Jeju Island: Jeongbang Waterfall and Sojeongbang Waterfall

Our last stop today was two waterfalls, the Jeongbang and the Sojeongbang.  When we made our way to Jeongbang, we weren’t expecting to see two waterfalls.  We also didn’t know what type of hike it was to the waterfall or what to expect.  We paid the entrance fee and immediately heard the falls and knew we were close.  The road to Jeongbang was a short flight of stairs.

Jeongbang is a 75 foot high waterfall and is the only waterfall in Asia to fall directly into the ocean.  Legend has it that a dragon’s spirit is contained in the water and that it can cure diseases and bring rain during a drought.  

The rocks around the falls are all huge boulders just haphazardly everywhere.  We carefully made our way across the rocks to get closer to the falls.  

It was beautiful, loud and spraying so much mist.  Kevin was wearing our Monster, so he stayed by the stairs for fear of slipping and falling and hurting Monster.  While he was waiting there he saw two of the Family Medicine doctors that he works with. He enjoyed chatting with them while M&M, Little A and I walked around and got pictures of the Falls.

We walked up the stairs and on our way out we saw a small trail by the car that was labeled Ollie Trail.  We didn’t know where it went, but I remembered from a blog that I read a few days ago, that there was another waterfall only 300 m from Jeongbang.  We decided to take this trail to see if it lead to our mysterious waterfall.  It was a nice wide wood panel path that followed the ocean. 

We came to a grey building called the Shell House.  The path continued behind the house.  Kevin wanted to turn around, I was indifferent, and the three girls were out for an adventure.  They wanted to keep going to see where the trail led and if it lead to a waterfall.  There wasn’t a single sign anywhere about a waterfall, so I had my doubts.  Big Sis was convinced that she heard a waterfall, so we all continued forward.  The wood path turned to cute cement and rock stairs. 

We followed the stairs and sure enough we all started to hear the roar of a waterfall.  We came around a bend and could see that we were at the top of the falls, stairs to the right lead all the way down to the base.  M&M and Big Sis were smiling ear to ear with an “I told you so” look. 

The waterfall was a super wide one.  It wasn’t very high, maybe 15 feet high, but it was so pretty.  The water came down and was like a two-tiered waterfall super close to the ocean.  We only encountered a handful of people on this trail and at the waterfall, so it was a real treat to almost have it all to ourselves.  We sure had all the luck today and beat all the crowds.  It was a great day.

Jeju Island: Manjanggul Cave Near-miss and Jeju Rail Bikes

Last night while planning our day, we originally planned to go to the Manjanggul Cave and scrap the Jeju Rail Bikes.  We were looking at all the reviews for the Rail Bikes, and they kept saying it wasn’t a good view and it was a waste of money.  The Rail Bikes are extremely expensive.  So, in the end we decided to scrap it, and told the kids this morning. 

We arrived at the Manjanggul caves and sat in the parking lot for a few minutes.  While sitting there we noticed one comment element- all visitors were putting on jackets, sweaters, coats and had pants on.  This immediately made us extremely nervous as we were all in shorts and a t-shirt.  I looked online and found that the temperature on the caves are about 10 degree Celsius.  We came to Jeju without any plans, so we weren’t prepared for a freezing cave.  We have also been in a few caves, and always leave feeling like it wasn’t ever amazing.  Caves are cool for the first 5 minutes, but then after that the cave just gets cold and wet and the same thing over and over again.  Asian caves are also always a  one way cave, you enter and have to go the entire route before you can exit, with little kids, it’s hard to go down a one-way street without an exit.

It took only a few minutes for Kevin and I to put the pieces together and decided to skip the cave and take a gamble on the rail bikes instead.  

We arrived at the Rail bikes at the perfect time because the bikes were ready to go and we wouldn’t have to wait.  We swallowed the exorbitant amount due to ride and had the three girls in the first bike and Kevin and I and Monster in the second bike.  

These Rail Bikes are different then any we have taken before, as they were fully automatic.  We didn’t have to peddle at all.  This works out perfect since we had kids on our bikes. The bikes were also more like little buggies then the rail bikes we have been on.  It was a bit of a windy day, so it was super chilly.  But we had a great time.

It seemed like the Rail Bikes were built on a farmers land, surrounded by cattle and horses.  The scenery was beautiful with rolling hills, ponds and wildflowers.  It took about 40 minutes to get all the way around the rail.  Our bike was extremely fast, we kept having to put the break on so we wouldn’t ram into the girls bike.  There was this rather large hill and our bike went so fast, that Monster, Kevin and I were yelling, whooping and hollering down the entire thing and our bike was booking it.  

We made it to the end and all the kids jumped off.  As we exited the rails, we noticed a small animal petting farm and the kids ran in. I love Korea randomness!  The kids enjoyed seeing bunnies, sheep, horses and more. 

We left the petting farm and found set up photo ops all around the rail park.  We took some time and took a bunch of pictures before we went on our way.  

I am so glad that we didn’t listen to the reviews and that we skipped the cave for the Rail Bikes. Eventhough it was expensive, it was worth it.  All the kids had a blast riding the bikes, seeing the animals and taking pictures. We got in the car and left with all smiles. 

Jeju Island: Gimnyeong Maze Park

We found this little gem, the Gimnyeong Maze Park across from the Manjanggul Caves.  The first thing you see when you get to the Maze Park is a huge playground, Monster and Little A couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.  They were squealing and yelling about the playground before we even parked the car. We bought our tickets to the maze and were given our maps.  We were explained that there is a bell at the end of the maze, and that is the end goal. We decided that we would divide into two teams and see who could get to the bell before the other team.  Big Sis and M&M were on one team, and Kevin, me and the two Littles were on the other team.  

Big Sis and M&M ran off ahead while we got distracted before the maze even began.  Kevin and I thought we were already in the maze, but it was just the outside of the maze.  Once we finally found the hedge entrance, Monster and Little A took off running through the hedges.  The hedges must have been at least 10 feet tall.  Kevin and I had to run to keep up with the two Littles, they were just running and laughing and having the best time.  Little A’s laugh was so contagious that I found myself laughing aloud. 

We went over a bridge, came to a few dead ends, and as we were hopelessly lost, we saw and heard Big Sis and M&M ring the bell and yell “We won!”.  With the overhead view of M&M, we were guided to the stairs to the bell.  Little A rang the bell with Kevin and Monster and they all celebrated their victory over the maze.

We made it down the stairs and Monster and Little A ran straight to the playground.  There were see-saws, playground equipment, slides and a fishing bowl game. They ran from toy to toy.

While the Littles were playing on the playground, M&M, Big Sis and I noticed that on the map of the maze, there was a few big red flags.  Upon further reading, we learned that inside the maze there are stamps to stamp on your map, we decided to go back in the maze in search of the stamps. Since we were using the map to get to the stamps, it only took a little over 10 minutes for M&M, Big Sis and I to get through the maze and get all the stamps.  

It wouldn’t be a true Korea experience without Korea randomness!  After exiting the maze, you are greeted with selfie spots all over the entire front of the yard.  The best part was that each photo opportunity had a selfie stick already in place ready to put a phone in and press the red button.  It was so funny seeing all the photo spots and these yellow sticks permanently in place.  Korea and their selfies, Oh Korea…

We loved the maze and everything the entire property had to offer.  The grounds were adorable, and the maze was pleasantly well maintained and difficult.  It was fun for kids and even fun for adults.  Everyone walked away saying they had an amazing time. 

Jeju Island: Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak

We woke up at 5:30 this morning with the goal to get out the door by 7AM.  We wanted to get to Seongsan Ilchulbong after the sunrise rush and before the tour buses.  We figured out the night before that it takes about 1 hour 20 min to get there from our Villa, so early morning start it was.  Kids were ready, breakfast eaten, car packed for every Jeju adventure imaginable, and we were out of the driveway by 7:10.  

The kids kept themselves occupied with movies from the Ipad while we made the hour plus drive down beautiful highways.  The island is so gorgeous.  I kept commenting to Kevin how I actually think Jeju is more beautiful then Hawaii. It is just so clean and well kept. There are flowers everywhere and the palm trees line the highways.  Jeju has a few mountains, so Hawaii has it beat on the Mountain scenery, but as far as round about beauty, Jeju takes first in my opinion.  

We arrived at Seongsan Ilchulbong right about 8:30 in the morning.  Seongsan Ilchulbong is also known as Sunrise Peak and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We also learned that is a 7 Natural Wonder of the World too.  The sunrises from the peak are said to be the most gorgeous sunrises to experience. Since the sun rose at 5:28 this morning, there was no possible way with kids to get up, ready, make the hour plus drive and make it up the mountain by that time.  We did however totally time it right and got to the peak when there wasn’t many people and there wasn’t a single bus.  We pretty much had the hike to ourselves.  

The peak is beautiful! It was so much bigger then I thought it would be.  Walking up and seeing the peak was just wow!  We took time to drink it all in before we started the stair climb hike to the top.

When I say stair climb, that’s exactly what this hike was, nothing but stairs straight up the 180 meters to the top.  Kevin was carrying Monster on his back, Big Sis and M&M were a little ways in front of us on their own, and I was keeping Little A’s spirits up.

Little A and I play the counting game on Korean hikes now.  She counts each and every step aloud, and I walk with her and hold her hand and count with her.  The hike then becomes a game and complaining goes from every second to never.  She gets so caught up in counting and jumping up the stairs and getting to the next 100, that she forgets she is walking up a million stairs.  Little A counted 479 stairs up and 625 stairs down.  Granted there were a few times that she stopped to rest and forgot what number she was on, so we might be give or take 20-100 stairs.  

While hiking up the peak, there were many rocks jutting out of the mountain.  There were signs explaining that the vertical points were created by unset ash piled up mixed with rain and then eroded over time. Theses vertical rocks created such dimension and beauty to the hike.  It was one of my favorite sites to see.

We finally made it to the top of the peak. The cloud cover was pretty heavy, but luckily it was moving, so we were able to get a few good views of the city below and the beautiful view. 

I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the volcanic dome, because from the pictures you can't tell that we are standing on the rim of the dome.  It was neat to see all the lush green and the makings of a volcano that came up from under the water.  

After snapping some amazing pictures, we made our decent down, the six hundred something stairs. The view of our decent was pretty crazy, you could almost see all the stairs at the very beginning.  

The hike was so beautiful and I’m so glad we did it.  It took about an hour to do the entire hike, and M&M’s legs were shaking so bad from all the stairs, but it was great and refreshing.  As we were exiting the hike route we noticed that busses and busses of tourist were beginning their hike.  Kevin and I gave each other a fist bump as we definitely picked the perfect time to make this hike.