18-2 is shown in Orange and 18-2 in green. In day 1, I walked 18-2 and 4.5km of 18-1 staying at the Ecohouse. This left less than 8 km to walk on day 2. I have walked both in a day, but I took things a little more leisurely on this occasion.
Olle routes 18-2 and 18-1: 10-11 April 2026
I was a little undecided about this trip as I really had things to sort out at home. Some times it is best just to think "to hell with it" and go! There are always logistical issues with visiting Chuja-do. The Seaward Express ferry, the Santa Monica does not leave Jeju until late afternoon and usually leaves Chuja-do at 9 in the morning. This means an extra night or two on the Chuja Islands and the resulting extra expense. The Songlim Ferry Company (Songlim Blue Ocean) departs Jeju at 08:00 and returns at 16:40. The journey takes around two hours. Very fit walkers who are willing to set a pace can take the morning ferry, do both Olle routes and return the same day.
For this trip, I took the Songlim Blue Ocean to Sinyang Port on the south-eastern island. On the boat was a young Swiss couple ad a more senior Korean gentleman, who were planning to do both routes before returning on the afternoon ferry. I completed the routes in reverse and later passed them twice. The must have completed the routes with about an hour to spare.
For this trip, I took the Songlim Blue Ocean to Sinyang Port on the south-eastern island. On the boat was a young Swiss couple ad a more senior Korean gentleman, who were planning to do both routes before returning on the afternoon ferry. I completed the routes in reverse and later passed them twice. The must have completed the routes with about an hour to spare.
I plodded on at a snail's pace, but then I was in no hurry, with accommodation booked.
The Ecohouse accommodation had nice rooms but no cooking facilities. I asked about the local restaurants. She told me that they were all either closed or far away. I was carrying some noodles but there was no pan or bowl to mix them with hot water, so I popped down to the convenience store in the village and bought a pot noodle, plus a can of peaches and beer. I had taken a packet of noodles rather than a pot as the pots are very bulky, but any readers who are considering using the same accommodation, be warned, either take a stove or cold food or pot noodles. Unusually for Korea, there was no microwave either. There is a coffee shop there, but having now passed it three times, has never been pen.
The room did have an ocean view, though it would be more enjoyable if they cleaned the windows!
The room did have an ocean view, though it would be more enjoyable if they cleaned the windows!
I slept extremely well and after an instant coffee and cereal bar, I was off at 07:30. It was a very foggy morning. It was nice and cool for the climb up to the top of Dondaesan an I made reasonably quick progress, considering I had so much time. One thing that struck me was the number of cobwebs across the path. Usually others have passed and broken them
Having reached the bottom of Dondaesan, the route follows the road briefly before joining an undulating path that cuts across to the bridges connecting the two main islands. The pedestrian bridge was still closed. The ribbons were followed to a pagoda followed by steep steps, firstly to a viewing platform and then on to the lighthouse. I had heard the lighthouse horn all morning due to the fog.
The route descends, passing the Chuja Cheosa House (Park's Shrine). Apparently, Mr Park was a renowned educator.
Then down to Sangchuja. The port of Sangchuja has walls decorated with mosaics, a change from the more familiar paintings on Jeju.
The route certainly has a lot of ups and downs and soon heads back up to Bonggeullesan Mountain, which is hardly a mountain at 86 metres! It is however a steep climb.
The flower is Calendula officinalis, commonly known as a pot marigold. The first butterfly is a probably a female short-tailed Blue Cupido argiades. The second is a Pale Grass Blue, Pseudozizeeria maha.
Bonggeullesan has the usual sentry box and and a cultivated garden with pathways bordered with rocks and planted daffodils. There was a man adding sealant around the wheel arches of his car. I have no idea why he drove up there to do so. The next stage follows a concrete lane. The picture below is looking uphill at four young walkers that I had passed. Their grimaced faces showed that they found it hard work, at least at the pace that they were going at. I was relaxed and relatively fresh, so looking at their faces made me feel good about myself. I had done all of the significant ascent for the day.
The route passes a temple called Ssanglyonsa. I am always wary of being told off for taking photographs. However, everyone I saw smiled and waved and gave what I took to be a friendly greeting. I could really have done with a tripod for the internal photographs. I rested the camera on the doorstep and angled it upwards. The shutter speeds were 1/50 and 1/60 second, which is a bit slow for a 100mm lens but the camera was rested on something and my camera does have IBIS. I could have raise the ISO from 400 to 800 or opened the aperture higher than f1/5.6! My camera does have IBIS and the images are pretty sharp.
The descent passes a shrine before reaching the port. I pottered about taking photographs. I visited the "Brunch Cafe" which for once was open. The menu was displayed but the lady said "food" and crossed her arms, so I settled for an iced coffee. My personal name for this place is not the "No Brunch Cafe". CU had no sandwiches or rice Sambak-gimbap. I popped into the ferry terminal, not the one that I was meant to be taking a ferry from - that is on the other island, but the one that the Seaward Express Santa Monica operates out of. It should have left at 9am. It was around noon and it had been delayed due to fog. I thought that was not a problem now that we have GPS. There was some suggestion that it might be cancelled altogether but it was then announced in Korean that it was on its way. I was booked on the other ferry but had not paid for a ticket, so I bought a ticket for the Santa Monica.
The ferry departed about three hours before the Songlim Blue Ocean and due to being a modern (launched 2022) wave-piercing catamaran, takes half the time as the more traditional Songlim Blue Ocean. When I was in the taxi and almost home, Songlim called me. I think they were telling me that the ferry was soon "setting sail". I explained that I had taken the Santa Monica and they did not seem to mind.
I actually enjoyed hiking in the fog and it resulted in different photos to my previous visits. The fog was very much my good fortune as the delays in the ferries worked totally to my advantage!
The Songlim Blue Ocean goes from Jeju to the south eastern of the main Chuja Islands and on to Wando. The Sant Monica goes from Jeju to the north eastern of the main Chuja islands and onward to Jindo. Perhaps, next time, I will visit Jindo and then take the ferry to Sangchuja for two nights (with a camp on Dondaesan for the first night and a guesthouse in Sangchuja for the second), before returning to Jeju. Travel always leads to new ideas for further travel!
I actually enjoyed hiking in the fog and it resulted in different photos to my previous visits. The fog was very much my good fortune as the delays in the ferries worked totally to my advantage!
The Songlim Blue Ocean goes from Jeju to the south eastern of the main Chuja Islands and on to Wando. The Sant Monica goes from Jeju to the north eastern of the main Chuja islands and onward to Jindo. Perhaps, next time, I will visit Jindo and then take the ferry to Sangchuja for two nights (with a camp on Dondaesan for the first night and a guesthouse in Sangchuja for the second), before returning to Jeju. Travel always leads to new ideas for further travel!