start the hike you have to be committed.

Big Jeongbang Waterfall falls into the sea.

Little Jeongbang waterfall also falls into the sea.

This trail also includes Big and Little Jeongbang waterfalls, which are both very peaceful and beautiful if you are lucky like I was and missed the large tour groups.  Just before the trail to Little Jeongbang, this trail winds back up to the main road, which at the moment is under construction, so take care with the signage.  If you are tired, you can catch the airport bus from the front of the KAL hotel.  Otherwise, you will hike back along the main road to tour through downtown Seogwipo and end at Oedalgae Rock. 

Comparing Jeju-do, Korea to Iriomote in Okinawa (where we went last year), Jeju wins in every category.  Iriomote was too remote; very difficult to get around if you didn't rent a car, with most areas being inaccessible without paying for a guided tour.  Jeju has a wonderful bus system and cheap taxis so you can get around the island without any problems.  Iriomote had little in the way of shops or stores, we primarily ate from the small grocery we found after hiking a couple kilometers.  Seogwipo is the perfect balance of shopping, eating, drinking and nature.  It's everything you could ask for right in one place.

 Jeju is also super cheap, we ate twice at a famous Korean eatery and got all this food plus unlimited refills for only $8 per person.  Flights to Jeju, including a connection through Seoul, were less than half the cost of what it cost for us to fly to Ishigaki, not counting the round trip ferry ride guaranteed to make you toss your cookies (or anything else you may have eaten) to Iriomote.  If you speak Japanese, you will have no problem getting around either as I was grateful to both the airport attendant and the evening inn staff who had trouble with English, but enthusiastically spoke to us in Japanese.  Those of you in Japan, I highly recommend Jeju as a must see for an interesting and relatively cheap holiday!  Plus, if nature's not your thing there's the bazillion strange museums like Mini-mini land and Loveland...

So so so delicious, it was nice to have food with flavor!