Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls and Iho Tewoo Beach

It's early in the morning here on Jeju Island. Alone time is at a premium so I snatch it when I can. It's also a travel day which makes sleeping more difficult for me. I always get a little anxious. Tonight we board a plane for Busan which will be our last destination before heading out from Seoul next week. We all have things we are looking forward to seeing and doing when we return, even Jordan. One thing I'm looking forward to it my dryer. We've been lucky to have washing machines in our Airbnbs, but they don't have dryers. Or if they do, they don't really work well. That means that laundry takes forever as every single item needs to be hung to dry. I've sure been spoiled all these years!

Yesterday we were all craving a traditional American breakfast, so we found a place near us called Oliver Pancake. The only word I can think of to describe the interior is Zen. It was bright, white and yellow, spacious, and comfortable. But I don't know if I can use the word breakfast to describe some of our food. Dessert would probably be a better word for that!

See the diffuser in the picture? Koreans love diffusers! We see them everywhere. The perfumy scent gets overwhelming at times.

Check out Aiden's plate. Can that really be called breakfast? There's ice cream on there! He loved it.

Jordan and I had something a little more closely resembling breakfast although the pats of butter were huge!!

Another thing I miss is coffee creamer. They don't really have that here. I couldn't even find much selection in the grocery store. I asked for coffee creamer here, but what I was given more closely resembled whipped cream. I didn't love it.

After breakfast we drove to the south side of the island to see the Cheonjiyeon waterfalls. I read that the hike was only about 30 minutes long. That turned out to be pretty accurate. It was not a long hike at all, but it did involve lots and lots of stair climbing. I felt a bit wimpy, but then saw a sign that said elderly people and young children might not be able to handle the steep steps. I'm neither of those, but at least there was some acknowledgement that it was steep!

Jordan and Luke both struggled a bit on the hike. Luke got super hot and then had a mini break out. I think Jordan was dehydrated. He sat down when we reached the waterfalls instead of taking pictures which really surprised me. And then when we finished the hike he looked very pale and told me he felt dizzy. Maybe that big breakfast wasn't such a good idea after all!

Walking to the waterfalls. Going down is the easy part!

There were actually two waterfalls. Evidently there are 3 when they've received a lot of rain. They were gorgeous, but we were disappointed that we couldn't get close to them. We had to view them from a distance.

The Seonim Bridge was accessible from the hike as well.

The bridge was too high for me! Nobody else in the family seemed to have an issue with it. This is Aiden.

Jordan was still feeling well at this point and took some pictures from the bridge.

Luke said the view from the bridge was beautiful. I said I would have to take his word for it.

Luke and I have gotten along great on the trip! You never know- 3 weeks is a long time to travel in a foreign country when you never quite know where you are going. Especially with 2 teenagers in tow. But we've made a pretty good team.

After the waterfalls we headed to Hallasan National Park. Hallasan is the largest mountain on Jeju Island. We had no plans to hike to the summit as that would take several hours, but I had read about smaller trails that we could hike. So we entered "Hallasan National Park" into Naver Maps (Korea's version of Google maps) and headed out.

That turned out to be our biggest mistake of the day. The drive was only 30 minutes, but the road was twisty turny the whole way. The heavy breakfast in our stomachs really started sloshing around. Poor Jordan got so car sick. He managed to keep his breakfast inside his stomach, but every time the Naver maps would show a new stretch of road that was just as twisty as the last stretch, he let out a big sigh.

When we arrived we realized that the map had taken us to one specific trail. It was the trail that reached the summit and it was already closed for the day. The hike takes 5 hours or something like that, so it closes early to allow people to reach the summit and return before dusk. There was not a visitor center like I anticipated. There were offices with people who only spoke Korean, but that was it. We used google translate and one worker brought a map to me. Mango Languages made me practice the phrase, "Where are we on this map?" so many times. I wanted to say it so badly, but I think the drive sloshed things around in my mind as well. I couldn't think of the words.

We eventually decided just to leave and head back to our apartment. The drive was just as twisty on the way home. Luke, Jordan, and I all felt a bit queasy by the time we arrived. Aiden seemed perfectly fine despite the huge breakfast (or dessert) he had eaten earlier. It was only about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, but we all tromped upstairs and laid down.

When our stomachs and settled and we all felt refreshed, we drove to Iho Tewoo Beach which is the closest beach to Jeju City. It isn't as nice of a beach, but it was only a 10 minute drive. And it was gorgeous in the evening. We spent quite a bit of time walking around and enjoying the beauty before finally eating dinner. We settled on Outback Steakhouse of all places. As much as we love Korea, I think we are all getting a craving for the tastes of home.

The drive home from the National Park was very pretty. Once the road straightened out again we began to enjoy it.

Look at that sky! All the days leading up to this trip have shown rain every day on Jeju Island. Right before we flew to the island the forecast changed. It's been gorgeous.