Day 17, Courses 20 & 21

The end! I guess we're in the epilogue now. 

Stats: 40.2 km, 51,539 steps, 551 minutes, 4.4 kph. I think my pedometer may be exaggerating the distance, but I definitely did at least 35K today. It was a beautiful day for the final segment; the going was almost totally flat, the weather was once again gorgeous, and while my feet were achy by the end, I finished my Jeju walk just fine. 

The end of Course 21 came rather suddenly, and not quite where I expected it to end, i.e., pretty far from Seong-san, the mountain close to my motel from Day 1 (the one with the ilchul-bong, or sunrise peak). After reaching the end of the final course, I realized I still had to walk another 5K to be back where I started, at Mido Motel. I was feeling fairly energetic, though, so the final five kilometers went by pretty quickly, and there I was—once again in front of Mido. I had a good chuckle at that: I might not have followed the Olle-gil with any exactitude, but I had successfully circumnavigated the island via a crazy mixture of Olle and bike routes. As a side benefit of all this walking, I now know a heck of a lot more about Jeju—things I was too dumb to internalize when I was here as a high schooler in 1986.

I am currently in the Blue Mountain Hotel just up the street from Mido. W60,000 a night for three nights, then I leave on the 18th—a late flight back to Seoul. After that, I rest for a full day, then take a bus to Sangju City so I can do my four-day walk to the Andong Dam. I've long been looking forward to that segment of this journey, but now that I've done the Jeju walk, I must say that I'm going to miss this place. There's a lot to recommend the island, which in many ways is very different from the mainland, but I'll talk more about that in my wrap-up post.

Today's walk saw me communing with Mother Nature's ambassadors: I came across an injured snake, saw my first live praying mantis this trip (and it was huge), and even had a cat come begging for food which, alas, I didn't have. (Now that I think about it, I could've gone back into the convenience store I had just left and bought some tuna for the cat to eat. Silly me.)

When I got to the Blue Mountain Hotel, the front-desk guy was curious about my walk, so he peppered me with questions. He also suggested that I eat at a restaurant right next door to the hotel; it turned out to be a place frequented by local foreigners (possibly implying an arrangement between the restaurant and the hotel). I was alone when I got there, but while I was eating, a pair of blonde British girls came in, followed by a bunch of other foreigners. The dour, lumpish lady who took my order and cooked my food (I went for something vegetarian, and I still don't know why) didn't speak English, but later on, as the foreigners poured in, a male staffer appeared, and he could speak English, especially with the cute blondes. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. 

A long walk means a ton of photos, and it appears that I have 622 to share with you. I'm tired and might not caption many of the pics tonight, but once I'm settled back in Seoul, I plan to do more extensive captioning and to enlarge all the photos in every post so you don't just see thumbnails. 

started around 5:50 this morning

my pension

I started off by following the Olle 

Not a translation. The Korean says:
"I'm a Gimnyeong haenyeo."

The Korean says:
"I am a Gimnyeong mother."

first sight of those turbines

the covered beach

2 paths to 2 different farms

See the moon?

See it now?

What sad story is being told here?

farming the wind

a novel use for filled water bottles

one of many, many morning joggers

looks like spare blades

geological trail

asters

Cafe Delmoondo

No, thanks, Olle. Not going that way.

Definitely not going that way.

Korea Energy Technology Research Center

giant seen from a distance, 10X magnification

Don't get any funny ideas.

the giant, closer

"Transparent Kayak Here"

I want a turbine growing out of my home.

village of Weoljeong-ni

no escaping the wind farm

another crushed centipede

long time no see

darg thinks he's a Jindo, barking away

but he's cute

woof

Gotta get at least one more pic of a stone table and chairs. They're all over the place.

This turned out to be a very glove-y day.

tall, with a tiny footprint

a headstone for whom?

You see rabbit-shaped ice cream. I see a creature that has found a new toilet.

another haenyeo resto

the classic Asian squat, which I can't do

white-sand beach

kitteh at the convenience store

coming to beg for food

Groot and Grootling

the village or town of Haengweon-ni

cramped-looking pensions

The tongue is everywhere.

ad for the resto across the street

the resto in question

Jeju has an algae problem.

The next few photos are of a strange little café/shrine that apparently offers libations and fortune-telling. You'd think this would be a place of quiet serenity, but it was guarded by two loud, little puffball dogs, one of which became friendly after a while, the other of which remained angry and growly to the end. The lady running the place heard the dogs yipping and growling at me as I tried to photograph the artwork on the outside of her building; she came out and asked me why I had come. I told her I was interested in the exterior artwork; she said that that was okay to photograph, but I couldn't photograph anything inside her building. Below are the results. I made sure to get at least one pic of the puffballs.

"shamanism café"

image of Korean mudang (shaman) plus two guardian puffballs

This sure looks like Dalma-daesa (Bodhidharma) wrestling a giant carp.

puffball who turned out to be friendly

vicious, evil-tempered puffball

so many little inlets and tidal pools

mysterious machinery, chugging away

a very tall tower

Carbon-free Island Energy Future Hall

such an advanced place with ironically bad sidewalks

injured snake

A stream pushes fresh water into the sea.

This really looks like "brisket fisheries."

I think this is warning you not to fish for mullet.

It really has been a glove-y day.

more moon for you lunatics

There's a profusion of ducks, but not many duck restaurants.

capsule hotels?

half cultivated, half fallow?

Look closely, and you'll see more ducks.

independent dawg

The sign is a pun: either "If you're an idiot" or "Beach-view ramyeon."

Handong-ni

Go Tae-moon, Korean hero

his life story

"Come on in—the water's fine" or something like that, I think.

something like, "Area residents! Brighten the day!"

These roads leading out to the water must serve some purpose. But what?

I rested here a while and let my phone battery charge.

Granny strikes a pose.

a blast of asters

Shouldn't it be "Sunshine Over the Sea"?

signs for carrot juice and carrot cake

a tiny lighthouse

Not sure what this means.

really rough-hewn stone grandfather

his even rougher-looking brother

Do Ggae Dong San

전복/jeonbok means "abalone," and that's something I've been meaning to try here.

I actually like this octopus drawing. 

saw this and thought, "Necropolis"

Is this saying it's a fresh-hair beach?

something about a dragon king and protection from harm

fishy, fishy, fishy fish that went wherever I did go

섬나라/seom-nara = island nation

market

This area was crowded and filled with cars, but everyone was driving slowly, so there was never a question of safety.

Ta-dah: the end of Course 20!
That lady at the stamp station took fucking forever. 

I think this is related to rainwater collection.

Anyone else see a map of Jeju?

run-down minbak (lodging)

I actually hate seagulls. Horrible little beasts that will steal your food in a heartbeat. They're dirty and noisy and a general nuisance.

temple devoted to Gwaneum, bodhisattva of compassion

Yongmun-sa, Dragon Gate Temple

one of only a few proper Buddhist temples I've seen on Jeju

Gwaneum herself

temple bell (note the cute little swastikas)

three-dot symbol representing the Three Jewels of Buddhism: the teacher (buddha, 불/bul), the teaching (dharma, 법/beop), and the religious community (sangha, seung/승)

a place for haenyeo to change into their work clothes and to discuss work with each other while they rested

a fortress-like area

I guess we're in the Hado region. 

halfway marker for Course 21

This was the most of seen of hang-drying squid on Jeju. And more to come!

Yeongdong Beach

the island of U-do

as confirmed on this map

photo spot

With all the dangerous offshore rocks, surfing is a dicey prospect on Jeju. But determined people find a way, as always.

the Joker goes apple-bobbing

speedboat ad

transparent kayak, speedboat, pedal boat

I guess you can camp here.

Hado Beach

Guidepost horses need their rest. 

"Your kung fu is good."
"My master was Chao Chi."
"Ha! I killed Chao Chi!"

Insert your hopes in the little slot.
Slot, I said! Not slut!

dried, crunchy seaweed

10X digital zoom of Seong-san, the mountain at my Day 1 starting point 

Jongdam Port

view of the final stretch from a convenience store

transparent kayak, doughnut boat

kitesurfing practice

Seong-san's neighboring mountain

Huh. And just like that, Course 21 ends.

Trivia: Course 1 does not begin at this point.

But as I walked the 5K stretch toward Mido Motel, I ended up on the part of Course 1 that I hadn't done at the beginning.

popular stop

The algae buildup meant the whole area smelled of seaweed.

another route dedicated to a Korean hero

more meditation on tap

"Designated local fool restaurant"

sign for the fortress in the previous pic

moving into town as the sun goes down

every glove, a story

Sunset is nigh.

final street before my old motel

Here we are, full circle!

Ha! You shitty, shitty place!

Unbelievable. We made it.

the hotel where I'm spending my final few days

the restaurant next door

Google renders the name as "Greedy for Food"

I was alone at first.

half of my vegetarian meal

ma chambre