Jeju Hyepjae Beach and Hallim Park
After I finished visiting Jeju Loveland, I grabbed a small snack in a convenience store nearby and I searched for the closest bus station to get back to the intercity bus terminal in Jeju city. Once I got there, I found a tourist information center and I was lucky because there was a Korean employee with an excellent English who explained me how the system works: In a nutshell you can pay with the Seoul T-Money card for the intercity bus routes, but you have to tell the driver what station are you going to so he can enter the money owed and then you can swipe your card.
I looked at the points of interest in my map and I decided to start touring the Island going west. I boarded the Bus 702 and told the driver "Hyepjae Beach" and as usual I had to show in the paper what I was trying to pronounce. I started my bus ride and quickly I realized the trip was going to take a while since those coastlines stop quite frequently. They announce in Korean every single stop, but the most touristic ones are announced in English as well.
The road around the coast had a very nice view, but it was getting late and it became pitch black in no-time so there was not much to see. After an hour and a half the bus arrived to the Hyepjae Beach and I looked for a guest house. Once I checked-in, I attempted to walk a little bit but the town was tiny and the roads not very well lit, so I decided to rather go back. I went to bed looking forward for the next day.
The morning after I woke up, got a quick breakfast, left the guesthouse and after walking 50 meters I found the blue sea with different hues, the white shelled sand, the rocks, the blue sky and a small island (Biyangdo) in the background. An amazing view!
I spent easily a couple of hour staring at the sea, walking around the shore and taking many pictures including this panoramic one that summarizes well the picturesque view of this area:
There is another beach next to Hyeopjae called Geumneung that has an equally beautiful scenery and without noticing I visited this beach as well. When I got tired of hanging around this area I checked my map to see where I would go next. I spotted that the Hallim Park was very close.
I remembered that I had read somewhere that if you only had time for visiting a single attraction in Jeju, Hallim Park should be the one. I was curious by this tagline and decided to go.
Hallim Park:
This park was created by Bong-gyu Song in the 70s who accurately saw the tourism potential of Jeju Island and was himself a botanical enthusiast. He planted different species of flowers and trees, creating some of the gardens that today are an integral part of the exhibition. Apparently he also spent some efforts in preserving the lava caves available on the hallim park.
Currently it has 9 different sections including the watergarden you see above. I think I visited most of the sections:
Wild grass and flower garden:
Hyeopjae lava cave
Stone and bosai garden
Traditional folk village
Subtropical garden
Bird garden
The park was in conclusion a lovely place to walk around and see different plants, trees, caves and animals. I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon exploring Hallim. In my opinion the highlight was the volcanic caves because they are not only well preserved, but y also have plenty of information to understand how they were formed.
When I finished visiting the park I climbed again into the bus 702 to continue my Jeju trip.