12 October 2024
This, my fourth olle was walked at the end of a particularly tiring week at work. On this occasion, I was very careful not to forget my Olle passport. Stamping it at the start, part-way and end acts as evidence of completing all 27 routes and claiming one's certificate and medal on completion of the 437 kilometres. I do not think that this would work very well with the Munros/Corbetts/Grahams/Wainwrights etc. The stag or whatever at the top would require maintenance with someone being responsible to add ink to the pad. In winter, the ink would freeze. there would be a lot of very soggy "Munro passports" and many a bagger cussing on reaching the top and finding that he or she had left his or her passport back at the car. I suppose there could be an app and people scan the QR code at the summit. Obviously there would only be summit stamps/QR codes as the British hills have many alternative starting and finishing points. I suppose there would never be any doubts about reaching the right cairn in a thick soup of mountain mist, unless it was covered in a rind of ice.
So back to Jeju! The Olle trail is based on the Camino de Santiago, but is split into 27 walks which are generally completed as a series of short walks rather than in one go.
The route begins at Daepyeong harbour, but soon leaves the coast, heading up through an archway of vegetation and later concrete narrow roads that pass numerous tangerine farms. Then later, up through woodland to the open summit of Gunsan Oreum. I did a 12 second delay at the summit, resting my camera on top of a fence post. I asked a couple of Koreans to take my photograph. The first shot a vast area of sky. Admittedly, it was a beautiful sky with wispy clouds but I could have photographed the sky myself! I remember looking at the camera and thinking that the lens was not even close to pointing at me! The second, a much younger man faired much better, but the selfie remains my preferred shot.
I am fairly confident of my identification of the flora and fauna on this page but happy to be corrected.
Flower - Hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of the Republic of Korea and mentioned in the national anthem.
Insects - Polistes rothneyi, a type of paper wasp. I think that the structure they are on is their nest.
Flower - Hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of the Republic of Korea and mentioned in the national anthem.
Insects - Polistes rothneyi, a type of paper wasp. I think that the structure they are on is their nest.
Ginseng Oreum is very rich in natural history. My progress was therefore very slow due to stalking deer with my camera and trying to obtain in focus shots of spiders swinging in the wind.
Butterfly - Argynnis hyperbius, Indian fritillary
Deer - male Capreolus pygargus or Asian roe deer
Flower - Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot. During the Sepoy Uprising , when Indian soldiers ran out of ammunition, they used canna seeds instead of shot, so in the UK , canna is called 'Indian Shot'.
Spider - Trichonephila clavata, also known as the Joro-spider. They can bite, but apparently it is like a bee sting and is usually not life threatening.
Spider - Argiope bruennichi, wasp spider, a species of orb-weaver spider.
Insect - Patanga japonica, a species of grasshopper.
Butterfly - Argynnis hyperbius, Indian fritillary
Deer - male Capreolus pygargus or Asian roe deer
Flower - Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot. During the Sepoy Uprising , when Indian soldiers ran out of ammunition, they used canna seeds instead of shot, so in the UK , canna is called 'Indian Shot'.
Spider - Trichonephila clavata, also known as the Joro-spider. They can bite, but apparently it is like a bee sting and is usually not life threatening.
Spider - Argiope bruennichi, wasp spider, a species of orb-weaver spider.
Insect - Patanga japonica, a species of grasshopper.
On reaching the Andeok valley, I heard some music from below so I left the official route to investigate, with the initial intention being to return to the same point. Here, the valley is more of a gorge and I initially followed a boarded path until it came to an end and I dropped to the river, walking across slabby rocks. I assume that these form the river bed after rain, but it had been dry for a few days and I followed the river downstream until I came across a stage across the river and lots of cables, lights and cameras. Behind one of the cameras was Yejin who gestured towards a man whom she introduced as being her husband, who, she said, is very famous in Korea for his YouTube videos. At the time of writing, I am eagerly awaiting for the release of the video from the Andeok Valley. I have checked out some of the other videos and he has an amazing voice and a tone that is unusual in a man. I know that he is miming in the videos, but I believe it to be his voice. Not only that but he is a fine videographer too!
https://www.youtube.com/@Janinto
https://www.youtube.com/@Janinto
A band were doing a sound check. They sounded very professional, all in perfect time and harmony. But this was just the rehearsal before the performance. I did not want to stick around for two hours, so I headed downstream to rejoin the Olle trail.
I passed another tangerine orchard. It struck me as to how many ended up going mouldy not he ground. I wondered if they were ripe or maybe taste sour. They looked ready to eat to me but I am no expert.
The flower is a cultivated chimera, canna "yellow King Humbert" which produces sterile pollen and seeds but can be cultivated using its large rhizomes.
The route continues to follow the river for a while before joining roads that eventually lead to the Namjeju Power Plant. It has a maximum generation capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) and uses bio fuel oil as its fuel. The plant is responsible for about 20% of Jeju's power generation. It is good to see some modern green energy after the large coal fired power stations of Kazakhstan. There is none of the black smoke that I used to see pouring out of the chimneys on the outskirts of Astana.
The route continues to the Hwasun Golden Sand Beach, where people had erected tents for the night. It was a pleasant spot but there was a large boat with a crane raising a large pointed cylinder before releasing it into the sea. It did not seem to be dredging as it did not load anything onto the vessel. It was more like it was breaking up the bedrock. Jeju is a volcanic island and the igneous rocks are often jagged so maybe they are breaking it up so boats don't catch their hulls on them. I can only guess what they were doing.
The flower is a cultivated chimera, canna "yellow King Humbert" which produces sterile pollen and seeds but can be cultivated using its large rhizomes.
The route continues to follow the river for a while before joining roads that eventually lead to the Namjeju Power Plant. It has a maximum generation capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) and uses bio fuel oil as its fuel. The plant is responsible for about 20% of Jeju's power generation. It is good to see some modern green energy after the large coal fired power stations of Kazakhstan. There is none of the black smoke that I used to see pouring out of the chimneys on the outskirts of Astana.
The route continues to the Hwasun Golden Sand Beach, where people had erected tents for the night. It was a pleasant spot but there was a large boat with a crane raising a large pointed cylinder before releasing it into the sea. It did not seem to be dredging as it did not load anything onto the vessel. It was more like it was breaking up the bedrock. Jeju is a volcanic island and the igneous rocks are often jagged so maybe they are breaking it up so boats don't catch their hulls on them. I can only guess what they were doing.
While I prefer peak bagging in the Scottish Highlands, these trails are healthy exercise and include lots of things of interest. As a keen photographer, I complete them in times well outside the estimated times.
Footnotes:
Refreshment near the end: Jeju tangerine-ade. There was small coffee place next to the power station. There was a canteen opposite the stamping station at the end of the route. A table d'hôte costing 15000 won or about £8.50. There were no knives and forks - only chopsticks, so it took me a while to eat it all!
Refreshment near the end: Jeju tangerine-ade. There was small coffee place next to the power station. There was a canteen opposite the stamping station at the end of the route. A table d'hôte costing 15000 won or about £8.50. There were no knives and forks - only chopsticks, so it took me a while to eat it all!
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