Taifun in Jeju

Late afternoon we arrived at Jeju International Airport. Few minutes by taxi to our hotel. Unfortunately, it wasn't as pretty as the pictures, but overall it was okay. After a delicious dinner in the area - for once we had chicken and not beef - we went to bed early.

Next day we explored Jeju City. The streets were empty and we hardly met any tourists in the shops. It was strange because we read that no flight route in the world is as frequent as the one from Seoul to Jeju. The subtropical island is considered a jewel and attracts many national tourists. Probably July is not a "vacation month" in Korea. However, the modern city center is bustling with tourism. All major sport brands are represented with huge stores and there are also many restaurants and cafes. We brought our laptops and sat in a cafe to write the latest blog post. Meanwhile it started raining outside. Fortunately, it was just a light rain shower and we reached our hotel dry.

Since Jeju City was empty, we decided to go to the center of the other side of the island. Most of the attractions are located near Seogwipo. The bus ride across the island took only one hour and thirty minutes. The route leads along the bottom of Mount Hallasan. The extinct volcano is located in the middle of the island and is the highest mountain in Korea with almost 2000 meters. Unfortunately, we couldn't see anything because of the rain curtain from the mountain.

After arrival, we left our luggage at the hotel and equipped with raincoats, we made our way to the nearby waterfall. The approximately 5 km long circular trail is well maintained and leads through a evergreen environment. Towards the end of the trail, the rain started again. Combined with the wind, our shoes and pants were soon soaked. But it didn't spoil our mood. On the way, three Koreans, also tourists, even offered us a cup of coffee. The gentlemen were from Seoul and were spending a long weekend on Jeju Island. One of them had visited Switzerland twice, so we quickly got into conversation. We continued the way to the waterfall a little later after having a coffee. The huge amount of water thundering down the rocks was impressive. We took some pictures and returned to the hotel where the warm shower was waiting for us.

In the evening, we explored the local market and Black Pork Street. A specialty of Jeju is black pork, which is the meat of a black-haired pig breed. It is said to have a very delicate taste. We tried it in the form of a burger. We didn't notice any major difference to conventional pork. Fun fact: The North Korean ruler likes the meat so much that he asked South Koreans if he can keep these pigs in North Korea. There is a project to open a farm in Pyongyang. The necessary material has already been brought to North Korea.

The next day it rained heavily, so we only went out to eat. The signs of the typhoon had arrived. We spent a quiet day in the hotel.

On the last day, there was a small chaos on the island. The typhoon approached the island and put people on high alert. In the morning, some flights were canceled due to bad weather. Around noon, we made our way to the airport. It was completely unclear whether our flight to Osaka would take place. In our opinion, the chances were rather low, as the typhoon was right on our flight route. There was a lot of activity at the small airport of Jeju. Long queues had formed in front of some counters. But we had another problem. Unfortunately, we made a mistake when booking the flight - we didn't add any checked baggage. Online it wasn't possible due to a technical problem. We were sent from one counter to the next in search of an answer, until someone finally gave us the desired information: A piece of luggage can only be purchased during check-in. So we had to pay CHF 45.00 per person during check-in.

We were clearly luckier than other passengers. Our flight was able to depart with a delay of only twenty minutes. The unhappiest travelers were those with the destination Hong Kong. Instead of the planned departure at 7:50 a.m., their adventure could only start at 5:45 p.m. An incredibly long waiting time at such a small airport! After the security check, there was no restaurant or any other shops. The only options were a cosmetics shop and a souvenir shop...

We are looking forward to the adventure in Japan.