Jeju - Typhoon on a Dream Island

After settling in a bit in Seoul, I went to Jeju Island on the second weekend of university. 

Jeju is an island in the south of Korea, known as the Hawaii of the peninsula because of its beautiful landscape, which stretches around two inactive volcanoes and offers tropical beaches. For this reason, a visit to Jeju is a must for every exchange student, and we decided to go as soon as possible to enjoy the good weather!

We - my roommate Nella, as well as two Italian friends Noemi and Cecilia (we were also accompanied by Stefan, a German from my buddy group, for a few days) - set off happily on a Friday to the airport, mainly with shorts and sunscreen in our luggage. But it soon became clear upon our arrival: it's a bit colder here than we thought! 

Nella, who had arrived earlier, soon told us that a typhoon had found its way to the island, which not only adjusted the weather a bit to German conditions, but also led to the closure of the well-known hiking trails to the volcanoes! 

Since Jeju is a summer island through and through, and therefore offers the most activities for warm days, we had to improvise a bit in the following days. One main attraction, and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are the so-called lava caves, which impressed us a lot. These extend on the edge of one of the volcanoes and consist of corridors through which lava once flowed during active times of the volcano. Here you could not only follow the flow of lava on the ground, but also admire a lava column pouring out of the ceiling.

In the evening, we enjoyed a very delicious meal at a Japanese restaurant, which was open to the street and served dishes to share, as is typical in Korea. 

On Sunday, the weather gradually improved and so we decided to visit a beach despite the still strong winds. Unfortunately, I had already caught a cold in the previous days, as I was not at all prepared for a typhoon, so I spent my time on the beach instead of in the water. But even from there, the view was spectacular! The water was turquoise and very clear, and the white sandy beach gave a tropical feel despite the strong wind. I'm sure it's simply beautiful there in good weather!

Since the island was a bit bigger than expected, we also spent a lot of time on buses, which allowed us to observe the landscape a bit better, but also took up a lot of time, and so we were already back to sunny and warm Seoul on Monday morning! 

Now I'm looking forward to my next adventure, a trip to Taiwan and then Shanghai! 

Until then, 안녕 from Korea!