Distance

21.8km

Ascent

1062m

1 April 2025

This was quite a difficult one trip to plan. The routes are on another island about 50km from Jeju. I had won a free ticket, though it was a one-way ticket and I still had to pay 1000 Won. This meant that I was tied in to using the Seaward Express ferry service and its website had limited information in English. I could not book online as I could not use my ticket. The only way was to visit the ticket office which is an hour's taxi ride away. I did not want to book accommodation and then find that the ferry was fully booked. I arrived at the ferry terminal a few hours before departure. There was nobody at the ticket office until about an hour before departure. As it was, the ferry was only half full.

So I tried to sort out accommodation while on the ferry! There is nothing on Booking.com. I assume that the small B&Bs and hostels use Korean sites. I obtained a couple of numbers from Naver Maps and contacted them. The Eco House had no vacancies until later in the week. The Yu-Stay also did not have a bed but they said that they would find something for me somewhere else. The two main islands, Sangchujado and Hachujado are connected by a bridge. I was under the impression that the ferry went to the port on the eastern Hachujado island and that was where I was looking for accommodation. Min from YouStay informed me that he had sorted something out for 50 000 Won per night. That equates to just under £80 for the three nights. I was more than happy with that. Some UK campsites can cost that! 

​Then he sent me the following question:

The islands are very small, so it is no more than 10 kilometres between them. Min was very kind in collecting me from the other port and driving me to the accommodation. He told me the proprietors would drive me back for the return ferry on Thursday morning, which they did. Apparently all the places that offer accommodation will do this. Everyone is so very kind in this part of the world.

Being based at the eastern end, meant either doing the trails in reverse or doing 18-2 before 18-1 and that is exactly what I did. I also had a kilometre or so to walk to the staring stamp, although I could have joined the trail near to my accommodation and left the start of Olle 18-2 to the end, as long as I completed the routes and picked up the stamps. Combined, the two trails form a circular route. Individually, they are A to B. It was not my plan to do both in a day. I knew that I was fit enough, but I like to take my time and I take lots of photographs. In fact, I was even carrying a tripod which I only actually used in the evenings, trying to capture the setting sun.

Looking through the viewfinder of a camera means that you can miss things sometimes and sure enough, I walked straight past the "Ganse" that houses the start stamp for route 2 and the finish stamp for route 1. This included photographing people laying out seaweed to dry. 

When I did manage to locate the stamps, I put both stamps into my Olle passport, in case it was raining on my return. I still touched the blue Ganse on my return, just like touching the car at the top of a hill.

After following the road around the harbour, the route heads uphill. I had a 300mm lens attached to my camera in case there were any birds to photograph and, remember, I was only planning to do the one route or maybe one and a half at the most, before heading back to the guesthouse. I photographed a female Daurian redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) but unfortunately, the more colourful males flew off before I could get a good shot of them, and then a warbling white-eye (Zosterops japonicus).

The Olle trails often have steps up the steep sections up oreums but this went well beyond the usual and I doubt if it has only been constructed for the Olle walkers. The cost would be too great. What lay ahead was more akin to the Great Wall of China!

At the top of Daewangsan (125m), there was a drum to beat, strung up on a pagoda. The sticks were still there - they would quickly disappear in the UK. 

The midway stamp was a short distance ahead, at about the 3.5km mark of a 9.5km route. Then down to a road that I had walked along earlier to reach the start. There was a "lady" indicating the location of some public toilets, still pulling up her skirt. Strangely, she looked a lot younger from the rear! Maybe it is intentionally mother and daughter, depending on where she is viewed from.

Public toilets are plentiful in Korea. They are always spotlessly clean, well stocked with paper and I have not seen a single pens drawn on the walls. The more time I spend working overseas, the more I feel that as a society, we went seriously wrong. Perhaps I am in some kind of expat bubble, but I do not see the problems that we have in the UK. I know that I am referring to a minority, but in the UK, the nutters and delinquents form a much more significant minority, and that is something that I just cannot explain.

The route passes some nice traditionally styled architecture  before rising into a forest and passing just behind the guesthouse where I was staying.

The next section is really nice, but I did not take any photos as any birds were heard but not picked out in the forest. It was all very pleasant but no obvious phot opportunities. The trail climbs up onto a forested ridge and almost meets 18-1, joining a path less than 50m away from where 18-1 rises to from the other side (see the blue and brown lines on the map above. I was thinking that if I headed back along 18-1, this would be a good place to head back down to the guesthouse and then return to the same point to complete the remaining 6-7km the next day. 

The route drops down to the bridge that connects Hachujado to Sangchujado. From here on, the route follows the north-east coast of Sangchujado. My progress was slow as there were a lot of playful fish jumping very close to the shore. They were big fish, each one big enough to feed a family of four. I tried to photograph them jumping, but with the time taken to spot them, aim my camera and for the autofocus to lock on, I generally just got the splash of them re-entering the water. The one I did get is not very sharp, but helps to document my story.

There were also several great crested grebes. I wish that I could have got closer for a better shot.

The route leaves the road and rises up to a tower with communications dishes. Here, I switched my lens as I wasn't expecting to see so much wildlife in the village/town. It then descends down to the port, where I saw a large fish swimming near the surface. The fish was shot at only 23mm which indicates its size and proximity. No idea why I did not zoom in to 40mm!

The blue Ganse is outside one of the Jeju Olle information centre that sells T shirts and other merchandise.

I popped into a nearby cafe. The only food they did was an egg and bacon toasty. I find that the cafes often have a very limited menu and often is a single choice or "prix fixe". It was tasty and raised my energy levels for Olle 18-1. It heads uphill past a sports field and a school before reaching the shrine of General Choi Young, a commander and loyal subject of the late Goryeo era, who is remembered for his contributions to the island and its people. The Goryeo Dynasty, also known as the Koryo Dynasty, ruled the Korean peninsula from 918 to 1392, a period marked by artistic achievements, Buddhist influence, and the unification of the Korean peninsula. 

The route then continues to the top of the hill with the far side falling steeply into the sea, and then turning left along a woodland ridge, before heading back down towards the village. ​

The route passes Ssanglyonsa Temple to the right, remaining relatively high to Bongulleusan Mountain, which, as is often the often the case has a sort of sentry box at the top, housing the guardian of the mountain. I have no idea who these people are or what their role is. Maybe they are there just in case someone has an accident?

At this point, most of the height is lost as the route descends into the village, passing through narrow walkways between ornate buildings. The outside walls of buildings are often decorated in this part of the world, but on Jeju, they are usually painted rather than these mosaic-like tiles.

Rising up some steps, I came across an old woman doing something with some harvested vegetables. I got in a photo in before she say me. When she did see me, I said hello and her face lit up while replying in Korean. Beyond the route came to a sign at the top of some cliffs. So have I interpreted this one correctly? If you go out hiking on a windy day and an aircraft crashes into you, it is all your own fault!

There was a right hand option that looked interesting, but the Olle went left towards Chujado Lighthouse. I saw some kind of colourful tit and switched back to my 300mm lens, but by the time I had changed lens, the little birds had gone. Still, the lens was also good for photographing the fishing boats below and to isolate the Olleribbons from the background. At the bottom of the hill, I switched back to my 20-40mm lens.

Having crossed the bridge to Hachujado, the route followed a pleasant undulating woodland path just above the road. This part would be a little bit quicker along the road, but definitely not as pleasant. The path does later drop down to the road and there is a short section of walking along the road before heading up right, almost joining Olle 18-2, but heads left up to another blue shelter and guardian. I asked him to take my photograph. As with many people, it took several attempts. He pressed to focus but not far enough to open the shutter. For the first one I was sat down and the image has my feet in sharply in focus but not my face. I had handed him the camera in AUTO mode as I thought that is was easiest but I probably should have set it to AV mode and set the aperture to f/8. I am really pleased with the second one, where I am standing.

It is a very pleasant ridge to walk along, with there occasionally being views through the gaps in the trees. I could see that there was a ferry in Sangchuja harbour. As it left the harbouring came nearer, I could see that it was the Santa Monica. It seemed to be heading towards Jeju, but I was under the impression that it only has one sailing per day from Chujado to Jeju. Through further research, I have since found out that the 17:35 sailing is to Jindo. It sets off in an easterly direction, presumably as it is the safest passage to avoid weaving in and out of several small islands and rocks, before turning north.

The ridge leads to a pavilion or "jeongja" and the blue "gansa" that housed the midway stamp. This was really the last stamp that I needed for my certificate as I already had the finish stamp to Olle 18-1. But needless to say, I continued to the end of the route.

The route drops down to a road where there is the "EcoHome" accommodation (fully booked for my visit) and attached cafe. The route heads left. There are some steps heading up the hill, but the route taks a path down to a coastal village, where I was able to pick up a cold Fanta before continuing round the coast, initially along a concrete road and then a footpath. The sun was beginning to set. It may have been getting late but I was in the right place at the right time.

There was still 3-4km to go but I was not worried. I was carrying a headtorch. The path arrives at a religious site. My interpretation of the site was that it was to commemorate those persecuted for their Christian faith during the 19th century.

It was getting too dark for decent photographs and I wanted to push on. I was getting very hungry.

I used a head torch set to red light so that my night vision was less affected. This was great until I saw two evil red eyes staring at me in the dark. If you shine red light into the eyes of a cat, they reflect red light!

When I arrived in the village, after touching the "gansa" I looked for food. The first place looked promising as I saw two people eating inside, but it turned out just to be the husband and wife owners. She crossed her arms to explain that they were closed. Further on, there was a place with a light on and a woman was talking to two men through a window. It was a similar story, she had just finished eating with her family, including the two men, but she agreed to prepare me something. She and her husband were really kind and friendly. The food tasted great. her husband gave me cakes and told me how good they were while out and about. Much of the conversation was through Google Translate. It was washed down with a nice cold Korean Cass beer. The bill was 10 000 Won (just over a fiver!). Having payed by card, I gave them a further 10 000 Won in cash as I was so appreciative of their kindness in serving me food after they were closed. Furthermore, her husband then drove me the kilometre back to my accommodation, so everything combined, it was well worth a tenner!

I had two days on Chuja-do. The plan was to do an Olle trail per day, but I did them both in a day. I had a day to spare. I used the second day to return back along Olle route 18-1 in reverse, as far as the Christian site for some photography and then headed up Chuseoksan Mountain l but the route headed down to the coast. Also I passed a site, that I believe, was commemorating those persecuted for their Christian faith. I then stopped for a fantastic lunch before doing some photography around the port. The helicopter shots included a man on a stretcher, but I did not see him move so maybe they were just doing a drill. One person was doing a video on his phone and they all seemed to be smiling and in a cheerful mood.  See the Gallery below: