Boseong Green Tea Fields & Tangerine picking on Jeju Island!

Visiting Jeju vacation island during Seollal. Seollal is a huge Korean holiday that celebrates the Korean New year. Similar to Chuseok back in October, many people travel to their hometowns to spend time with their family for the holiday. Due to the current COVID restrictions, groups of 5 or more are restricted so Brandon and I chose to meet up with two of our friends to explore Jeju during their long weekend off of school. In our pursuit to visit every province before the end of winter vacation, we started our trip a little early and left for Gwangju, a metropolitan city located within Jeonnam province. We were both very excited to see Jeonnam as it is the province we were initially placed in when we planned to leave in April of 2020 before COVID forced us to defer to the fall semester. Because Gwangju is on the west coast of the country and our home is on the east coast of the country it is a rather long bus ride to Jeonnam. We left early on Wednesday morning to be sure we would make the express bus from Pohang to Gwangju. Once we were in Pohang we had a couple hours to fill so we spent it at the happiest place on earth: McDonald's! It was my favorite time of day, breakfast, so I got my favorite sausage and Egg McMuffin while Brandon excitedly found the deluxe big breakfast which he mentioned craving just the day or two before. We sat and chatted for a while before heading to the express bus to Gwangju. Because the bus options are so limited we had to pay for the express deluxe seating but because it was a four-hour bus ride we were very excited about the extra legroom and built-in USB chargers. When we made it to Gwangju we visited the National Gwangju museum where we saw thousands of Caledon ceramic pottery pieces that were salvaged from a shipwreck that crashed back in the 1300s. The pieces were so beautiful and it was cool to learn a bit more about how pottery evolved during that time period. 

On Friday morning we woke up and left our hotel early so that we could catch an hour and a half bus from Gwangju to Jeonnam's most popular attraction, the Boseong green tea fields. These tea fields are often positioned as one of the must-see attractions not only in Jeonnam but in Korea altogether because of their uniqueness. We were a little skeptical when we arrived at the Boseong Bus terminal because it was quite run down and very small compared to even our bus terminal at home. But we finally found the bus heading to the fields and were on our way. We were worried it may be closed as Thursday is the first 'day off' in preparation of Seollal and we traveled so long to get there, but they were open! We were amazed at all of the beautiful tall cedar trees with trunks covered in green moss. At the tea fields, there is a loop that takes you up the steep hillside that holds the tea trees and leads you all the way to the top for a beautiful overlook of the tea fields, surrounding decorative trees, and the ocean. After finally reaching the top there is a path that winds down the backside of the mountain through more trees, past a waterfall, and leads you right to the Green tea ice cream that everybody seemed to be enjoying despite the chilly weather. I'm not sure I've had green tea ice cream before so it was a cool experience. Brandon enjoyed his in a cup and I in a cone which I feel really enhanced the experience and flavor to me which was great. After getting all the pictures we wanted and using iron grip self-control to only buy one pack of stickers in the cute gift shops, we headed for some homemade pork cutlet at the only small restaurant that was opened before catching the bus back to Gwangju. 

After our quick but fun-filled day in Boseong, we prepared to fly from Gwangju to Jeju. It's only about a 30 minute domestic flight but this was our first time flying within Korea and we weren't sure exactly what it would entail so we arrived at the airport a bit early and waited for our flight to take off after dinner. It was a bit stressful at first but we figured it out and were finally able to meet up with our friends Harry and Rachel on Jeju Island! We headed out for a late dinner and ate Korean bbq at 88 Pork. A restaurant Harry so valiantly picked out after hearing Black Pork is a must-have on Jeju island. Dinner was delicious and then we headed back to our Airbnb to play games and eat convenience store ice cream bars. 

Getting around Jeju by bus can take a while as everything is spread out around the Mt Hallasan volcano at the center. With a list full of things to do on Friday morning we headed out for our first adventure, the dolharubang eco-park. Harubang's are considered 'the statue of the island' and are believed to offer protection and fertility. After walking 1 km to the entrance we discovered it must be closed for the Seollal holiday even though there was no indication of that on Kakao maps. I was really disappointed because it was a very long walk, something I was very interested in seeing, and a real bummer way to start our day after waiting on the bus for almost an hour. Alas, we carried on to our next destination, the Manjanggul Lava Tubes. Another long bout of traveling there to find that it was closed due to Covid restrictions and again, no indication of a closure on the internet. At this point, we were all frustrated and tired of waiting for the buses so we took a taxi to Gwangchigi Beach where we were hoping to find yellow canola flowers In bloom and to just sit and relax and recharge near the beach.

A couple of pictures we snagged outside of the park

When we arrived we walked along the beach, looked for seashells, and breathed in that fresh sea breeze. I found several large pieces of polished glass which I thought was super cool and a few other shells. When we made it to the end of the beach we picked a restaurant for lunch and sat inside eating burgers and fries. The beach is right next to Seongsan Ilchulbang but after reading a lot of reviews about it being a challenging climb and half of the group already really tired we decided to head out in search of canola fields.

We found a really cool spot and paid 1,000 won each to take pictures in the beautiful field. The flowers were so beautiful and totally made up for the bad luck we experienced in the first part of the day. Once we had all of the pictures we wanted here we headed to our next destination: a place to pick Jeju Tangerines!

I didn't know that fresh fruit picking on vacation was a thing but had read a blog talking about places you could do it on the island. I was so excited when we found a spot that was opened to do it. They provided us all with a small plastic basket and a pair of pruners. The shop owner showed us how to pick good ones and encouraged us to try a few while in the groves to see what size we liked best. After trying a few big and small we were allowed to freely roam the trees and begin picking. It was only 2,500 won per person (about $2.25) and we each got to take 1 kg of tangerines home with us. This was an awesome experience and even though the day started with a lot of disappointments it ended with a few really cool experiences. Looking back after our entire 10-day vacation this was still one of my favorite memories of the entire trip. Having worked our way all the way south on the east side of the island we caught a bus back home which took about an hour and a half. After resting a dropping off our giant bag of tangerines at home we set off for a REAL Indian restaurant and had some yummy curry for dinner. Basmati rice, garlic naan, and creamy curry for the win. We finished the night with more convenience store ice cream, tangerines, and games. 

On day two in Jeju we started by taking a bus to the biggest town on the south side of the island. The hope was to find a good breakfast and work our way back up and closer to home as the day progressed. In Seogwipo we found a cute Cafe overlooking the beach that served real western waffles! It was called ThanQBerry and blueberries seemed to be their specialty. Brandon and I shared a delicious blueberry waffle, frozen blueberry yogurt, and a coffee for breakfast. After fueling up for the day we headed towards the Jeongbang waterfall. We stopped a few times to watch the water and grab some pictures of the ocean along the way. When we made it to the falls we discovered they were limiting the groups due to Corona so we decided to hike along to a smaller waterfall nearby while we waited to buy tickets for the next time slot. After a long walk there and back we tried to buy tickets only to find out they had already filled all the spots for the 1pm start time and we'd need to wait a full hour to buy tickets for 2 pm. The weather on Jeju on day 2 was so sunny and warm which was awesome for walking around but we all had coats we were lugging around and I ended up getting a sunburn from waiting in the sun for the tickets. The Jeongbang waterfall is unique as it is the only waterfall in Jeju that falls directly into the ocean. We grabbed our pictures and soaked in the view before heading to the Teddy Bear Museum. 

I saw the museum listed on a lot of to-do lists and I was really excited to check it out. They have plans to close and renovate the museum later in the summer so they were offering free admittance which was a great bonus. The museum displays all types of teddy bears, starting with some of the earliest made teddy bears created in 1902. It was cool to see capsules displaying bears from 1901-1910, 1911-19-20, and onwards to compare different styles and adaptations through the years. The other gimmick of the museum was teddy Bear displays recreating important historical events. Things like a scene at Disneyland 1955, the first cell phone in times Square, the Titanic, and Disney film scenes. I really enjoyed everything the museum had to offer and would definitely recommend you to visit if you ever find yourself in Jeju. 

The most expensive teddy bear in the world... LV bear sold for $193,477 at an auction!

Because we spent so much time looking for our first activity I think we were all a bit tired and worn out. We talked about seeing a botanical garden and chocolate land but after hearing how much admission was for both we eventually decided to find a nice spot for dinner and head back to the Airbnb. I got really lucky while looking on Kakao maps and found a Japanese restaurant that had awesome reviews and seemed yummy. We showed up 10 minutes before they opened which gave me the perfect opportunity to find the perfect little souvenirs for myself at the 7-11 across the street before we ate. The menu boasted fresh sushi and expensive drinks and ¾ people at the table ordered the only western item on the menu: Fish and Chips. Brandon and I ordered 1 fish and chips and 1 pork and rice bowl to share and both were really delicious. I think as a kindness the waiter brought over an entree of Octopus Cappraccio. It was an expensive dish so we felt it necessary to give it a try. The octopus was raw and thinly sliced among beautifully sliced cucumbers and other grassy ocean findings. I was very skeptical but everything on the plate was delicious. It turns out that fresh raw octopus is extremely delicious and way better than any cooked octopus I've ever eaten. Once we made it back home we ate tangerines, played cards, and packed for our flights in the morning. 

This was an awesome trip! We were extremely lucky to have such beautiful weather that it really felt like a warm spring day on the island. My favorite activity was definitely tangerine picking so I will look for more activities like that in the future! I will say if you are ever thinking about visiting Jeju during Seollal… I'd probably try to avoid it!