Seopjikoji & Seongsan Ilchulbong, Jeju-do

Date of Visited: 14th September 2011

NOTE: This post suppose to be scheduled earlier but I was too busy being hostess and bring my friends from KL and her friend from USA after they back from climbed Mount Kinabalu. I also met another blogger, Fie-nuts for the very first time. 

On the second day in Jeju Island, we opt to hire a taxi driver instead of taking public bus. Public bus might be cheaper but it will waste your time of waiting and takes longer time to reach your desired destination as it will keep stop at few locations.  Plus, you might facing language barrier in terms that most of the bus drivers in Jeju-Island doesn't speak nor understand English much. Hiring a taxi driver for a day which costs 120,000 won per day might be a bit pricey but you can maximise the places that you want to visit instead of taking public bus.

TIPS: 

1. Before get a taxi driver, it is advisable to write down the places & attractions in Korean language because most likely the driver in Jeju-do doesn't understand English much.. And if you didn't prepared that, you can request the hotel to write it down for you. 
2. 120,000 won of hiring the taxi driver is only for the fuel and it might not included the car park and their lunch. Some of the driver request to provide lunch. So, you might need to spare more money to treat them for lunch and pay for their car park fee. It is only hiring up to 8 hours. More than that, you might request to pay more. 

Because the normal hiring rate for taxi driver in Jeju-do is up to 8 hours only, I can only listed down 5 places that I really wish to visit and see in Jeju-do. Jeju-do has lots of attractions that you might need at least 4 days in here. So, in this post, I am going to share the first two out of 5 places that we went.

1. Seopjikoji

Seopjikoji is situated at the end of the eastern shore of Jeju-do. "Seopji" is the old name for the area whereas "Koji" literally in Jeju dialect means a sudden bump of land.

#1: A beautiful church with a white horse makes this photo such a masterpiece.

Seopjikoji is well-known as one the picturesque in Jeju-do that offers impressive scenery where the blue ocean, black cliffs and green fields comes together. As we walked along the fenced trail of up and down, we by the lovely ocean and striking cliffs on the right side while a wide green pasture with horses in on our left side.

#2: At the end of the trails, there is a white lighthouse. The pathway to there seems so far away, so we just stopby in the middle for a photo.

#3: That's Seongsan Ilchulbong (sunrise mountain), the place that we will going next can be seen from Seopjikoji

#4: Although the weather was pretty fine and I do love the colour of the blue sky, but it was so hot. Thank goodness I wore long sleeve, or else, sunburn.

#5: It's not only a church but it is also part of the convent for a drama. 

#6: Seopjikoji is also known for the film location for popular K-drama "All In", which starring by Lee Byung-hun (you will know him if you ever watch G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) and Song Hye-kyo (famed for her acting in Autumn in My Heart and Full House and also a spokesperson for Laneige). To visit this "All In House", it requires separate admission fee. 

#7: According to our driver, most of the tourists who came here are mostly from China.

We didn't stayed long at Seopjikoji because the weather was extremely hot that day, it was like 36 degrees. Next, we heading to Seongsan Ilchulbong which just situated very close to Seopjikoji.

2. Seongsan Ilchulbong


#8: Seongsan Ilchulbong is not just one of the scenic landmarks of Jeju Island but has been listed as one of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage.



Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as "Sunrise Peak" which rose from under the sea by a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago. There is a huge preserved bowl-like crater at the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak.


The admission fee for adult is 2,000 won while for children and youth is 1,000 won.


The view of the city of Jeju Island from the middle while walking to the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

We didn't managed to reach to the top because besides of the hot weather, two of my friends were exhausted. So, I could only took this diagram of how Seongsang Ilchulbong looks like taking from the top.

There are few souvenir shops nearby. We bought their famous hallabong (citrus fruits) chocolate before moving on the next stop. It's highly recommended to buy those chocolates as souvenirs. Taste good, according to my boyfie.

[Credit To: 2012 Expo, Official Site of Korea Tourism Org, Everythinglbh.com,]