More than one person recommended Udo Island for a visit during our school break. September weather here is beautiful: still hot and sunny with a fresh sea breeze. It isn't a far car drive to Seongsan and from there it is a 15 minute ferry ride. We set off with enthusiasm for a day exploring what literally translates as 'cow island'. Being small in size, the island doesn't allow tourists to drive rental cars there, and most people use the ferry port carpark and walk on. We planned to take our car over, but there was no clear sign allowing us to drive on. We drove around the carpark and then exited. Someone asked us for a ticket using the universal sign language of making a rectangular shape with their fingers. We managed to communicate that we had no ticket and were pointed towards a white building in the carpark we just left.
So we drove around and back in, parked the car and walked around looking for a ticket office. Inside we had to fill out 4 forms and prove that we owned our car. Then we were handed a brochure for 'The Mysterious Island' with a ferry timetable that was crossed out in red pen.
With no scheduled departure time, we simply followed some other cars to a ferry and waited. Then I watched in horror as they began boarding cars by asking them to reverse onto the ferry. Now I am aware, and confused, by the Korean obsession with backing into parking spaces. It seems unnecessarily difficult and I am not very good at it. But to load a ferry full of vehicles in reverse just seems like you are asking for trouble. Fortunately Jon was driving and did his best. At one point the attendant put his arm inside our car, took hold of the steering wheel and guided us into a tight spot.
As soon as we were out of port we went out on deck to get a good look at this mysterious island. It is supposed to look like a cow lying down in the water, but I just couldn't make it out. The brochure explained the mystery by pointing out the eight great sights hidden on this tiny island. We never were able to locate the sights with confidence as I believe some are either underwater, or only accessible by private boat. We did enjoy the seagulls following the ferry and grabbing chips out of peoples hands or diving down to pick them out of the air.
We had not yet had coffee, so we stopped at the first cafe we saw. The parking spots outside were all taken by small pink covered scooters with bunny ears. These were everywhere, along side 4 seater pedal and electric bikes. Tourists had many options when it came to getting around. I also noticed some waiting for the bus. I briefly looked for shells on the white beach and was surprised not to find any. I later found that this beach is made up entirely of red algae casings which are quite rare, and protected.
Udo Island is famous for its freshly homemade peanut ice cream, and encourages visitors to stop at the many beachside shops to sample it. However, we found most places crowded, with no parking. We kept on driving round the island thinking we would find a less busy place, but wound up back at the ferry terminal. So we missed a chance to eat, but we never passed up a chance to get out of the car and walk along the rocky shore line and appreciate the views of Jeju's Hallasan mountain and all the oreums dotted about.
I was able to unravel one mystery of the island after some research online. One coastal path took us around the back of a property with onion shaped domes and Greek statues on top of columns. This turned out to be a theme park called Hundert Wasser Park. Friedrich Stowasser, better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian visual artist, architect and activist. Hundertwasser stood out as an opponent of "a straight line", expressing this concept in the field of building design, which explains the unusual park buildings. This park doesn't have rides, but just art exhibitions. I'm not sure how many paying visitors it gets a year, but it is another option for those who don't want to climb up to the light house. Next time I visit I will definitely leave the car behind, rent a bunny-eared scooter, stop for peanut ice cream and coffee often, and visit Hundertwasser Park. Who knew there was enough on this small Cow Island for more than one visit.
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