Day 4: 14 May 2024, Tuesday

Rise and shine, it’s the second day of our Jeju RTI ride! It was cool and sunny at 16 degrees C when we woke up at 7am, but the temperature would hit a maximum of 21 degrees later in the early afternoon. Perfect conditions for cycling.

On the agenda today: cycle 41.9km from Daejeong to Seogwipo. Of the four days of riding, this would be the toughest day with the greatest elevation gain of 474 metres. However, to balance things out, today would also be the shortest distance among the four days. Along the way, we would be collecting stamps from two checkpoints.

Breakfast was not provided but there was a small Korean restaurant located at our Hotel 52. However, we were not interested to have Korean food for breakfast so we didn’t eat there. As Daejeong is a small town, we searched on NAVER Map but couldn’t find any cafes open before 9:00am. Hence, after checking out of the hotel at 8:30am, we cycled to the CU convenience store nearby and grabbed some sandwiches and coffee for a light breakfast before officially starting our ride at 9:00am.

After leaving Daejeong town, the first part was nice and scenic as we cycled past expansive farm lands, a change of scenery from the previous day, which was mostly coastal. It gave us a feeling of being in the countryside, with plenty of overhead electricity lines and only the occasional car driving past us. Beyond the swathes of vegetable plots were small mountains whose outlines looked a little blurry amid the morning mist.   

After a mild upslope, we rolled down the hill and reached Songaksan at 9:30am, the first checkpoint for the day. Songaksan is located right beside the sea, with part of the mountain extending out to the sea with dramatic cliffs. The mountain top was covered with trees and its coastal location made for a spectacular view. It would have been a lovely place to go for a hike.

PL cycled ahead while the three of us collected the stamps for our Bike Passports and took photos. There were several restaurants at the carpark area of Songaksan but we were not that hungry yet so we resumed riding at 9:50am. As we cycled towards the northeast, we could see Sanbangsan and Hallasan in the distance, with the black basalt rocks in the foreground and the azure blue waters and sky completing the image. It was a stunning sight.

Around 15 minutes later, we entered the town at the foot of Sanbangsan. The mountain cast an imposing presence from afar as the surrounding area was flat. The gradient increased as we approached the huge, 395-metre tuff lava cone. Soon, we reached an intersection where our Ride with GPS app asked us to diverge from the blue line, which marks the official Jeju Fantasy Bicycle Path. We figured PL had probably followed the blue line and went the other way so we called him to tell him about the diversion, and that we would regroup after that.

From that point, it was a super steep climb up Sanbangsan. To be honest, it was tough but still manageable for me because I had encountered such hills during my Taiwan RTI last year, but it definitely required a big effort for ZY and IH as it was their first time climbing such a steep slope. After huffing and puffing for about five minutes, we took a breather at the top of the hill to catch our breaths and soak in the views.

There was a carpark, a couple of cafes, a giant golden Buddha statue and a temple here. After the long day of cycling yesterday, we were being cautious to manage our time better today so we didn’t think we could afford a visit to the temple. From the top of the hill, it was literally a breeze as we rolled down the longest stretch of downslope for the day. The downslope was super shiok, but I was also careful to manage my brakes and control the speed of descent.

Shortly after reaching the bottom of the hill, PL rejoined us. He said that the path he took following the blue line was very steep and it brought him past some residential areas. Looking at the digital map, the blue line would eventually lead him to the same place as us but it would miss the temple, so that was probably why Travel Wander planned this route, to offer us a chance to visit the temple.

As a reward for conquering the hill, we stopped for breakfast at 10:30am at the first decent café we encountered. The decor of Tous les Jours Café reminded me of the nice cafes in Japan. We bought some croissants, pastries and coffee and fuelled ourselves up nicely. We resumed cycling 40 minutes later.

From there on, the route turned inland and we cycled past many tangerine farms along the main road. Jeju is famous for its tangerines and mandarin oranges, and many farms allow tourists to pick the fruit during the peak season for tangerines, which is the winter months between October and February. I imagine it would be so nice to see all the trees filled with bright orange tangerines hanging on them. The sweet scent of tangerines would probably also be lingering in the air. Perhaps this warrants another visit to Jeju in the future?

As we approached Daepo Port, we started to see many big hotels and fancier-looking buildings. There seemed to be more attractions and activities in this area, with museums, a large convention centre and many luxury resorts. We saw a Teddy Bear Museum, a Little Prince Museum and even a Museum of African Art. We didn’t visit any of them, but just cycled along and enjoyed the ride.

After about 1½ hours of cycling inland, we reached the coast and stopped to take some photos of Beomseom Island in the distance. It made me happy to see the ocean and feel the sea breeze again. I could never get tired of this view.

At 1:25pm, we reached our second checkpoint at Beophwan Badang. After getting our Bike Passports stamped, we took another short break at the 7-Eleven store to get some respite from the midday heat. It was sunny with low humidity but it was also cloudless. Hence, it got pretty hot, even though I practically didn’t perspire at all. We filled our water bottles with Pocari Sweat and munched on our energy bars to refuel.

After a series of hills, we reached Seogwipo city and arrived at our Heyy, Seogwipo Hotel at 2:05pm, much earlier than expected. We managed to complete the ride fast due to the shorter distance but also because we took fewer photo breaks today. My Strava showed that we cycled 42.04km, with an elevation gain of 510 metres, close to what was projected on the Ride with GPS app. I told IH that it would get easier after the first day, and it really did. Despite having many more hills on the route today, IH did not have to dismount to push his bicycle even once, which was an achievement in itself.

Our room was located on the seventh floor in the second wing of the hotel. It was big, clean and nicely furnished. And it came with full-size bath towels so everything was good, no complaints. After showering, we went out for lunch at 3:15pm. PL was craving for Lotteria and he found an outlet not far from our hotel, so he led the way.

Seogwipo is the second largest city in Jeju and there is definitely much more to see here compared to Daejeong yesterday. That is also probably why Travel Wander designed the route this way, so that we would have a shorter day of riding and have more time to explore Seogwipo. To get to Lotteria, we walked along a long, main street that sloped upwards for several hundred metres, reminding me of the hilly terrain in San Francisco city.

Lotteria is the biggest fast food chain in South Korea. Its name is a combination of Lotte and Cafeteria, with Lotte being the parent company, one of the largest chaebols (large conglomerates run and controlled by an individual or family) in South Korea. PL had tried their Bulgogi burger during his previous visit and loved it so much he wanted to eat it again. I ordered a Big Bulgogi Burger with iced latte and shake shake chicken (popcorn chicken with shaker powder), amounting to 11,600 won (S$11.60).

The burger was good, but I was most impressed by how seriously Lotteria, and South Korea in general, takes recycling and adopting sustainability practices. Our iced and hot beverages were served in reusable plastic cups instead of disposable ones. After finishing our meal, we had to sort our trash into specialised receptacles for liquids, food waste, plastic (e.g. drink cover lids) and other general waste. We would also observe this being practised at McDonald’s and the street food markets.

I later learned that South Korea has very strict laws regarding waste disposal and recycling and there are penalties for non-compliance. Today, South Korea recycles almost 100% of its food waste, up from just 2% in 1995. Households are also required to separate their trash and recyclables into colour-coded bags before putting them in the respective bins. The disposal centres are monitored by CCTV to deter and detect non-compliance. The result is that South Korea is ranked one of the world’s top countries for recycling. Singapore has a long way to go.

After lunch, PL went back to the hotel to rest while the three of us continued to explore Seogwipo’s city centre. Just around the corner from Lotteria was Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market, the largest market in Seogwipo. The indoor market has several entrances and it is like Dongmun Traditional Market in Jeju city, but neater with a more regular, grid layout. Like Dongmun, Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market houses many stalls selling live seafood like abalone, octopus and various shellfish, but also the standard stuff like tangerines, souvenir food products and street food. We mostly just window shopped but I bought a large Jeju tangerine for 4,000 won (S$4) to try. We ate it the next day and it was super juicy and sweet!

The adjacent streets around Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market contained many recognisable brands like Adidas, Nike, Innisfree, Olive Young and ABC Mart so we spent some time browsing the shops there. I went to S Market sneaker shop and bought a pair of En Coree shoes for 53,100 won (S$53). I had already eyed it in Jeju city but finally bought it here. En Coree shoes are effectively the Korean version of Onitsuka Tiger, with the same overall design, shape and heel flap. Only the logo is different. I own several pairs of Onitsuka Tiger but I liked the colour of the En Coree, and it was well-priced so I bought it.

After a short ice-cream break at Baskin Robbins, we left the shopping area around 6:00pm and walked briskly to Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, about 1.5km away. We wanted to visit it before it got dark, because sunset in Jeju was around 7:26pm.

The walk to Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was very pleasant. As we strolled down the hill, we had a nice view of the Swogwipo Port where many boats were docked, and Saeyeongyo Bridge in the distance. The bridge is shaped like a Teu, which is Jeju’s traditional flat wooden boat. At the bottom of the hill, we walked through a quiet path with trees on both sides before we reached the entrance of Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, where there was a booth.

However, this was just a ticket check booth and we needed to purchase tickets from another booth at the main visitor entrance beside the carpark, about 130 metres away. ZY’s and IH’s legs were heavy after two days of riding so I asked them to wait for me here while I ran over to buy the tickets. Our adult admission tickets cost 2,000 won (S$2), which was pretty reasonable. After securing our tickets, we passed through the entrance and walked for a short distance before we finally caught sight of the waterfall at 6:45pm.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall is 22 metres high and 22 metres wide, with a 20-metre deep basin at the foot of the falls. Legend has it that a holy dragon lived in the basin, and during times of famine, the locals would pray for rain at the waterfall, and their prayers were always answered. The waterfall itself was not that impressive but it was surrounded by beautiful, evergreen forests. The entire area exuded a peaceful charm, adding to its serene beauty.

There weren’t many people visiting at that hour but there was a short queue for the best photo spot atop a rock so we joined the line and took the obligatory photos. We also found another spot on the stone bench with a nice view and took several more photos there with the waterfall in the background. After taking our fill of photos and videos, we finally left Cheonjiyeon Waterfall at 7:30pm, just as it was getting dark.

We were hungry and too lazy to find somewhere else so we had dinner at one of the Korean restaurants at the main visitor entrance area beside the carpark. We chose one of the low tables and sat on the tatami mat so we could stretch our legs. We ordered two bowls of seafood ramen and a grilled mackerel fish to share. Each bowl of ramen came with an octopus, two large abalones and clams, and it only cost 15,000 won (S$15). We also ordered a bottle of soju to complete the meal.

A Chinese group at the next table ordered the deluxe set, which contained pretty much the same ingredients as our seafood ramen but with slightly bigger portions. Their deluxe set was a lot more expensive at 85,000 won (S$85) for a serving for two people, or 110,000 won for three people, if I remember correctly. The selling point for the deluxe set was that the octopus and abalone were served alive so they were fresher. You could still see the live octopus and abalone wriggling in the hot soup and dying a slow, painful death. However, we didn’t think that it was worth paying so much more for the novelty, and the octopus and abalone probably weren’t that much fresher than the ones in our ramen anyway.

We enjoyed our dinner slowly, chatting and recounting the day’s ride while sipping on our soju. It was a very nice way to end the day. Cycling is only one part of the fun; the other part is the hanging out after the day’s ride. At 9:00pm, we dragged ourselves up the hill and back to the hotel.

There was a small arcade at our hotel so we asked PL to join us. However, most of the games required a card for payment and only the basketball shootout game accepted coins, so we just played one game and left. We didn’t play cards tonight because ZY was fast asleep soon after returning to the hotel. And with that, it was the end of Day 4 of our trip, and halfway through our Jeju RTI. Time really flies when you’re having fun!

Here’s a video clip of the highlights from Day 4: