Jeju Day 3: The Sunny Day

 

We woke up that morning to grey misty skies still unsure if we’d be able to get the beach day that we were hoping for. Where we were staying, directly in Seoguipo, it pretty much rained the entire day but as we made our way out towards Hyeopjae beach the weather got clearer and clearer.

We ate an early breakfast at the hotel that was solidly mediocre but had a pretty view of the water and nearby neighborhood.

 

 

 

Then we jumped in the car and headed to The Osulloc Tea Museum. Osulloc is the most famous tea company in Korea and most of their teas are grown in Jeju.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside they have a very tiny little museum and the tea shop which has a gorgeous view of the tea fields out the window.

 

 

 

After having a bit of tea we went outside to see the fields.

 

 

 

The weather seemed to be clearing up at that point so we decided to make a gamble and head for the beach hoping that it would be sunny by the time we got there.

And thankfully we were right. We arrived at Hyeopjae beach to the most perfect beach weather and some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat down by the water and soaked in the sun for a long while, which I would come to regret soon after, and just enjoyed doing nothing. This was what I had been waiting for the entire trip. The chance to just sit outside by the water, in the sun, and listen to the ocean. And it was exactly what I hoped for.

Eventually though the wind that was ripping across the sand started to get a little annoying so we walked around a little bit longer to take some more photos and the headed off.

 

 

 

 

 

The life guards had put out an announcement that people weren’t allowed to swim, for whatever reason, so unfortunately we hadn’t been able to get in the water. So as we were driving to go get lunch we happened to see a weird little area off the high way where a ton of people had gotten in the water off of a nearby dock and were swimming.

And in a spur of the moment decision we decided to pull off the road and join them.

That was the best decision ever.

We had to leave all of our camera stuff and phones in the car and just jump in, so I don’t really have any pictures, but it was easily one of the highlights of the whole trip. The water was lovely, the view was amazing, and getting to swim in the ocean felt like home to me.

 

 

 

From there we went to get lunch which in a ravenous hungry frenzy to eat I forgot to take a picture of. It was delicious though.

And it was after lunch when I got back into the car that I realized the grave mistake that I had made at the beach.

 

 

And it only got worse from there.

But sunburn and all we went to a massive cafe/restaurant/bar thing over looking the water that while absolutely gorgeous was charging something like 8,000won (close to 8 USD) for an americano and so we decided to leave before accidentally spending a small fortune on a snack.

 

 

That night, crippled by the pain from my sun burn, we hobbled around one of the traditional markets in Seoguipo that unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of because I was mostly focusing on trying to walk so that my clothes didn’t rub the wrong way against my burning skin. It was cool though, yummy hottok and tangerines.

We hit the hay early that night ready for another early morning and trip back to Daejeon.

It’s hard for me to say if I enjoyed the rainy day or the sunny day more. They were both so different and both so fun in their own ways. But I’m really really thankful that we did end up getting at least one sunny day and to experience a beach, which is so familiar to me in so many ways, but in a completely new country and culture.

Thanks as always for reading! Hope the weather’s good where ever you are too!