igoiseeishoot: Jeju Day 4 (Part 3)

3 October 2011

We left Cheonjeyeon Waterfall and turn right towards a bus stop that we saw earlier. We planned to take the Airport Limousine Bus #600 which goes to Seogwipo from Jungmun. There was a Korean lady at the bus stop selling tickets so we asked for tickets for the bus that goes to the “KAL hotel” which is the end point for the bus service in Seowipo. Jeongbang water fall is supposed to be within walking distance from the KAL hotel, accordingly to my map.

“Ah, KAL hotel. 3900 Won per ticket”, she said. So we paid up and I was telling my wife. “wow, same price we paid to get from airport to here. The bus operator should be charging lesser for this shorter trip”.

While waiting for the bus, I showed my map the ticket seller and asked her if Jeongbang Pokpo (Pokpo means waterfall in Korean language) is within walking distance. I used my fingers to simulate a pair of legs walking from KAL hotel. She smiled and nodded.

The bus came and we boarded. Next came our surprise. The announcement came on the bus that the next stop would be Jeju airport!

We were heading in the wrong direction.

We confirmed with the driver that the bus is heading for the airport and told him to let us disembark. By then, we were along the highway travelling away from Seogwipo and there were no bus stops along the highway.

We managed to flag down a taxi to take us back to the bus stand.

How could that ticket seller make such a mistake! We were so angry with her.

Upon arrival at the bus stand, a man was seen manning the booth. The ticket seller was not there. I was about to explain to the man about our situation when he took the bus tickets off my hand and handed me a 7800 KRW refund.

At that moment, a taxi pulled up and the same lady ticket seller got off. She must have taken the taxi to chase us down, realising her mistake. She apologises profusely and then personally lead us to another bus stop 200m away on the next road to catch the correct bus to Seogwipo. She waited with us for the correct bus.

We paid 1300 KRW each to the driver and I heard her telling the driver to drop us at Jeongbang Pokpo. We are finally on our way. By then, whatever anger I felt for her has eased due the fact that she had taken a taxi to try stop us and also made sure we boarded the correct bus thereafter. I was just relieved that we were finally on the right track, although we had lost some time.

The bus made some stops at hotels within Seogwipo city and then the driver told us to alight for Jeongbang Waterfall. He told us Jeongbang would be straight ahead, pointing to the direction. The Jeju folks are quite nice people.

I checked my map and figured that we were in the middle of the Chilsimni Food Street. Some seafood restaurants were found along this stretch of road which was by the sea with its cliffs.

We could hear the sound of the waterfall as we approached. As in many tourist spots in Jeju, there were stalls selling snacks, drinks, souvenirs and Jeju oranges. We took a cold lime juice drink before heading down a flight of stairs to the bottom of the cliff. This trail led to the waterfall,

Jeongbang waterfall is supposed to be the only waterfall in the Asia that falls straight to the sea, according to Korean guide books.

As expected, seafood sellers were present at the seaside and there were parties going on.

These local ladies are having a good time while some kids were left playing by themselves amongst the rocks.

We could get close to the waterfall but this requires scrambling over and across some big and sharp rocks. So it was best to just find a spot to relax and have fun watching people.

Jeongbang Waterfall

After we had enough of this waterfall, we climbed back up to the top of the cliff where we had a rest and some ice cream before taking a short taxi ride to our last waterfall for the day, the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.