Disappointing day with a bait and switch, but got to see a little bit of Jeju Island.
Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc116
Tour
We were going to go hiking and go up Hallasan to see some views and get out of the crowds a bit. When we got off the ship, our guide did a little bait and switch on us, and said we wouldn’t be able to see anything with the hike due to fog, asked for an additional $150 dollars and then took us down the coast instead to some spots he wanted to take us. Didn’t think much about it until we got back to the ship and saw other people had gone up Hallasan and had views just fine. Working with ToursByLocals for some sort of remediation.
Red and White Horse-Shaped Lighthouse
First stop was a twin pair of horse lighthouses. Didn’t spend a ton of time here, saw them and then were rushed away to the next place.
Gueom Stone Salt Flats
Interesting salt flats and some views. Walked around a bit and took in the views for a bit. At one point, the guide made a really unsavory comment to us about being single, and I was already getting annoyed and a little irritated as well.
Aewol Cafe Street
Last stop, we stopped at Aewol Cafe Street and our guide just dropped us off and told us to be back after a couple hours. We were just on our own to wander up and down the coast.
Ocean Walking Path
Walked down the path for quite a ways just taking in the views.
Back at the main area, we went looking for the BBQ place our guide had pointed out to us.
Sukseongdo Aewol
The highlight of the day, we got to go get some Korean BBQ. Really nice to enjoy a meal, and watch them cook it for us, and but some sauces and additional veggies, etc. on the meat before we ate it. Delicious bites, wasn’t terribly cheap, but not outrageously expensive either.
Final Thoughts
The tour itself was ok, although it was way too expensive for what it was (a glorified taxi, since there wasn’t a ton of actual guiding that happened). Additionally, the fact that we got denied our original tour while others on the ship were able to go was a double whammy on top of that. Would definitely come back to Jeju Island, but definitely would not trust this guide again, and pretty disappointed in ToursByLocals for having a guide that did this kind of sketchy bait and switch off the ship. Working with them to see if there’s anything we can do about this unfortunate situation.
Vibe Check
1 part joy – delicious bbq
4 parts anger – ridiculous
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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