Jeju-si

I went to Jeju with my mum on the last day of the Cherry Blossom Festival - we planned to go to the island either way, but as the festival was taking place, we went on March 29 with T'way (one-way tickets were around 52 000 KRW each).

The airport in Jeju is really cute - the luggage belt and trash cans are awesome!

We stayed at a hostel not too far from the Sports Complex, where the festival was taking place, so we decided to walk there instead of taking the bus.

The festival was really really crowded, but once you went further away from the food stalls, the crowds became less thick as well. The abundant cherry trees were all blooming, and they were planted all around the complex - an amazing sight.

There was food everywhere too. Check out the bondegi (silkworm pupae I believe) - I've never seen anybody actually buy them and eat them, but I heard they taste pretty bad. I have nothing against eating insects, but I like stir-fried spicy mealworms and caramel-coated crickets more.

 

Walking on stones to stimulate your feet is very popular in Korea, especialy with old people. It hurts like hell though.

Shrine around Samseong Hyeol is related to old Korean myth about how the Tamna kingdom started, there is a good post about it here.

 

 

Then we walked randomly around the city center... 

Dongmun market is the best place to buy dried tangerines and chocolates as souvenirs. You can generally buy one box of tangerines for 10 000, or 6 chocolate boxes for 10 000. It is cheaper than anywehre else, and you might get freebies too. It's also a great place to buy hallabong oranges. They are rather expensive, if you see very cheap ones, they're probably old or dry.

One of the famous foods in Jeju is black pork samgyeopsal (or ogyeopsal) - there is a black pig street where restaurants serving this kind of meat are concentrated. Since it is barbecue-style dish, you will have to order more than one portion - making it more expensive, as it is too much food for two people if you order two portions (because it comes with side dishes, steamed egg and a stew). The best restaurant I think is the very first one on the left side, menu for two costs about 40 000 KRW.

There is a beautiful valley on the way towards the Dragon head rock.

 

And of course, a must-visit place is the Cherry Blossom Street.

Just a heads-up, red velvet at Angel-in-us is not very good, and the toasts are sort of sweet, even though they are supposed to be savory...

Yours truly

Vita