Our arrival at Jeju Island is scheduled for noon. We have to pick up
the rental car at the same airport and go directly to the first visit
which, depending on what time we start driving, could be the popular
Manjanggul Lava Tube or directly to the Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone
restaurant, specializing in abalone.
We have the hotel very close to the Ilchulbong crater to ensure we can
climb to the top either in the afternoon of this day or, as it is
recommended, at sunrise.
The taxi that we booked yesterday for 8 AM at the hotel
leaves us at Gimpo airport an hour later, with plenty of time for
checking-in and boarding. The flight is only one hour and we arrive at
Jeju around 12:30 PM
We follow the directions we have to find the Jeju One car
shuttle bus and, once driving, we leave in the direction of the
Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone restaurant. Driving in Korea is somewhat
different as all roads are permanently monitored by radar and speed
limits are low. Most of the time it goes at 30 or 50 km/h and the rest
is limited to 70 km/h. This makes driving slow and trips of about 20 km
can take up to 40 minutes.
As pointed above, it took us about 2 hours to get to the restaurant.
The speed limits are even more intense in the city which makes it take
a long time to get out of it. The restaurant is in a beautiful setting
by the coast.
As planned, at the restaurant we order three of the four
options on their menu: the Abalone porridge, the hot pot and the
grilled abalones. We pay 57000 won in total.
From there we go directly to the Manjanggul lava
tunnel, which closes at 5 PM and we get tickets at 4:58 PM for 4000 won
each.
It is cool in the cave and we marvel at the formations that
the lava has carved in the stone acting like a tunnel boring machine.
Once the visit is over, we drive to the hotel at the foot of
Seongsan Ilchulbong, where we arrive nearly at dusk, so today we will
not be able to climb the popular crater.
We walk around the area and do some shopping at a
supermarket before picking ourselves up until tomorrow. Or so we
thought until we had to take an ambulance to the hospital to treat Eva
for a severe digestive disorder. We are there for three hours until we
return to the hotel with the medications she will need for the three
days it will last. We have to pay in the hospital 439,000 won, about
300 euros, which we will claim to the travel insurance.
As pointed above, it took us about 2 hours to get to the restaurant.
The speed limits are even more intense in the city which makes it take
a long time to get out of it. The restaurant is in a beautiful setting
by the coast.
