JAG Journeys: U-do

Day 11 of Quiring-family visit

Our last posts, from Day 9, took place on Friday, July 6. And we're sorry to tell you that there is no Day 10 post simply because...well, the truth is, we did nothing post-worthy that day. We had contacted the only SDA church on Jeju Island earlier in the week to find out where it was and when they held their church service, but unfortunately found out that it would be closed that Sabbath because of a conference being held on the mainland that the majority of the church would be attending. So, instead of spending Sabbath experiencing a new church in this new part of the country, we had our own church service in our hotel room and mostly just laid low for the rest of the day, relaxing and resting our feet a little bit. Although we were disappointed that we didn't get to go to church on Jeju-do, we did enjoy the peaceful and quiet day together. (And some of us might have even taken an afternoon nap...!)

After our days rest on Saturday, we were ready for adventure on Sunday, July 8! One place I really wanted to make sure to get to was U-do (U Island), a small island just off the east coast of Jeju-do. Sunday, our last full day on Jeju, was the day we'd planned to go there, and so we set off early to catch the bus to Seongsan Ilchulbong (yeah, the place we'd gone to the Wednesday before - if we'd planned better we would have done both Seongsan Ilchulbong and U-do on the same trip...). Once there, we hopped off the bus and hurried in to the ferry terminal building to buy tickets across to U-do. We were in luck and a ferry was about to leave, so we rushed down the gangplank and onto the small ferry. To our surprise the inside space in the middle of the ferry was just a wood laminate flooring. (Jonathan and I should have guessed it would be like that, but we hadn't really given the inside of the ferry much thought before we stepped on.) Several Korean families were already making the floor into a nice traveling area with blankets and baskets of food. After realizing there were no seats to be found on the ferry, we opted to stand outside on the deck and watch the scenery go by. We were very much rewarded when, pretty early in our 20-minute ride, we spotted playful dolphins jumping and playing alongside the ferry! They were the first marine life we'd seen in Korea and they were so fun to watch!

Looking back at Seongsan Ilchulbong from about halfway between Jeju-do and U-do

U-do ahead!

Once we arrived at U-do, we walked off the ferry before the cars started unloading and quickly stopped to take some pictures by a large cow statue near the ferry dock. U-do means Cow Island and is named so because it looks like a cow lying down. After that short stop, we walked up the road a little ways to a scooter and ATV rental shop where we rented two scooters and an ATV to explore U-do. It was such a great decision as we got to see pretty much the whole island in the two hours that we had the rental vehicles!

Ali helping to protect the cow's eyes from the sun

Mum in the ATV's rearview mirror as we were getting ready to head out

As we set out we spotted these little foals following their mothers who were giving rides to a Korean couple. So cute!

Of course a lighthouse would be our first stop as we drove around the island

Ty snapping a picture on his awesome film Canon

Ali enjoying the ride (and the chance to be the official photographer for a change)

A shaky video of one section of ocean-side road we drove on

Our caravan

A pretty little bay we wished we could stop and swim at. We wanted to see more of the island, though, before our time ran out.

Another haenyeo spotting, this time a stone statue in the bay

Another picture of one of our favourite countryside vehicles

Looked like an interesting shop, but we didn't stop

Field and harvest

The fields on Jeju-do and U-do were separated into small sections by these volcanic rock walls

We stopped for a few minutes at this busy lookout over a picturesque bay

Another haenyeo statue

Ali, in not much danger of falling off...

This boat ride in the bay looked like fun, but we just enjoyed watching them before continuing our exploration

Our scooters and ATV parked at the lookout

This restaurant at the lookout had pretty cool decor

View as we headed back to the rental shop

After exploring the majority of U-do within two hours, we returned to the rental shop and turned in our vehicles. Next we walked back a little ways down the road to a beautiful white sandy (and also pebbly) beach. Not too many Koreans were in the water taking a dip, but we jumped in anyway and were rewarded with refreshing cool water and clear underwater views. A great way to cool down after driving around in the hot sun!

The beach

Yay for an underwater camera!

Super clear water

Jonathan trying to throw Ali in (Photo by Glenda Quiring)

Tiny pink shell

A little saltwater river

Trilobites (?) in the rocks

Pretty B&B on the way from the beach to the ferry dock

Hotel with resident cow on our walk

Keeping the sun off during the walk from the beach back to the ferry dock

Finally we got back out of the water, toweled dry, and started the trek back to the ferry dock. We had heard the last ferry left the island at 6:00 p.m. and we didn't want to be late to catch it. We got there with a bit of time to spare, and then enjoyed the ride back to Jeju-do. Although we watched for more dolphins on the ride back, they didn't show up again, making us doubly grateful for seeing them that morning! Once we arrived back on Jeju, we found the bus that would take us back to Jeju-si and wearily climbed aboard, happy to just sit and relax on the ride to town.

The ferry arriving at the dock

Loading time

A truck backing onto the ferry

The vehicles had to back on for the return ferry ride

View of the boat dock from the ferry

Leaving U-do

The last ferry of the evening going to collect the stragglers on U-do

One last look back

Ali watching Seongsan Ilchulbong grow larger as we returned to Jeju-do

Korean tugboat in the harbour

A large ferry heading back to the mainland of South Korea

On our way back to our hotel from the bus terminal, we took a detour and walked back along the Jeju-si oceanfront. The sunset was rosy and beautiful and we enjoyed watching a few planes land at the nearby airport. Then, after a short rest at our hotel, we ventured back out into Jeju-si for one last taste of island cuisine. Well, actually, we opted for Indian food at a restaurant that was highly praised in online reviews. We liked it a lot, too, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is vacationing on Jeju-do!