jeju (part 2): the cafe that wants to be a whale

i got connected with jerry from couchsurfing, and having met him in shin-jeju, we went for a social dinner at the flat of another english teacher in jeju. jerry turned out to be suffering from the demons of alcohol and nicotine and trying to give them up. so i gave him the wisdom of my own experience as i have been there and gone through the process and came out the other side for the better.

i dumped some stuff at his place and walked to the same hitching place as before. again, not 5 minutes had gone before i got a lifthad gone when. hugh was a horse trainer and spoke good english as he had spent time in the states. he took me to haemdoek beach where i took a quick swim before hitting the road again. the second car that passed my thumb stopped. he took me out of his way to drop mestopped.quick swim before hitting the road again. off at the site of the mangganjul lava tube. there were lockers there to stash my pack, and getting a ticket, walked down the steps into the massive cave entrance.

the tunnel went on for about 2 kms before ending in a solidified lava column. the actual lava tube extended for much further but was closed off meaning everyone was obliged to retrace their steps to the beginning. the cave, indeed the whole island, is a geologist’s wet dream. i hitched a lift with a young couple from seoul to the main road, and having found the way to the shore road, walked to woljeong beach.

i stopped a lift with a young couple from seoul to the main road, and having found the way to the shore road, walked to woljeong at an unpretentious little place which had a small alcove where to sit and gaze at the sea backed by a large mirror reflecting the view. a dog came out from inside the cafe/guesthouse? and a girl followed and hugged it. i stooped also to pat the dog. the girl looks at me and asks if i am a traveller, and if i would like some water. that’s how i met tina, who worked at the cafe known as ‘the cafe that wants to be a whale’.

i looked in through the rectangular opening in the wall and saw someone playing a guitar. tina said that they were part of a band due to play a gig at the cafe/beach in a couple of days’ time. i went in and joined in with some table drumming and soon got to know all the band and kimi, the girl whose house and cafe it was. the festival was also going to have an art exhibition and some stalls.

there was one guy selling hand-made necklaces and bracelets, and some hippie fashion. he didn’t speak much english but he was delighted to discover that i was a fire-horse too. (side-note: korean ages differ as they add one year to the actual date of birth). i definitely stumbled across the best place to be in jeju at this time! these were no ordinary koreans.

i left the cafe as it was getting near sunset, and i needed to find a place to pitch the tent. i walked a few minutes up the road and spied some unused area with long grass and thickets and trees. i soon found a place to put up the tent, and although it was not perfect, it offered some shade and security. i would’ve drowned if it had rained as the sandy ground didn’t offer the best anchorage for the tent-pegs, but luckily, it didn’t the 4 nights i stayed there.

i woke and walked the 5 minutes back to the beach and had my morning water therapy. there was nobody about and so i had the whole place to myself. pale yellow sand, glass-clear warm water, hot morning sun. i hung out at the cafe most of the day, getting to know the people better and getting some more swimming action. just chilling at the beach.

i offered tina a head massage, and soon word got around that i was a good masseur: one of the cooks who had a bad back soon came and asked if i could give a massage too. sure, no problem. after, he offered to cook me a meal at the house, but i was on a strict rice only diet to get rid of this stomach infection once and for all - lack of discipline and a desire to try korean food had been my undoing in seoul. they cooked me some plain white rice instead and refused to take money for it.

i got talking with an older korean couple and their friend: they introduced themselves as buddhists and invited me to visit an art gallery and climb an oreum (secondary volcano) with them for the next day. great! later that evening, i met the other cook, jaka, who invited me to eat with the others in the house. again, it would have been great to try the korean food, but i stuck to the white rice. i hung out for a while at the roadside overlooking the beach where everyone were getting well into the korean rice wine and sujo; but it wasn’t my thing so i stayed a bit and then hit the tent.

saturday, another beautiful sunny day. after the routine wash in the sea/ morning swim, i got changed and met sun and his wife, and lee and his companion. sun, by the way, was also a fire-horse. they offered me the front seat in the car as we drove to seongsan and had a look at the majestic oreum of illchubong. then to kim young gap gallery to see his beautiful collection of photographs taken on jeju. the gallery was a cool break also from the sweltering midday heat. they bought me a traditional korean beverage of misoo karu to drink. nice. then we drove to the yongnuni oreum. sun and his wife and i climbed up to the top whilst the other couple stayed behind... they had been here many times.

it was an amazing panorama of eastern jeju: darangshi oreum standing proud in front of us with illchulbong oreum and udo island in the distance. also, mount halla was shrouded in clouds as we saw the rain clouds over jeju-si and woljeong. butterflies dancing and sun playing guitar.

we took dinner at a seafood restaurant on the coast. the rice had done its trick and i was up to eat anything: den jang (mixed seafood soup), okdom hwee (fried fish) and hwair dupap (korean sushi with rice). with a few kimchi dishes and bowls of rice. delicious!! after the meal, lee asked if i minded if he smoked. it was the start of another discussion on giving up smoking. just like with jerry, i told him of my experience and what i did. "i'm not telling you anything that you don't know already deep in your heart", i told him. the others were telling him that i was there as a messenger for him and that he should heed the message. lee said that he will quit. "don't just say it", i told him, "do it!" after lee paid for the whole meal, they dropped me off at the cafe on woljeong beach before driving off to their base at gimnyeong beach. great day!

sunday, festival day. beautiful sunny day again. everybody pottering around getting prepared. i helped out as much as i could, asking kimi if they was anything i could do. so i was bit surprised when she later comes up to me and asks if i want to set up a massage area in front of the cafe. i had wanted to do something like this for years and now i was getting the opportunity. within 10 minutes and with the help of some of the friends, it was all set up. complete with a rocking swivelling armchair and indian incense. tina made a sign in korean and i would charge on a donation basis. i did about 6 or 7 massages and made a bit of money.

the band did their stuff on the beach and on a platform above the main entrance to the cafe: they even got a piano up there. then it was time to clean the beach... i teamed-up with mira and it didn't take long to fill up a trash bag. and after, the sea looked too inviting and we messed around for a while. later, i joined in the drum circle with the lead drummer beating out the rhythm on the traditional korean drum played with sticks. in between, there was a delicious korean buffet food for lunch and dinner taken in the house in the big living/dining area above the cafe. and then a barbeque in the evening too. another great day.

monday, it was just chilling out day again at the beach. i took brunch with the guys at the front terrace of the cafe...  again, the food was great, including the hard-boiled quails’ eggs. and later, after sunset, as i walking back to the tent, a friend of kimi’s sitting alone at another cafe asked for a massage. i agreed and told her it was on a donation basis. and so we went down to the beach. it was a new experience to give a massage on the beach, with the stars in the sky and the sound of waves gently lapping the shoreline. and after, we sat and stared at the sea in silence; i left her in the meditative pose and her aloneness and slept soundly in my tent.

jeju (part1): jeju

i hung around at the ferry terminal for a few hours, logging into their free wifi to check to see if anyone had replied to my couch request. no luck. i met a norwegian guy about to take the ferry back to mokpo, and chatted with him for a bit. when that ferry left, it looked like the terminal was closing up, so i also made a move to the town.

i got a km down the road and arrived at the jeju local ferry terminal, and again lounged there, connected to the wifi, updating the blog. i was still hoping someone in jeju city would at least agree to take some of my gear before i went hiking/trekking/hitching around the island. still no luck. it was getting around sunset and i needed to find a place to pitch the tent. i found the 'olle' path by chance opposite the terminal, and walked up the steps. around the corner, there was a small park with some slides and see-saws, and a contraption for lying on and tilting yourself upside-down! there were some people about but i was dog-tired.... i quickly put the tent up and got in as the mozzies were getting real lively!

it was a great night's sleep, and in the morning, i tried out the upside-down machine and got a different perspective on the world. packing up, i went back to the terminal for a last minute check of email - nothing- and so i decided to get to the hitching-point out of town.

it was a long climb uphill and i was sweating buckets again. i loaded up on carrots and digestives from the supermarket and found the junction to hitch from. i stood with my arm out, 'beckoning' the cars to stop... it looked like i was hailing a cab, so i wasn't surprised when most of the taxi drivers came to a halt besides me. i would shake my head no, or else wave them away before they came to a complete stop, and most of them got the message. just the really persistent ones would roll down the window and wonder why i hadn't got in their cab yet!

after about ten minutes of this, i saw one suv turn around and pull over. he was only going to samyang but it was already out of jeju city so i took it. he was trying to convince me to take a bus in his broken english, but i insisted on hitching. he thought that it wasn't such a good idea thinking that koreans weren't so friendly like this, but he found a good hitching spot for me and dropped me off. i was there 5 minutes and another suv stops. this one was really tatty inside with a lot of rubbish and a distinct odour about it, like the driver was more or less living in it, but i took the lift.

we tried to communicate as best we could but it was hard work. he was trying to convince me that haemdeok beach, where he was going, was better than gimnyeong beach where i wanted to go. there was a slight moment of misunderstanding when i tried to get out of the car thinking he was not going my way, and better to get out now, but with gestures and words, i got the message that he would show me haemdeok beach and the camping there before taking me to gimnyeong beach. so he took me out of his way and landed me right at the beach before driving back. nice one.

it was a really hot and sunny day, just perfect beach day. i walked past the camping area - i asked if it a paying site and yes, 5000 won - so i carried on to the road and walking for about 200 metres or so, i took a side turn into a disused plot of wild flowers and long grass and discovered a nice little place to camp out away from everyone. i had the tent up quick and got changed and headed to the beach. beautiful white sand beach contrasting with the jet black volcanic rocks. and crystal clear waters with some wavy light green seaweed here and there.

there were some koreans enjoying the beach and water too, and i was paddling around in the shallow waters when i got talking a couple of them. jee-min was there with his uncle and 3 cousins, and they invited me to hang out with them. we had lunch together, and i used their snorkel gear and inflatables and messed about in the water. shame they had to go. as they had rented out a space to keep their gear and chill out near the main tarp, they got to use the showers for free. and being part of their gang too, so did i. wow, it was well needed too!! if only i could have washed my sweaty t-shirts too!

before sunset, i got back to my tent, and fell sound asleep. it was the sound of rain that woke me. i could 'see' the flashes of lightning through the tent and a long interval before the roar of the thunder.... the centre of the storm was far away so it didn't trouble me too much. it must have rained most of the night though and no wind, and it was still cloudy when i got up and packed everything up, returning to the beach promenade.

when i was with the gang yesterday, i used their i-phone to check my mail... and a couchsurfer had written to say it was ok for me to leave some gear with them. i had written back to say that i had already hitched out but if tomorrow was ok for them. so this morning, i tried to use the netbook to get an internet connection and check the mail but no luck. i saw two guys heading my way and i asked them if they had internet access on their phone. yes! i got a message back, but it was a bit vague... but with the weather as it was, i decided to get back to jeju city. the guys were also going back to jeju city and were waiting for a taxi... the guy i had borrowed the phone from and whose english was the better of the two invited me to come with them. great!

sang min was his name, and though his english wasn't perfect, it was good enough. he was a radiologist at the hospital in gwanju, and they were going back to the mainland today. he invited me to have a noodles 'brunch' with him and his mates at a famous restaurant in jeju-city. i didn't refuse. we took some snaps, had a great brunch, and then said our goodbyes. again, i met the right people at the right time. i was lost, but a couple of korean backpackers put me right. i found the public information centre at city hall by chance and they have free internet terminals here. so just waiting for the couchsurfer to reply and see what happens next.