Above: Mending the fishing nets at Ongpo-pogu.
7 November 2024
This was day one of the Jeju Olle Walking Festival. I had previously done Olle 14-1 which starts from the same place. I had not previously registered. When I went to register, I was asked if I wanted a souvenir bag. I replied "Not really", to which she said "walking is free". So it should be too! It was nice to walk around the field for a bit, look at people dressed up in costumes and the introduction of people linked to sister Olle organisations in places such as Mongolia and Japan.
There was no mass start. People just set off when ready to do so. I paced it out a bit and took fewer photographs than usual.
Photographs from top left to bottom right.
Light bulb - I have had a thing bout photographing light bulbs fro some time. The route passed the entrance of a cafe marked by a string of light bulbs.
Cabbages - The route passes farms, including fields of cabbages. The fields are small in size compared to the UK and look to be part of smallholdings.
Coastal walkway - Eventually the route reaches the coast and the halfway pony. Here it connects with boardwalks the pass through a cactus garden. There were people clearing the weeds. I believe that the cacti are not native to Jeju, but their presence seems to be valued.
Olle pony: This tells visitors about the Asian beach blackbean. "The pod is 4-5cm in length and is poisonous and not edible. The women divers who had to work hard used to eat it to avoid unwanted pregnancy, and some of them died. Rabbit Island near Jeju was believed to be its only habitat in Korea, but Jeju Olle team first found it here. It is interesting to note that South Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world with 0.72 children per woman.
Vespa Primavera - I do not have a car on Jeju and this stuck me as an ideal means of transport on Jeju, at least on a fine day like today!
One of the many statues of a Jeju Haenyeo - Presumably this one has not been eating the Asian beach blackbean.
Jeju black pork- I arrived at the end feeling vey hungry and thirsty. First I was invited to play a game that involved throwing a magnetic dart at a rotating board. I was given two darts. The narrower the segment, the better the prize. The largest was just a pen, but I used my skill to hit one of the smaller segments (or was it just good luck?). My prize was a ferry ticket from Jeju City to the Chuja Islands (Chuja-do), situated north-west of Jeju between Jeju and the Korean mainland. I would have Preferred a Vespa but this was still a great prize as there are two Olle trails there, so I need to visit the islands to complete all 27 routes and receive my certificate. The man behind me in the queue was not pleased about the foreigner winning such a prize and snatched my second dart off me! I wished him good luck but did not stick around to see if he won a pen. Now that the Brit had shown the locals how to play darts, I searched for some lunch and what better than some Jeju black pork! The meat is not black, just the small pigs that it is butchered from.
Finally, "Yours truly" on the Jeju Olle Pony, taken by one of the volunteers at the festival.
There was no mass start. People just set off when ready to do so. I paced it out a bit and took fewer photographs than usual.
Photographs from top left to bottom right.
Light bulb - I have had a thing bout photographing light bulbs fro some time. The route passed the entrance of a cafe marked by a string of light bulbs.
Cabbages - The route passes farms, including fields of cabbages. The fields are small in size compared to the UK and look to be part of smallholdings.
Coastal walkway - Eventually the route reaches the coast and the halfway pony. Here it connects with boardwalks the pass through a cactus garden. There were people clearing the weeds. I believe that the cacti are not native to Jeju, but their presence seems to be valued.
Olle pony: This tells visitors about the Asian beach blackbean. "The pod is 4-5cm in length and is poisonous and not edible. The women divers who had to work hard used to eat it to avoid unwanted pregnancy, and some of them died. Rabbit Island near Jeju was believed to be its only habitat in Korea, but Jeju Olle team first found it here. It is interesting to note that South Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world with 0.72 children per woman.
Vespa Primavera - I do not have a car on Jeju and this stuck me as an ideal means of transport on Jeju, at least on a fine day like today!
One of the many statues of a Jeju Haenyeo - Presumably this one has not been eating the Asian beach blackbean.
Jeju black pork- I arrived at the end feeling vey hungry and thirsty. First I was invited to play a game that involved throwing a magnetic dart at a rotating board. I was given two darts. The narrower the segment, the better the prize. The largest was just a pen, but I used my skill to hit one of the smaller segments (or was it just good luck?). My prize was a ferry ticket from Jeju City to the Chuja Islands (Chuja-do), situated north-west of Jeju between Jeju and the Korean mainland. I would have Preferred a Vespa but this was still a great prize as there are two Olle trails there, so I need to visit the islands to complete all 27 routes and receive my certificate. The man behind me in the queue was not pleased about the foreigner winning such a prize and snatched my second dart off me! I wished him good luck but did not stick around to see if he won a pen. Now that the Brit had shown the locals how to play darts, I searched for some lunch and what better than some Jeju black pork! The meat is not black, just the small pigs that it is butchered from.
Finally, "Yours truly" on the Jeju Olle Pony, taken by one of the volunteers at the festival.
24 November 2024 - in reverse
This was one of the Olle walks arranged through work. Otherwise, I would not have done it 17 days after my first time. I had suggested doing a different route but the compromise was to do it in reverse.
