Day 13, Courses 16 and 17 (kind of)

Course 16 led inland, then Course 17 led back out to the water. I did parts of both courses (mostly 17), so in the following photo essay, you'll see plenty of arrows and ribbons signifying the Olle-gil. I'm downtown but not far from the water right now, in the bizarrely named Hotel Stay Hyun (a steep W80,000 a night for essentially motel accommodations), which is literally right next to the Course 17 stopping point. I also see that Course 18 follows the coast, as does the bike trail, so tomorrow's walk ought to be as straightforward as today's. 

Despite a forecast for rain, the weather today was perhaps the best weather I've experienced since coming to Jeju. It was cool and cloudy today, and often windy as well. Not a single drop of rain fell, and at one point, the temperature was cool enough to prompt me to put my jacket on.

Two strangers accosted me: the first was a dad who thought his kids would get a kick out of seeing him in a picture with a foreigner; the second was just some random young guy toward the very end of my walk who tapped me on the shoulder, requested a high five, then told me "Fighting!"—the Konglish way of telling someone to keep up the good effort. 

I had trouble finding the little trail's-end Olle station for Course 17. Naver Map said it was right in the middle of a certain intersection, but I couldn't find it. I finally stepped into a glasses store at the intersection and asked the lone male employee what was up. He pointed down a side street I had already explored and said the station was there. I surmised that I just hadn't gone far enough along the side street. I thanked the employee, headed back out, and sure enough—all I'd had to do was walk another ten meters, and I'd have seen the station. And that, Poison Girls, is why (1) it's always good to ask when you don’t know, and (2) it's always good to know enough of the local language to be able to communicate with the citizens of the country that feeds you, clothes you, pays you, and puts a roof over your head. My Korean still sucks, but I know enough to be able to take care of basic needs and get myself unfucked when I'm lost.

So—stats: 27.4 km, 35,475 steps, 380 minutes, 4.3 kph. This could have been a slow, painful slog in the rain, but the weather was nice, there was plenty to see, and I was in a generally good mood. I took my time reaching my destination, and at one point, I even rested for an hour to give my phone's battery time to recharge. 

Having gotten to the end of Course 17 a day ahead of schedule (I did this by following the coast, which meant skipping most of Course 16), I'm in my current hotel for two nights. Fortunately, the WiFi here is strong, and I'm basically in another downtown area, so my needs are all taken care of. Tomorrow, I might backtrack a bit and go see Yongdu-am, location of the famous Dragon Head rock, which I vaguely remember seeing as a high schooler back in 1986. I somehow managed to walk right past the site in my haste to finish today's course—this despite there being all sorts of signs about Dragon Head Rock everywhere (yong is "dragon"; du is "head"). That will be my only excursion tomorrow, which will be otherwise devoted to washing clothes and resting my battered feet. 

But you're here for the pics, so let's get on with the show.

moon, 5:30 start

shadow pic, but with electric light

as noted, the camera picks up more light than the human eye does

moon, hiding

I'm on the north side of the island, now, walking eastward towards the sunrise, but with all the clouds, there won't be a decent sunrise today.

haenyeo's house

"temporary covering," it says re: the asphalt

graffito dude on the right puking out pure evil

digital zoom of ship in the distance

digital zoom of thing (island?) in the distance

best I can do re: sunrise, just past 6:30

those moody clouds

cañon

The yellow sign is for jet boats.

dude with haemul-tang-like dish

closer... he looks good, right?

Aha! Flat as a Korean ass!

grist mill

What are these roots?

UFO Pension

the bok frog has the character bok (happiness, good fortune) on its front

hae/해 = sea; mi/미 = taste; ga/가 = family

those long, Western arms

You cannot escape the black pig.

tucked-away izakaya named Moon (Dal)

French avec hangeulized as ah-beh-ggeu

kept seeing these road markings and thinking, Slava Ukraina!

What the FUCK happened here???

squashes—must be October

in case you're wondering what a black pig looks like

I took this photo because it's a rarity to see the proper expression "Grand Opening" in Korea. Koreans tend to herald the opening of a new store by using the Konglish "Grand Open."

mackerel and rice wrapped in lettuce

Balloon, Balloon Sea—Jeju

the arguable star of this trip

sleeping on the job

Here's the Konglish I'm used to.

sea (hae), beauty (mi), peace (an)

tangerine rind, discarded in a flower pot

the name of this beach and area

I don't understand any of this. Dialect?

I worked my way around this wall backward.

"Fish Funeral Instructor"—eh?

slingshot

mouse's final vision

In 2005, I had a coworker named Vicky.

I think the sign is telling people not to abuse the door handle.

gym equipment for old people is everywhere

Greek ichthys (fish, also a Christian acronym for Jesus)

region: Naedo-dong

Thanks for finding our little town.

sexy granny struts it

This all feels like the east coast.

surfers

riding the wave

the horsie lighthouses

kiddies piling into van after field trip

a field of cosmos flowers

more kiddies on a field trip

following the Olle

There's a story behind the horsies, but I don't know it.

a girl and her dawg

"Even a single drop of water is a precious resource."

this guy

Koreans use the word "resort" rather loosely.

a place to experience traditional Korean culture

phone booth, arguably as archaic as shwimteo

What's up with girls on dolphins?

and then there's this

biking pension falls on hard times 

"My God!" Hotel (that actually sells?)

model airplane (I'm close to Jeju Airport at this point)

The Lorelei statue is a gesture of friendship from Germany.

restroom and observation deck

These orange hats were being sold everywhere.

I kept trying to catch the big, dramatic splashes.

Trying... and failing.

mystery bear is mysterious

ships

doux forêt = gentle/sweet forest
Lots of French names around here. Forêt is actually feminine, so this should be Douce Forêt.

The airport is close.

Antoinette has huge hair.

chick pairings: one hot, one frumpy

more trinkets and tchotchkes

Disaster Man takes a plunge.

end of the line

I wait for a father-daughter pair to finish up at the Olle station (which usually involves stamping your passbook and taking a me off pictures). This gives me time to photograph some construction.

big nose makes this feel like a French ad

end of Course 17, beginning of Course 18

my hotel

Hungry, I wandered over to the nearby market and saw a panoply of food stalls. One stall was grilling gopchang and makchang, essentially pig intestines. And they stank to high heaven. 

when you try and fail to spell "crab"

Grilled jjolmyeon actually sounded intriguing.

what I thought about going for, but they weren't open yet

I went to a Japanese place instead.

me and the end of Course 17

Several kilometers from the end of today's trek, I discovered something: there are halfway-point stamps as well! This only matters for people who are dedicated to doing the Olle-gil the proper way—the people who buy the official passbook and collect every stamp so they can receive their official certification at the end. I suppose the point of the halfway stamp is to prevent people from cheating the way I'm doing, i.e., skipping off the Olle and using the bike path, for example. None of that matters to me since I'm not looking for official recognition, but it might matter to someone.

So—a visit to Dragon Head Rock tomorrow, then wash some clothes, then just chill and rest my poor feet.