Road Trip 2010… Jeju Fighting Inn & Hallasan

Arthur & I were up early.   It was a fifteen minute walk to the bus station & another thirty minutes by bus to the trail.  While he was getting ready I went downstairs to check out the forecast.  The computers required a password, I guess I’ll ask the clerk.  The window for the front desk is closed so I knock to see if anyone is there.  He’s there alright. Our exchange went like this:

Me: (knock knock knock)
Clerk:  AAAHHHHH!  WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Me: I’m trying to use the computers in the lounge but I can’t find the password.
Clerk:  JEJU HIKING INN! (shuts his window)
Me: (knock knock knock) Sorry but there’s two more things.
Clerk:  WHAT???!!! I DIDN’T GO TO SLEEP UNTIL 4 LAST NIGHT!!!
Me:  The toilet in our room isn’t working, also we wanted to extend our stay by a night.
Clerk: NOROOMS!
Me: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.  I…
Clerk:  ISAIDWEDON’THAVEANYROOMS!!! (shuts his window again)
Me: (as I walk into the computer lounge) Wow, what an asshole.

(The clerk was up and about afterwards and I think he caught my last comment.  He was sheepish  and a great deal more polite when we came back after the hike.) 

Armed with the computer password, I get the forecast Seogwipo is gonna be cloudy but there won’t be any rain.  I shut off the computer and meet Arthur in the lobby.  He goes towards the front desk and I tell him I already checked it out, and there’s no room at the inn, literally. I tell him about the clerk on the way up to the bus, it’s a good laugh I figure good blogfodder.  We’re armed with kimbap rolls and water for the hike and as the bus rolls up the mountain, the clouds break to reveal a gorgeous day.    You’d never know it from down below.  The trail starts at 900m elevation, and the temp is still warm but nothing like what we experienced at sea level in the city.  

I buy some tissues at the gift shop and something catches my eye.  YES! the elusive persimmon hiking hat!  I bought one the last time I went to Jeju and foolishly sent it off to my parents.  Every time me and K visited a souvenir shop on the Korean mainland I had my eye out for another, but in the three years since my last Jeju experience there’s been no sign of that hat.  The persimmon hats are exclusive to Jeju.  I buy the hat and feel a little more complete, a life goal achieved.  It’s kind of satisfaction that you can only know when three years of stubborn perserverance finally pays off.

We’re on the trail and setting a good pace.  The first seven kilometers are pretty easy, the slope is mild and there’s plenty of shade.  The last two kilometers are steeper and can be compared to a very long staircase.

We reach the top around lunch time and get a good view of the crater and the lake as clouds drift by shrouding the lake one second and revealing it the next.   We walk towards the other trail that access halla from the North when we see a Korean man has gone over the fence and into the rim of the crater to get some pictures.  He disappears after a moment and we realize we can follow his lead as nobody is near this part of the peak.  They’re all busy getting their photos taken.  Also the Northern trail is a lot harder to go up and down so it hardly gets the same attention that’s paid to the Western end.

After a couple of moments we’re next the Korean guy hiding below some rocks out of view to all other hikers.  Then it happens.  I spot two Roe deers feeding in the crater!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I had just read about it on the sign and figured, yeah… right. This discovery was the highlight of my trip.  A truly unique experience.  I took lots of shots to back up my claim.

We wait for some cloud cover and jump back over the fence.  It’s the perfect crime,  a wave of juvenile smug washes over me.  Broke a rule, got to see something nobody else did, and got away with it.  Hat trick.

 We decide to go down the northern path, it is  steeper and both of us are getting weary of the effort.  But the effort is worth it.  There are amazing views from this side of the mountain and at the bottom you walk along side a casm in what seems like a rainforest.

Once we’re off the mountain the rest of the day boils down to two things.  Finding a new hotel and eating something.   It took a while to get back to Seogwipo since we were now on the opposite end of the island.  Once we got  back we found a new hotel in a matter of minutes.  For food we had some of Jeju’s black famous black pig.  Good stuff.  Back at the hotel sleep comes quick.