I just had my first vacation here in Korea and it couldn't come soon enough. I love living in Seoul but being from California you just gotta get out sometimes and explore the outdoors. Me and three of my friends Mindy, Erica and Aura went and visited the volcanic island of Jeju just off the southern tip of Korea. It's very similar to Hawaii in many ways, the landscape is very similar to Oahu and it's also a hot spot for newlyweds. I really enjoyed the slow pace of the island, it was a nice change from the lifestyle in Seoul.
Beaches: We visited three beaches while in Jeju, Jungmun, Hallim and Hamdeok. All three beaches were on separate parts of the island, Jungmun on the south, Hallim on the northwest and Hamdeok on the northeast. Fortunately we had amazing weather so it was nice to go swimming in the clear blue water. However the lifeguards were very restrictive in the areas you can swim, so that made it difficult to explore. Out of the three I enjoyed Jungmun the most because it had the best swimming area.
Halla Mountain: Since Jeju is a volcanic island, Hallasan the once active cinder cone volcano is the focal point for the island. On Monday Erica, Aura and I went to climb the mountain. We decided to take the easy trail up because based on our map it looked as if all the trails met a rim trail at the top. However when we got to the top there was no such trail which was pretty anticlimactic. However the trail up was beautiful, it followed a nice stream that then opened up to huge fields of green. I was really impressed with how well kept the trails were.
Attractions: It's pretty amazing how many attractions there are to visit in Jeju. To see all of them you would need to be on the island for at least a month. Even with the limited time and transportation I felt that we visited a lot of places. We visited two waterfalls, Cheonjiyeon and Jeongbang; one of the few in the Asia that falls into the ocean. We also visited Manjanggul lava tube, which has the world's largest lava column and two lava tube caves in Hallim park, where a lava tube joins up with a limestone cave. I thought all the lava tubes were pretty 
cool but I guess that just because I'm a rock nerd. One of the more interesting museums I've ever been to was the Sex and Health Museum on Jeju. I guess we didn't actually visit the inside of the museum but I think the sculptures outside were plenty interesting. Towards the end of our trip a cab driver recommended Hallim park so we went for a day, which had one of the most extensive bonsai gardens I've ever seen.
Food: Jeju is really well known for it's seafood and oranges, so while I was there I tried a bunch of new foods. One of my favorite new dishes was abalone rice porridge, which was amazing. At the same restaurant, which was recommended by a cab driver, we had some grilled white fish (not really sure what kind) but it was also delicious. Surprisingly I had one of the biggest and best tasting burgers on Jeju. While at Hallim Beach we met some foreign teachers who recommended a burger joint to us. I was a little skeptical because they described it as a pork burger with mostly vegetables. But as soon as I bit in I was hooked. All the vegetables and herbs were grown in the garden out in front of the restaurant and the herb bread was baked fresh daily. The restaurant was also run by a very friendly Korean family who gave us two loaves of beard to take home with us because we were the last customers of the day. If any of you are ever planning on visiting Korea I would definitely recommend Jeju, it was a one of the most beautiful and interesting places I've ever visited.
~Sunny
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