Olle 17 - 16 (From Iho to Aewol)

25 km 596m

9-10 May 2026

I like the idea behind this walk linking Iho to Aewol. The distance over 2 days is very comfortable, even when starting the route with a 13.5kg pack. This was heavier than my other recent walks, where I had kept the mass below 10kg. I was a bit surprised by the weight, as the extra weight was down to the inclusion of cooking gear in the form of a lightweight canister-top stove, MSR kettle and titanium mug. I was carrying a dslr and small tripod too. I started out with 2 litres of water and a small sachet of red wine. I had meant to weigh my pack on returning home, but forgot.

It was not my intention to photograph planes. I carried a 100mm macro lens with my photography intentions being insects. The lease is slow focusing but surprisingly versatile.

I kept the pace rather leisurely, but I did not take my pack off to rest until arriving at the stamping station where Olle trails 17 and 16 meet. 

At the end [or beginning?] of Olle 17, I stopped for 2 grapefruitades and a cheesecake. For anyone doing their homework on these trails, the toilet block is locked and the keys are hung up inside the cafe.

I passed a colleague early into Olle 16 before then passing this Buddhist monastery called Hyanglimsa.

The route follows small roads between the cultivated fields of onion and barley. Earlier, I had been able to see land to the north. The Korean Peninsula has many islands so I could not say that it was the mainland with absolute confidence, but we are certainly talking about seeing land that was about 80km or 50 miles away! During this section I could clearly see the Chuja Islands at 45km away. I have had 3 great trips to the Chuja Islands so it is aways wonderful to see them.

Despite reading reports to the contrary, my chosen camping spot does have flat ground to pitch a tent, but I still opted for the pagoda, though I did hesitate as it was covered in slightly sticky greenish-yellow pollen. There are a few better pitches down the hill, but they lack the views. I was planning to watch the sun set, but the outlook was slightly too north-west, with a ridge of trees blocking a clear view of the sun. I am still pleased with these photographs though.

 I was carrying a small tripod, that I used for some pixel-shift photos and night-time shots. This was night #11 in my NEMO Kunai 2P.

I left the tent door open while photographing it. The light inside attracted this moth. I am still trying to identify it. The suggestions from Google lens first suggested an African species and then three species that do not seem to match the appearance of this moth. I carefully removed it before zipping up the door of the inner tent. I left the rainfly door open and opened up the solid panel of the inner tent, so that I could see through the mosquito netting and allow good ventilation.

Before heading off in the morning sun at 0730, I walked in the wrong direction to take a photograph of Hallasan. The schematic diagram of Olle 16 was something that I do not remember seeing before. That is the sort of thing that happens when doing routes in reverse.

This is my favourite photograph of the trip with Busan Airlines flying to the moon!

The route passes another temple (Suunkyo?) before passing a large cafe that was closed. There is a small toilet block nearby, where piano music plays when you open the door. It had timed out before I left.

Then up Susanbong. I seemed to make light work of this. There are not too many steps and the path, for the most part makes a rising contour through the trees, very quickly arriving at the large white "football" at the top.

Descending the oreum, the route follows streets to the coast and what is now a familiar coffee shop.

In the harbour, there were divers collecting large debris from the its bottom, including metal plates and tyres. Moving along the coast there are the familiar basalt hexagonal columns, sometimes straight and sometimes contorted.

Clouded Magpie (Abraxas sylvata)

The remainder of the route sticks to the coast and near the end passes a Mangoholic, a Philippines dessert cafe. I had previously camped near to here but it was closed, so I called in this time. Three women and two children arrived. They looked filipino. They did not seem to be impressed and walked back out. Perhaps they wanted something specific? I chose mango with apple and mango juice.

It is then a short walk down hill to the Olle gansa and Olle centre, which was closed. I stamped my passport and ordered a taxi home.