The month of August is summer break here in Korea, so I used some of my vacation time to travel down to Jeju Island - the land of rocks, wind, and women.

Day 1.
I caught the 6:35 bus headed to Gimpo Airport in Seoul. I arrived about 2 hours before my flight, and getting checked in and through security was so efficient I had basically those entire 2 hours to kill just walking around the terminal. The flight was only 50 minutes long and I was surrounded by elementary schoolers on a field trip. They were really cute and so excited about the plane ride.
After picking up my rental car (a super stylish Kia Morning) I drove right down to Seogwipo-si on the southern coast of the island. My first stop was Seopseomjigi (섶섬지기), a cafe and tourist information center with a great view of Seop Island (섶섬), to get a coffee and take in the sights. I learned very quickly that if you drive off the main roads and away from the touristy areas you'll find yourself in small villages with some of the narrowest, windiest alleyways ever. My GPS took me down some of those alleyways to get from the main road to the coastal road and it was quite an adventure.
Afterwards I headed to the nearby Jeongbang Falls (정방폭포). I bought a ticket and a wide-brimmed hat, since I was already getting sunburn, and made the short walk to the base of the falls. This is one of the more popular waterfalls on the island and is famous for being the only waterfall in Asia which falls directly into the ocean. At about 75 feet high, it was pretty impressive. One of the things I find interesting about Jeju-do is that everything has history and there are myths and legends which have been passed down through the generations. The legend for these falls is that a dragon lived under them and the dragon's spirit, which can cure diseases and end droughts, is in the water. There is also a second myth that a servant named Seobul was sent to Mount Halla to find magical herbs which would bring eternal youth. Although Seobul didn't find the herbs, he discovered Jeongbang Falls and carved his name into the rocks on the cliff.
Jeongbang Falls were only a few minutes away from my hotel, so I went there next to get checked in. I splurged a little bit on this hotel and got a really nice ninth floor room with a large balcony overlooking Seogwipo-si and Halla-san in the distance. I spent a lot of time out on the balcony after it cooled off at night, so it was totally worth it.
After getting settled in at the hotel, I decided to take a walk to the nearby Cheonjiyeon Falls (천지연폭포), which ended up being a super long walk during which I could actually see the falls but could not figure out how to get to them. I walked up and down both sides of the river and was about to give up when I came across a couple foreigners who were also out in search of the falls. We walked around a while longer before finally asking a group of Korean men who had just finished a game of golf if they could tell us how to get to the falls. One of the men was super nice and walked us the whole way there. He told us a bit about the falls and gave us some ginseng candy that he had. It had to have been a mile walk down winding trail through the woods - there were no signs, either. We never would have found it on our own. By the time we finally got there it was dark.
Day 2.
I woke up early because it was supposed to rain in the afternoon and I wanted to see as much as I could before the rain started. By 8am I was back at Cheonjiyeon Falls to see it in the daylight. Added bonus – there was literally no one else there that early, so I had the falls to myself for a bit. A few people stopped by for pictures while I was there, and one of them was a girl who was visiting from Switzerland. We walked around the gardens for a bit before saying goodbye – she was on her way to Jeongbang Falls, which I had been to the day before, and I was headed to Saeseom Island (새섬) just up the road.
My next stop was a few minutes down the coast to see Oedolgae (외돌개). There are walking trails – parts of the Olle – all along the edges of the cliffs, with lookout platforms giving panoramic views of Oedolgae, or Loneliness Rock. Legend has it one day a sailor went out to sea and didn’t come home. His wife waded out into the water to wait for him, and waited there for so long she became Oedolgae.

After spending some time at Oedolgae, I went back to the hotel to check out, then backtracked to the west side of Seogwipo, stopping at Sojeongbang Falls (소정방폭포) and Soesokkak Estuary (쇠소깍). I followed a sign for Sojeongbang Falls which led me to what appeared to be an abandoned hotel, a chained-off parking lot, and a dead-end street. There was, however, a marker showing that the trail cutting through the property was part of the Olle, so I parked off to the side and followed the Olle hoping it would lead me to the falls, and it did. Evidently these falls aren’t visited much by tourists, because the only other people there were a Korean family who seemed to be having a picnic out on the rocks. Since this waterfall isn’t very high you can get right under the falls, but I only waded as far as the small pools at the bottom. One thing that was amazing about traveling solo in Korea - Koreans are very serious about their vacation photos, and literally everywhere I went I had at least one person ask me if I'd like them to take my picture for me. An ajusshi took like 10 pictures of me in front of these falls. I was super hot and sweaty so I'm not posting them. But it was so kind of him!
After cooling off at the falls, I continued west to the Soesokkak Estuary. This is where the Hyodon Stream flows into the ocean, and is known for its calm blue water and volcanic rock formations. You used to be able to rent kayaks and clear plastic boats to go out on the water, but I think it became such a popular, crowded tourist spot they had to get rid of them.
I got back in the car and headed back east of Seogwipo to Cheonjeyeon Falls (천제연 폭포), or "The Pond of the Emperor of Heaven." Legend has it seven nymphs would come down from heaven at night to bathe in the pond. There are three waterfalls, but I only went to the first two because it was too damn hot for all those stairs. This was the first waterfall, which was super small and unimpressive. Check out the reflection of the rocks on the pond, though.
I continued east to the lava dome Sanbang Mountain (산방산). The myth is that Sanbang-san was the top of Mount Halla and it blew off and landed here. After walking around the temple at the base of the mountain, I started up the stairway leading up the side of Sanbang-san. Partway up the side of the mountain is a cave/temple where Buddhist monks used to come to study. Water drips down from the roof of the cave and collects in a pool at the bottom. It is said that if you drink 3 sips of the water, you will have longevity of life and good health. When I finally made it up the stairs to the temple, the only other person up there was a monk. I greeted him and was met with no response, and then I felt super awkward about the whole thing and went back down without drinking the water. Ah, well. Next time.
After making it back to the base of Sanbang-san, I crossed the road and continued down towards the ocean to Yongmeori Coast (용머리해안). This area is a hydrovolcanic body and is the oldest rock in Jeju-do. The cliffs were formed by erosion and the shape when seen from above resembles a dragon, hence the name Dragon's Head Coast. There are also cave trenches in this area which were dug by Japanese troops during the Pacific War.
It started raining again as soon as I got down to the coast and most of the other visitors cleared out, so I took my time walking along the rocks while getting totally drenched. An older couple stopped to ask my if I was out there alone and why I didn't have an umbrella, but after how hot it had been all day and how much walking I had done I was welcoming the rain.