Just because you cannot stand at the top does not mean you are unable to appreciate what it looks like, at least from somewhere down there. Ok. That is not me waxing about anything philosophical; this time, I am actually being literal. Just because I did not get the pleasure of standing at the top of Udobong does not mean I thought any less of it. (Although… yeah, it did suck a bit that we weren’t able to do that.)
Picking up from where we left off, when we were aboard the tour bus and on our way to the first stop, the skies finally decided to open up and just poured. Not just showers or trickles, mind you. It just poured and pelted. I was pretty sure I felt my spirits plunge down as well. And that of the other tourists inside the bus with us.
And so it happened that the tour bus made its full circuit, going back to the terminal, with us not having gotten off to do any exploration. It was still pouring when we had to get off the bus, ran off to some shed, and when even that cannot protect us from the rain and the wind, we took shelter inside the already full convenience store.
We waited a while for the rain to slow down a bit, purchased some plastic raincoats, put them on, then set out to at least go eat something.
The lunch was satisfying, at least. Halla-san Fried Rice totally revived our spirits (I will talk about that in a separate post). While we were eating, the rain stopped, the skies lightened, and we decided to go another round. Which meant we bought bus tickets again, and got on with our tour.
Udobong From A Distance
As you probably know by now, (if you’ve read my previous entry, that is) “Cow Island” got its name because it resembles a cow lying down, with its head up. That means one end of the island slopes up, and the highest point (or the cow’s head) is known as Udobong, or Udobong Peak.
Even if the rain has stopped and the skies were much friendlier, the soil was still wet from the downpour earlier. Which meant the trail to anywhere elevated is bound to be slippery and obviously precarious. I was not at all surprised when I saw the wooden gate leading up to the trail chained and locked, with signs warning anyone off.
I was disappointed, yes, but what can we do? Nature has spoken. We all must listen if we wanted to stay in one piece.
But anyone who is not up to hiking up to the peak can still view it directly across a cove, and that’s exactly what we did.
The other name for Udobong is “Someori Oreum“; someori means “cow’s head” and “oreum” means a secondary or parasitic volcano, which is technically a volcano formed from continuous volcanic activity in the area. Which is how the peak came to be.
So yes, technically, when you are standing at the peak, you are standing on a volcano.
The cow’s head is at the southernmost tip of the island, which means it overlooks the sea. It is said that if you stand at the peak, you can have a clear view of the whole mainland island of Jeju, including the famous Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak). Gawd, I wish we had the pleasure of confirming this, but… yeah. Obviously not at the time.
At the top, there is something that looks like a lighthouse. This site was especially helpful in showing me what I have missed, so enjoy the pictures, too!
Looking at the churning waters down below, it occurred to me that this might not be a safe place for swimmers, except for the hardcore expert ones, though. Because if the waves do not deter you, then the rocks probably would.
Still, it was a sight to see. And some people even went far down there to get closer to the spray, it seems.
This wide viewdeck of sorts not only has a parking lot for the buses and other motorized vehicles, but also lined with restaurants, cafes and stores. Even before we came here, we’ve had recommendations about trying out the Peanut Ice Cream.
And so we did.
And I will definitely talk about that at great length in another dedicated post. For now, let it be enough for me to say that it was a new experience. Was it spectacular and uber-special? I’ll… let you know then.
I think this place was made more famous because of the fact that some celebrities have come here and featured the place and the ice cream in several television shows. The most notable is definitely one of the reel couples of the now-defunct quasi-reality show “We Got Married”. I’m not sure which couple, though.
There is also this statue of a woman diver, which is another of the distinct marks of Jeju. Jeju is famous for its women divers, and it appears the same thing is true here in Udo. This statue stands in front of where the restos are, and before the stairs that lead down to the beach on the cove below.
From here, we could see a small cave or indentation under the cliff of Udobong, and saw people going there. And since we could not go up to the peak, we decided to go down there instead. After all, there were no signs warning us off anyway.
By the way, I learned on one of the signs that Jeju is also dubbed as a “Jeju Island Global Geopark”, which means that places like these are not uncommon. It’s exactly what one would come to expect of a geological park.
So what looked like a cave was actually a crevice that was still quite deep enough to be called a cavern, but does not go any further, really.
Unfortunately, there were some trash that have accumulated inside, and I suspect they were brought in by the tide when it rises.
Some parts were slippery due to the growth of moss, so you should watch your step. We ventured as far as we could, and as far as the “foot paths” would allow us. Fortunately, the current is not as strong over here, the waves having lost “steam” as they moved inside the cove.
After a while, we went back up. Oh, and saw this long tarp that had South Korea’s top MC and variety show star Yoo Jae Suk in it. Not sure what it’s for, but it’s probably about him featuring the place on one of his numerous shows.
And no, I do not think it is Running Man.
A part of me will always be really irked that the rain rained on my parade *cough* (I can’t believe I used that pun). Otherwise, we would have been able to hike up the trail to the peak. Aaargghhhhh~ *pulls hair out*
But ohwell.
So it was with a bit of heaviness in our hearts that we boarded a tour bus for the next stop of our tour. After all, we do not have the whole day to stay in Udo. *sigh*
It’d be nice to be back here again, though… when the weather is perfect for hiking up the the tip of the cow’s head.
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