In which Roz and Layla have a delightful day in Busan and finally make it to Jeju

by Layla

It is rather embittering to have to speak gushingly of a day in a city I was entirely unconvinced about, and Roz smugly recommended, but I must admit our chance visit to Busan was really lovely.

After a tasty breakfast in another French patisserie (a different chain - these are so popular here, and the bakery items are excellent), and a little lingering over coffee and fresh orange juice, we braved the subway, which yet again was well organised, good value, and entirely serene. We stepped off at some random stop specified by Lonely Planet, walked for a while, crossed some big roads, and found ourselves at the sea. After a very pleasant walk along a boardwalk, and a quick pause to stock up on water, we followed the Koreans clad in bright pink tops, hiking boots, and clutching walking sticks, and climbing up many steps, found ourselves on an absolutely delightful walk along the coast. Clearly this was a popular Korean weekend pursuit, as the trail was busy. Most of it was decking and steps following the line of the coast, with the amusing occasional addition of piped musak from hidden speakers in the trees, but then after we enjoyed the picnic lunch we'd brought from the lovely French patisserie and eaten on a rocky outcrop by the water, the trail climbed into the forest. We gamely followed, for lovely views and trees, and pleasantness.

We eventually retraced our steps, paused for a beer and a brief read, sat by the sea, and then returned to the subway stop, via yet another type of French patisserie (that promised to transmit wonderful tastiness, according to its sign), where we grabbed a sneaky orange cake, before going underground. Next stop was Centrum City, the world's biggest department store, with an oversized Guinness World Records sign to prove it. Our aim was not to shop, but instead to Spaland. If Seoul's Itaewonland was an ordinary Korean bathhouse, Spaland was the deluxe version, and according to them, the biggest of its kind in the world. Clearly this was an establishment that sought to break records. It was fun to see the high scale end of Korean spa action - a £7 entry fee got us into a spa mecca, a pristine, shining, delight of a bathhouse, where we plunged into bath after bath of water of differing temperatures, jacuzzi-ness, and chemical composition, both inside and outside. It was clearly very popular with the Sex in the City crowd of South Koreans, but I do wonder whether naked socialising would ever catch on in the UK...

After a while enjoying every single bath on offer except the boiling one and the freezing one, we dried off, pottered briefly in the giant department store, looked longingly at the ice rink (well, that was just me), and returned by subway to our hotel (I shall gloss over our failure to find it for an inordinately long time... eventually saved by Roz) to freshen up for the evening.

Ravenous, our freshening up took three minutes flat, and soon we were in a nearby Italian restaurant, where we shared a mozzarella and tomato salad, a vegetable pizza, and some lovely wine. And then, dear reader, shamefully but for the sake of honesty, we retreated to New York Fries for a portion... before finishing up in a cool cupcake cafe where Roz had a lemongrass tea and I had a red velvet cupcake.

Before going to sleep, we'd agreed to set the alarm for 6:50 but it was still bitter when it went off the next morning. Nevertheless we sprung out of bed and dashed for a taxi back to the airport where, oh joy, we were finally able to get our boarding passes for the island of Jeju. A final kiwi juice in the nice airport cafe, and a disappointing microwaved bagel at the other side of customs, and we were off.

Our first impression of Jeju was wind and less sun than we'd grown accustomed to. We hopped on a number 600 airport bus and an hour or so later were deposited at Seogwipo, our first destination on the island. It's the most southernly place in South Korea, and a quiet little town. How quiet we realised when we went hunting for lunch, which we eventually found in a slightly scary little Korean fast food shop where we ordered excessive numbers of kimibap, which is seaweed rolls with rice and vegetables inside. We munched away stoically as nearby diners watched in fascination to see if we'd manage to eat the entire order. Never underestimate greed, local diners! We had a coffee and lemonade afterwards at another nice coffee house and contemplated our plans for the next few days.

After lunch we checked in to Little France Hotel, one of the posher rooms which is rather nice and spacious and not too expensive, and then headed out on a long and very lovely walk along again a boardwalk-style walkway. Jeju has a lovely tradition of Olle Walks, which are marked walking routes along Jeju's coast with painted arrows and coloured ribbons tied to trees - Roz and I mused upon how many minutes this form of signposting would last in the UK! Our destination was the Cheonjiyeon waterfall, but we walked all the way up and round it, and through a pretty park to a viewpoint of the falls, then we couldn't resist trying out a set of the ubiquitous outdoor gym equipment which we have encountered all over the place (including, later today, at a bus stop to enable exercising while waiting for the bus!). We had a hilarious time trying out all the equipment (well, except the one that made you go upside down!) along with the Korean locals, before descending to the waterfall itself, buying a ticket and strolling right to the place where the waterfall hit the pool beneath (allegedly one in which nymphs bathed). At this point huge tour buses appeared, but it was still a rather lovely experience.

About to return to the hotel, I spotted a bridge to an island that interested me, and in pursuit, we ended up at a very cool little ramshackle bar right on the water. We ordered beer and sipped very happily while reading our books. As the sun set, we progressed to the rather cool bridge (which excited Roz because of its structure - her enthusiasm for the feat of engineering was...notable) and watched some traditional Korean dancing, before hiking up the steep hill homewards. All that threatens to spoil our stay here is the total monopoly of fish restaurants - where on earth will we eat tonight? We shall soon find out...