Jeju Island Road Trip Day 5: HWASUN GEUMMORAE BEACH, MT SANBANGSAN and YONGMEORI COAST

our final farewell to Dreaming Forest and to May's mom

It had been a pleasant 2-night stay at Dreaming Forest Pension, our retreat at the end of everyday after exploring the attractions at Seogwipo and beyond. The morning of Day 5 of our road trip I got a personal note from owner May. She apologized for not being able to say goodbye to us (it's our check out day) because she had to go to Jeju City and thanked us for staying with them. I was touched by her note and felt sad that we didn't get to say goodbye to her, too. Her note will have a special place in my South Korea trip scrapbook. We will defnitely go back to Dreaming Forest Pension, soon!

  

Feeling at home at Dreaming Forest Pension. Sad to be leaving this home away from home.

After a quick breakfast, we were on the road again for our last 2 days in the island. Before we left the southern part of the island on our way back to Jeju, we drove by Hwasun Geummorae Beach. There wasn't really an actual sign on the beach but according to the map we were at the right spot. There wasn't anyone there although there were kayaks at the shed. I guess visitors weren't really keen as it wasn't the beach season yet. Even the diner was empty and there wasn't anyone to attend to us so we decided to just hang out by the beach.

the boys entertaining themselves with an empty paper cup 

and pretended to play American football

 

 a bizarre sitting area overlooking Mt Sanbangsan

When the kids were done with their game we continued driving towards Mt Sanbangsan and passed by a four-wheel drive and ATV course. Not happening in this trip though. When we got to the top of the uphill road to Mt Sanbangsan, there was a specified parking space and several shops lining up the side of the road. This called for a mandatory stop.

We crossed the road (watch out for oncoming traffic) and saw that there were steps leading down to what seemed like a tourist village.

view of Mt Sanbangsan from the bottom of the steps

   

 Ira posing with Mt Sanbangsan in the backdrop 

while Kelvin has Yongmeori Coast as his backdrop.

Ira and I went down to check the tourist shop while Mark and Kelvin stayed at the top for better views. We found some really interesting treats, so many to choose from. We settled for the famous Jeju orange chocolates in tin music box (playing traditional Korean music) cum coin bank which had 2 of the famous symbols of the island - Haenyo and Dolharubang. I asked Ira to choose from 2 options - the other one had a more traditional theme with a Korean couple wearing traditional Korean clothes. I'd say he made a good choice.

dolharubang, haenyo, traditional Korean music and Jeju hallabong chocolates

For those who have more time to spare, exploring the Yongmeori Coast would add to the experience. That's a long walk down from the main road though. If you're up for it, you'll be rewarded with even more breathtaking views of the coast.