Jeju Island: Exploring Korea’s Hidden Gem

Intro

On my Round the World Trip 2024, I’ve been chasing milestones—visiting all Disney and Universal parks globally and now nearly completing the New 7 Wonders of Nature. My next stop was Jeju Island, South Korea’s “Hawaii,” known for its volcanic beauty and pristine beaches.

Though I typically travel westward, this leg took me east from Beijing to Korea, retracing my steps for a worthy reason. Leaving behind China’s rich experiences, I felt fulfilled and excited to explore Jeju, one step closer to completing this unforgettable global adventure.

From Beijing to Jeju

In a Round the World Trip I usually never go backwards around the Earth, but in this case, after flying from New York to Shanghai, and then Beijing in China, I was going back East towards Korea. And not for a random reason. My goal was to get to Korea and almost COMPLETE, the New 7 Wonders of Nature by visiting the Jeju island, the second to last on the list.

Just like I finished with all the Disney parks and all the Universal parks in the world on this Round The World Trip 2024, I was thrilled to finish visiting ALL the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

For now, I had finished with my China trip and I fell fulfilled with everything I did in this beautiful country. The Asia leg continued in Korea, but a couple more countries would follow on this huge continent. After I checked out from the hotel, I went to the Beijing Capital International Airport to take my flight.

This is a huge airport, one of the busiest and largest airports in the world, serving as a major hub for international and domestic travel in China. Located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Beijing’s city center, it has three terminals, with Terminal 3 being one of the largest airport terminals globally.

Finally made it to my gate after doing emigration. I had booked a Korean Air flight stopping in Seoul for a couple of hours and then going into Jeju.

At take off noticed how huge this airport is, just look at the scale.

Really huge. Bye bye China, I am going to miss all the fun I had in Shanghai, Disneyland, Beijing and Universal.

Being in Economy, I was not expecting food on the plane, but it was well received. It was actually nice, and a quick demonstration of the Korean cuisine.

After about 2 hours we started the descend into Seoul.

We landed at Gimpo International Airport, Seoul, Korea. This is the airport closer to the city, but I did not have time this time to go explore before Jeju, I would come back though.

After some time at the airport, and a couple of gate changes, we left Seoul, and went quickly into Jeju Island, one of the nature wonders of the world. It was wild to me seeing these clear water beaches up north here in Korea.

It’s also so green. I will talk more about Jeju in my next blog, but Jeju is often called the “Hawaii of Korea” because of its volcanic landscapes, mild climate, and status as a popular vacation destination. Like Hawaii, Jeju boasts stunning natural beauty, including white sand beaches and lava tube caves.

Finally at the Jeju International Airport. The day was almost over but thankfully I had booked my hotel not too far from the airport.

This airport is smaller but still really nice. It felt like a dream finally being here.

Exploring Jeju City

I would have a full tour of Jeju tomorrow, but after getting into my hotel, I went and explore a little bit of Jeju City, I could see Mount Hallasan, the inactive volcano, in the distance.

Finally was able to het in my room and I loved it. The hotel was Hotel With Jeju, which was a last minute change from another one I had, but the decision was great. I loved all the technology on the room, and the great view.

Like look at this, the perfect view of Mount Hallasan, the tallest in Korea.

Before the sunset, I went down to 7-Eleven to buy water and some other things I needed. As I was finally outside of China, I was able to use the regular apps I always use in the US (blocked in China), and see what I missed. Although, now and then some VPNs would would in China as well, but that is another story.

Went into McDonald’s, which is always a good option if you want some regular food, cheap and that will be good.

And not too far from there, the Grand Hyatt hotel looks stunning.

Leaving Jeju

As I said, I will continue exploring Jeju in the next blog post, but that one is more nature related, so I will leave now with a view of the city and the mountain from the hotel, on the morning I left to go back to Seoul.

It was a beautiful day, but I had explored Jeju on my tour and was very happy about it. Originally, I was going to spend more time here, but changed my flight to spend some time at the DMZ in Korea.

Was not able to see in person, but I am glad I caught a glimpse of the White Horse Lighthouse at Iho Tewoo beach.

And the mountain was fully visible from the plane.

As we went around the island to go North into Seoul, I also got to see the Seongsan Ilchulbong mountain, really beautiful.