Jeju Olle, Day 18

Lazy early morning — woke up before the alarm clock as I had a good rest yesterday. But since there is no rush to start hiking early, I took my time eating some breakfast, slowly packing and so on.

Wooden bench framed by foliage overlooking blue sea

The trail starts looking more like what I’ve seen on the first days — which makes sense, I am getting close to the starting point. The vertical cliffs and raging (not really) turquoise sea, waves crashing into black rocks.

Concrete path descending to rocky coast with distant islets
Black volcanic rocks, cobbled beach, waves and green hillside

Early morning was windy, with high waves on the ocean, but not quite as stormy as it was yesterday. Safe to walk at least.

Seaside road and arched bridge beside lava rock inlet
Jagged black volcanic rocks with tide pools and distant island
Shaded leaf-covered forest trail through dense green foliage

By noon the wind calmed down, or I just moved to a less windy area. I am seeing a lot of citrus trees around again, just this time instead of being covered with orange fruits, they are in full bloom, covered with white flowers, with the fragrance covering the whole street.

Citrus grove in bloom with white flowers covering trees
Small rocky cove with whitewater waves and green bushes
Rocky streambed beside wooden railing and paved riverside path
Calm green pond surrounded by dense trees and foliage

Yep, it was the calm area in the bay. As soon as I got out into the open place, the wind was there. Still, it was not strong enough to make it uncomfortable. Just had to be smart with the clothes, balancing the sun and the wind.

Green conical island rising above black rocky shoreline
Turquoise tide pool among jagged lava rocks under cloudy sky
Coastal view framed by foliage with small green island
Cloudy bay view toward distant cliffs and town buildings
Columnar basalt cliffs with waves crashing on boulder shore

As my hotel is on the trail just a kilometer before the trail end, I checked in, dropped my backpack and went to get my stamp afterward. Nice to be back to the familiar places.