On my second trip to Seoul I also flew to Jeju island for 3 days, for my birthday with my cousin and brother. On the first day I had originally wanted to visit Hallim Park, however by the time we got there they had already closed for the last entry sadly, but we did not let that dampen our moods! On the way to the park we had spotted a beautiful beach instead. You can book a taxi service for the day but as we were pretty much winging it by this point, we decided not to keep the taxi driver waiting and would instead ask the restaurant we ate at, to help us book another taxi.

Flight: I flew with Jeju Air and booked it back in the UK, I got my Korean friend to double-check prices when booking in Seoul and they were the same. The flight cost was roughly £100 but the earlier you book, the better as they have a limited number of 'saver' and 'special' fares too. Also instead of flying from Incheon airport we flew from Gimpo airport, which is much closer to Seoul. From Seoul to Jeju the flight duration is just over an hour however Jeju Air still serves you a free drink. 

Stay: Amber Central Hotel/Ibiza Hotel, from Jeju airport you can catch a bus to the hotel but be careful as they have a sister hotel which is the main one and is just called 'Amber Hotel'. We got off the wrong stop to the wrong hotel so we had to call a taxi to drive us to the right one which was only 5 minutes away. The hotel looks a little dated but the staff are friendly and helpful and our room was spacious, my bed was also really comfy. Opposite the hotel is a 7-Eleven mart and 5 minutes walk away is a massive supermarket called E-mart.

Do: Hyeopjae Beach is beautiful. We were lucky enough to get there in time for the sunset too. The water is clear and the beach was not overly crowded. There is also a convenience store there, which we did visit to purchase some slippers (we were clearly not beach-ready). To my utter disappointment and late realization I headed straight for the pink slippers even though I was wearing a black dress and they had black slippers available, but I guess the heart wants what it wants, in this case pink and a mismatched outfit.

How did I want to spend my actual birthday? To hike Hallasan. Unfortunately it was absolutely pouring down that day but since we only had a limited amount of time in Jeju, we still agreed to go. The taxi driver also warned us that it will be raining even heavier later and if we will be okay, I replied in my broken Korean that "we'll be fine" and I actually believed it; I was just so giddy and excited at the time. There are a number of trails on Hallasan with varying difficulties, after researching I decided we would go up from 'Yeongsil' and then down 'Eorimok', taking into account I was still a beginner at hiking and it will have been the first time for my cousin and brother. The poor souls did not know what they had agreed to. There is a small shop at the starting point of Yeongsil for last-minute hiking goods and we thought it would be a good idea to get raincoats. I have to admit that the hike was tiring and it was foggy so we could not even see much of the views but I am so proud that we got through it! I always get to a point in hiking where I think 'okay this is it, I can't go on any further' but then after a little rest you pick yourself up again and keep going. I think I enjoy the challenge but also the quiet and solitude of nature.

Eat: This place that we ate at was the only Korean BBQ restaurant we could see from Hyeopjae Beach so it is easy to find. Jeju is known for their black pork so we were all excited to try it and also the fact that we were on an island means fresh seafood! The restaurant did not disappoint, the pork was very juicy and the seafood stews was delicious. You get an ample amount of side dishes and the rice they serve is 'Kongbap', mixed rice with beans in it. It tasted like plain white rice but it certainly looked healthy. Also as I mentioned before the waiter was kind enough to help us call a taxi back to the hotel which was about an hour's drive away.

The next place, you can find across the road from the hotel. It is a local seafood restaurant. Again you get a generous amount of side-dishes including a grilled fish! The lady was very friendly and showed us how to make a fish wrap with raw cabbage which was something new to all of us. However the menu is all in Korean so we just pointed to 3 different stews and hoped for the best. The stews were nice but I ended up ordering the fish egg stew and fish eggs are not the most appealing thing ever.

That ends my trip to Jeju (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ