KOREA 2014: DAY 5 ~ JEJU: Hallasan Mountain
21 OCT 2014
We started off the day early with yet another nutritious breakfast before we were all geared up to climb the mountain. Equipped with a backpack full of a litre of water each, raincoat and energy bars...we were lacking : a slightly bigger bag and lunch consisting of perhaps a cup noodle.
We took a bus to the entrance of the Yeongsil Trail; as far up as the bus could drop us anyway, before walking towards the actual entrance of the trail. The bus trip is close to 45minutes and after dropping, it's almost another 45minutes uphill walk to the trail entrance. A lot of people choose to take a taxi up or most groups simply drive to the entrance. The pre-entrance walk was already rather tedious as we carried a load on our back and trudged uphill in the rain.
We were rather soaked by the time we reached the entrance and the restaurant we sought refuge in for a while weren't exactly very pleased. Once we were equipped with our raincoat and ready to battle the rain and face the mountain, we set foot up. One word; tedious. It really wasn't an easy route and to reach the Witse Oreum Shelter, I think we took close to about 3 hours. That is the rest point so make sure you look out for the words 윗세오름 대피소 or else you will be taking a longer trail that goes to the peak.
The rain did not help at all as we had to handle the slippery rocks, cold strong wind and not enjoying the hike one bit due to the lack of scenery; it was simply too foggy. The Yeongsil trail starts off with an easier stepped route consisting of rocks before breaking into steeper steps, tapering on flat paths and eventually ending with hundreds of wooden staircases. The map along the route gives you a good idea of what to expect in terms of road difficulty and distance. We started off with an advice from KH's bro which was "turning back is always an option" and unfortunately...we did not heed it, being too stubborn to not complete the trail. We stopped at one of the viewing points to have an energy bar and we had a few sitting breaks as well. It seemed that there was a couple of school trips as well as a lot of teenage boys passed us with a majority of them greeting us with a bow and "annyeonghaseyo" with a few of them even giving me an encouraging "you can do it" haha...polite kids at least.
Finally reaching the shelter, there was nothing except a stall selling food which they mentioned that the cup noodle; ramyeon was a must so we did =) It was supposed to be the feeling of eating something warm after the cold hike. Yes, did I mention? It was freezing cold so come prepared! Unfortunately, you have to carry your rubbish down to the bottom so do bring a bag big enough to store it or end up carrying the plastic bag down like me which hindered my movements and caused in convenience =S Also, the toilet is...just nature. There is a toilet only at the shelter and nowhere else. And it consists of a hole in the floor basically. Yup.
After recuperating and packing up, we headed to the Eorimok trail downwards. This trail is far easier than the Yeongsil trail so for people who have never hiked, I might recommend using this trail up and down. It also boosts to be the most scenic so definitely not a bad choice. The weather cleared up a lot on our way down so we could manage a few photos while walking down the relatively flat ground.
(please ignore my unglam state and note I had a broken shoe)
Yes I lost a shoe thanks to Hallasan =( My Puma Ferrari shoe had it's sole separated on our way up and me and HM sacrificed our hairtie to keep it in tact...thanks to sweet friends for helping me make it down.
Anyway once we reached the foot, I made a quick toilet break before we hurried off to find out bus as the frequency was once every 40minutes or so and the next bus was due in about 10minutes.
Tip to finding the bus stop: Exiting the trail, take a left and walk downhill until you reach a split of which you take a left to face a carpark. Do not cross the road, the bus stop will be on your left as you reach the bottom of the small slop. The walk is NOT short so give yourself about 15-20minutes. I was half jogging down the trail to catch the bus.
Obviously, I fell asleep on the bus trip back and soon we were back in the comforts of "home" as we washed up and go ready for dinner.
Due to exhaustion, we decided to have dinner at a nearby place and we truly found gold in this rather popular restaurant visited by celebrities as we observed their walls.
I ordered the abalone hot stone rice and it was amazing. HM ordered the same and KH ordered the spicy seafood soup again; seems to be her preference. The old lady there was adorable and she taught us the proper way of eating our hot stone rice; helping me to stir my ingredients in nicely.
It was extremely delicious, the taste was leaning more towards the peppery sauce but nowhere near the usual sweet hot sauce in meat bibimbaps. The abalone is mixed into the rice but you are still able to find the treasures and the succulent taste of fresh seafood is not lost.
The old lady also saw KH struggling with her crayfish so she helped her peel it and even hand-fed me some of the meat. So sweet =)
With aching bodies, we decided to call it a night and get up early for another full day of activities with our taxi guide.
I will end off with a summation of advise to those beginners wanting to hike up mount Hallasan: bring a raincoat, travel light, bring a hiking stick if you have (all the old people there had it), wear proper shoes, bring some snacks and loads of water, bring food to consume at the shelter (old experience people brought a kimchi feast up) and really just be physically and mentally prepared for a tough route and yes, the advice of "turning back is an option" should not be taken lightly =)
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any queries, I'd be happy to help, Contactable on twitter @phoebefeehily or leave a message on the tagboard ->
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