Olle 3
Total Distance 20.9Km
Total Time 6-7h
30 November 2024 - Olle 3B
This is one of the longest Olles. It is also about a 75 minute taxi ride to the start, costing about £30 each way. Sooner or later, I am going to have to travel further from home if I am to complete all 27 routes and 437 kilometres. There are two variants, 3A and 3B. I did the longer 3A route. The problem with there being two routes both with the blue and orange ribbons as markers was the risk of taking the wrong route. My GPS was in Scotland and I did not want to drain the battery on my phone as I needed to take a taxi back. I was carrying a power bank, but I turned my phone off.
Near the start of the walk, I was distracted by several ladies. That is the haenyeo, female divers who dive to collect seafood from the bottom of the ocean. I had seen monuments and statues that act as a tribute to them, but this was my first time I saw the real thing. They do not carry oxygen cylinders and hold their breath as they dive. This obviously limits them to relatively shallow waters, though they still can go up to 20 metres below the surface! I don't think these were going down that far as they were not below the water for very long. I wish that I was carrying something more telephoto, but was limited to 40mm so there has been a fair amount of cropping.
I had originally thought that the floats were a bouyancy aid, in case they got into difficulty , but watching them I realised that there is a net suspended from it in which they place their catch.
Near the start of the walk, I was distracted by several ladies. That is the haenyeo, female divers who dive to collect seafood from the bottom of the ocean. I had seen monuments and statues that act as a tribute to them, but this was my first time I saw the real thing. They do not carry oxygen cylinders and hold their breath as they dive. This obviously limits them to relatively shallow waters, though they still can go up to 20 metres below the surface! I don't think these were going down that far as they were not below the water for very long. I wish that I was carrying something more telephoto, but was limited to 40mm so there has been a fair amount of cropping.
I had originally thought that the floats were a bouyancy aid, in case they got into difficulty , but watching them I realised that there is a net suspended from it in which they place their catch.
As I feared, I ended up following the ribbons for the 3B route, so I got my phone out and found an identified the connecting country lanes to the 3A route. This probably added on 15-20 minutes to the walk. I prefer the olles that venture inland and I am glad that I did not stick to the 3B route. It also meant that I came across a wonderful cafe. It was not totally obvious to me that it was a cafe. It did not say cafe in English. I entered tentatively, not sure if I was entering someone's private home. The open pork sandwich was made with fresh ingredients and was as delightful as anything I have ever tasted. The Jeju green tangerine ade was just as good too! I was not very far into the walk, but I was not carrying any food and did not know when I might pass another place to eat. As a bonus, at least for me as a keen photographer, was a display of old cameras. There was an open magazine which showed a photograph of a photographer. Maybe he was well known locally or perhaps a family relative. I really should have asked.
I am not used to hiking on a full stomach, as I usually only eat light snacks while walking. I did feel it a bit as I set off uphill up an oreum (volcanic parasitic cone). There are, in fact two small peaks - Tong Oreum and Dokja-bong. A couple arrived at the top shortly after me. We exchanged greetings in different languages. The man very kindly gave me a baked egg. I assume that it was baked as they tend to bake eggs here rather than boil them. I wondered if the man was offended by me placing it inside my pack, but I really was not hungry after such a fine lunch. I took a little detour to the top of a second oreum where there was a man sat outside of a hut. I am not sure if he was guarding something or acting as a lookout. This is not the first time I have found a hut with a man. He clearly did not speak English. We exchanged greetings (in different languages) and smiles (the same in every language).
The route drops down steps to concrete roads that head back towards the coast, where it rejoins route 3B.
The route drops down steps to concrete roads that head back towards the coast, where it rejoins route 3B.
Photos:
Possibly Jacobaea vulgaris?
Parthenocissus tricuspidata
How kind to give me an egg!
Three bars inserted into the gateposts means that the occupants will be away for several days or more. One means just popped out, two means will be back later that day. None means that they are home.
Old windows often make good photographs, though I do not really understand why.
Camellia japonica - despite its name it is native to China, not Japan.
Possibly Jacobaea vulgaris?
Parthenocissus tricuspidata
How kind to give me an egg!
Three bars inserted into the gateposts means that the occupants will be away for several days or more. One means just popped out, two means will be back later that day. None means that they are home.
Old windows often make good photographs, though I do not really understand why.
Camellia japonica - despite its name it is native to China, not Japan.
Towards the end, there is a pleasant section along the coastline. Generally, some sort of road follows the coast, but here is short grass with people picnicking and walking their dogs. There were also a group doing pilates or similar on foam mattresses.
With the extra travelling time, the fine lunch, stopping to take photographs and the length of the walk, the sun was very low in the sky at this point and it was fairly dark by the time I reached the end, it was dark making it difficult to follow the blue and orange ribbons. I began to think that maybe I would not find the pony with the finish stamp. I told myself that I could stamp my Olle passport at the start of Olle 4 as where one Olle ends, another begins. As it was, I found the stamping station and got my passport stamped.
Point of note: Olle 3 is twinned with Dursley villages~Stinchcombe Hill section of the Cotswold Way, something I did about 40 years ago!
7 April 2025 - Olle 3B
I had completed the trails the previous week with 18-1 being the last one. However, two Olle trails have A and B routes, Olle trails 3 and 15. I had done 3A and 15B. I did 15A the previous day and that left just 3B. Onpyeongpogu seems to be an area where there are many Haenyeo, the women divers that are associated with Jeju. I had left home early and it was wet over an hour to the start of the route. I am glad that I was so late! Had I arrived earlier, I would have missed the Haenyeo coming to shore with their catches. They really struggled to get back out of the water onto land. Most removed their flippers but one did not. Like seals, they seem so much more comfortable in the water. I photographed one of them struggling to haul her net out of the water and I rushed over to help her.
I am not sure if my presence with my camera was welcomed by all, though nobody showed any hostility. A friend asked me how I handle taking people's "portraits" and sharing them on social media. This raises an important question for any street or travel photographer. I certainly avoid taking photographs of children. I must point out that I think that these women are amazing and I am promoting a tradition that is possibly at risk of disappearing. Furthermore, I have never had any haenyeo gesture that they are not happy to have their photographs taken. If I was to ever sense unease, I would stop. The only situation where I had an issue over taking a photograph was in India. A man ran over to me asking for money because I had photographed his horse and cart (without him on it). The horse didn't seem to mind!
I was once photographing my own son in a public place in Scotland and a lady said "Do you mind me asking what you intend doing with those photographs?" I think that, at that point, the west has gone too far. It was really none of her business regardless on any possible good intentions. Also, public response is different to a man with a DSLR and big lens, than towards a woman with her mobile phone. A photograph is a photograph, and the same ethical issues apply. I think it probable that if it had been my wife photographing our son, the lady would never have said anything. Some might even go so far as suggesting the lady's inferences were offensive and inappropriate.
Hopefully, photographing mature women as part of documenting both my walk and life on Jeju, raises no objections.
Needless to say, if asked to remove photographs, I would do so at the first opportunity.
I am not sure if my presence with my camera was welcomed by all, though nobody showed any hostility. A friend asked me how I handle taking people's "portraits" and sharing them on social media. This raises an important question for any street or travel photographer. I certainly avoid taking photographs of children. I must point out that I think that these women are amazing and I am promoting a tradition that is possibly at risk of disappearing. Furthermore, I have never had any haenyeo gesture that they are not happy to have their photographs taken. If I was to ever sense unease, I would stop. The only situation where I had an issue over taking a photograph was in India. A man ran over to me asking for money because I had photographed his horse and cart (without him on it). The horse didn't seem to mind!
I was once photographing my own son in a public place in Scotland and a lady said "Do you mind me asking what you intend doing with those photographs?" I think that, at that point, the west has gone too far. It was really none of her business regardless on any possible good intentions. Also, public response is different to a man with a DSLR and big lens, than towards a woman with her mobile phone. A photograph is a photograph, and the same ethical issues apply. I think it probable that if it had been my wife photographing our son, the lady would never have said anything. Some might even go so far as suggesting the lady's inferences were offensive and inappropriate.
Hopefully, photographing mature women as part of documenting both my walk and life on Jeju, raises no objections.
Needless to say, if asked to remove photographs, I would do so at the first opportunity.
Now this is something you are not likely to in the UK! Women (or men for that matter) driving trucks, scooters and quad bikes, while wearing a diving suit. It has struck me that they never seem to completely remove their diving masks but wear them on their foreheads, maybe to avoid scratching or losing them. They always appear like this in the many sculptures of haenyeo around the coastal areas of Jeju.
I really wanted to capture the speed when panning. This is something that I am still experimenting with. Clearly, at slower shutter speeds, there is more motion blur of the background due to the movement of the camera, but the subject is less likely to come out sharp. A quick Google search suggests shutter speeds in the range of 1/30 to 1/80 second, depending on the speed of the subject. The above photos were all shot at 1/125 second, which is really too fast, but at least the subjects came out reasonably sharp.
Further along the road, there was a lady hanging out squid to dry. This has been a common sight throughout my Olle adventures. The route moved inland and I saw some people harvesting a crop. I have no idea what t is that they are harvesting. The fields on Jeju are small and harvesting seems to involve many hands. I seee tractors but not the usual harvesting machinery that you may see in the UK. There are large greenhouses for growing mainly tangerines and I do see more intensive aquaculture systems.
Scenically, the best was yet to come, with pleasant walking along a grassy coastline at Sinpung Sincheon Bada Mokjang and then the expanse of sand at Pyoseon Beach.
I arrived at the finish ganse at around 4:30 pm with every stamp in my Olle passport. It was a bit late to go to the Olle centre for my certificate, so I visited a nearby cafe for hallabong aide. The sweet and sour hallabong is a type of satsuma, similar to standard oranges in appearance but with a raised area at the top that is said to resemble Hallasan, the highest mountain both on Jeju and within South Korea as a whole. In Japan, they are called dekopon. The fruit has a high sugar content, a soft texture and is very juicy, making it ideal for making drinks.
