Day 10 (July 10, 2026): Jeju - what a special place. Now, off to Mongolia!


Last night, we made a decision: instead of beating it around again this morning and trying see more sights, we decided to stay close to the hotel until check-out time and relax for the morning. The sights of yesterday gave us a good idea of Jeju, and we were content to leave it at that.  We still got up by 7AM, after the first good night’s rest in several days.  We did a 4KM walk along the waterfront, enjoyed the hotel’s top notch breakfast, and sat by the pool for an hour.  The hotel allowed us to extend our check-out time, from 11AM to noon, for the cool sum of 22,000 won ($21 CAD), and we maxed out that extra hour to the last minute. At high noon, we called an Uber and were at the pick-up point for the convenient coach to the Jeju Airport soon after.  

The coach ride took just an hour. We got a bite to eat at the insanely busy and crowded Jeju Airport, checked in for the flight, and then spent an hour in the Korean Airlines Lounge before our short flight to Cheongdu at 5:30PM.  Despite a 30 minutes delay in the onward flight to Ulaanbaatar, the evening in Cheongdu went quickly.  I enjoyed a huge bowl of bubbling and spiced beef soup (Pam passed on it, as she wasn’t hungry) before heading through customs and security.

The flight to Ulaanbaatar was packed to the rafters with Mongolians and Koreans, who, like us, were no doubt heading to Mongolia for the Independence Day celebrations tomorrow and the start of the Nadaam Games.  We had arranged a driver to take us from the new Ulaanbaatar Airport, 52KM south of the city, to our hotel in central Ulaanbaatar.  Customs formalities were easy, our bags were delivered efficiently, and the driver met us as planned. We arrived at our hotel at 2AM for a few hours of sleep before the big day ahead.  And that’s where I’ll leave things for tonight: exhausted after a long travel day, but excited to finally be in Mongolia!

Scenes from our early morning walk along the waterfront








Another statue, commemorating the haenyeo of Jeju.








You can’t help but be amazed at the greenhouses literally everywhere on Jeju! They line the highways, they fill the countryside, they even occupy urban spaces. Look at the Google Maps photo of Jeju below: the vast majority of the lighter colour occupying the perimeter of the island is comprised - not of buildings, but of greenhouses! It’s absolutely mind boggling. Greenhouses on Jeju grow a mix of tropical fruits, cacti, orchids, and seasonal flowers. Because Jeju has a warm climate, these glass buildings help keep delicate plants safe from strong winds.




A hodgepodge of quirky / interesting observations from Korean life

Koreans love to collect stamps of the sights they visit. This is a typical stamp point.

The island’s roads are strictly controlled by speed cameras, with speed zones quickly changing. In some ways, I was relieved the rental car situation didn’t pan out.


Koreans love their coffee and esports so-based beverages. There are coffee shops everywhere!


This is a unique Korean thing: beverage bottles with no labels. Never have I seen this before!


The citrus crop of Jeju is extensive. Oranges and freshly squeezed orange juice are in abundant supply.


The Koreans have a thing for white cars.


Another unique Korean thing: dedicated pedestrian crosswalks for each direction. This is the standard for all crosswalks.


A street is named in honour of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was partially hosted in Seogwipo.


No one builds monster apartment complexes like the Koreans! Okay, perhaps the Chinese do, too. Notice the seemingly endless rows of carbon copy apartment buildings in the background.


Korean airports make you stand and watch a monitor until your suitcase passes through the x-ray machine and is cleared to go. This applies to every checked bag, whether domestic or international.

Even security for domestic flights separates Korean citizens from foreigners. We expect it is a way of for the government o track the movement of foreigners within the country.



Baggage belts in both Japan and Korea have this protected zones, which you cannot stand in, unless immediately retrieving a bag from the belt. It makes so much sense!


Jeju Airport is insanely busy, with countless widebody jets connecting Seoul to Jeju. I was excited to see both the old (right) and new (left) Korean Airlines livery on two Airbus A330 widebodies.


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