Jeju Island - Day 2

Day 2, Ben and I broke off from the tour and went out on our own. We went to hike Mt. Halla, the tallest mountain in South Korea. It is 1950 meters high and views from the top were spectacular. We hit the Seongpanah trail at around 0800 or so and the first couple we saw were one I think we saw at Hallim park the day before. Side note - many Korean couples come to Jeju island for their Honeymoon and it is common to see them wear matching clothing. Though not as elaborate as the outfit the previous day, the couple still definitely matched. Anyway, back to Mt. Halla. It was really foggy/misty when we first started hiking (first picture), but then we eventually got above the clouds (third picture). The route was really rocky and somewhat slippery because of the way lava rock is. It was really beautiful. At the shelter (third picture) you could get ramen like noodles, but Ben and I packed trail mix and the tangerines we bought the day before, so we passed on the noodles. From the top of Mt. Halla you could see a lot, but the coolest for me was just seeing the clouds. We then hiked down the Gwaneumsa trail, which was definitely steeper, but provided different views of the mountain. I really enjoyed this hike. It took us about 6 and a half hours to hike up and back down. Then we took a taxi to the eastern most point of the island to Seongsan Ilchoulbong or "Sunrise peak." (4th picture). Sunrise peak was all stairs to the top, but it didn't take us long, even though my calves were killing me from Mt. Halla. Nearby was the house of the woman divers. It is a dying tradition unfortunately, but these women can dive 20 meters deep holding their breath for more than 2 minutes. They harvest seaweed and catch sea creatures to sell for food. Views around this area of the island really highlighted the lava shore (5th picture). Eventually we got a taxi back to our hotel and we were tired. We got some dinner, nothing really worth writing about, and then we had this interesting and yet not so good desert. It was shaved ice with fruit, marshmallows and a red bean sauce on it. Yep, there were a lot of red beans. I had heard it was good, but I didn't like it.