Korea is not a very very friendly place as the people there speak little english and not as helpful as the Japanese. Good thing is that the korean tourism organisation provide you with loads of information so that you are relatively independent in finding your way ard. Dining will be another hurdle to cross
Jeju, being a small island far far far away from Seoul is difficult to navigate. The bus Transport system is not easy to navigate (according to my colleague) and there is no subway. luckily cab fares is equivalent to Singapore standards (Compared to Seoul, which cab rates are sky high).
But it will do you well to take land tours instead. After A LOT OF EFFORTS, i discover this amazing tour package that brings you to all the must-see places in Jeju. Most of the other itenary are not as interesting i think. You need 2 days to complete the tour ard the island. The tour leader (She’s not a guide cos she only brings you ard, but do not really explain anything abt jeju to you) was darn pretty and speaks good english. She also bought ice-creams for us en-route, which tasts GREAT!
The teddy bear museum and Halla mountain is not included. So you may need an additional day if those are in your list of must-go.
We took the land tour to Nami Island (where winter sonata is filmed) and 大长今 park. There was supposed to be a 3rd location but we never made it there cos we were so caught in the traffic jam, it was too late to go there. But actually, the 3 places are pretty far apart so i am not so sure if all 3 places can be completed in 1 day, even without difficult road conditions.
The tour owner (i think she works alone) is a very nice person who keeps buying us stuff to eat. (Mashita!!! Means tastes great in korean) She speaks relatively good english (this is hard to come by in Koreans) and is willing to teach us how to get to places that we were planning to go later. So that was really sweet.
do not underestimate the power of talk…. much of the information is posted by people who have been to the country or locals… a good alternative source of information. Much less can be said of the book hotels section though…
I came across this site which is essentially a middle agent for the numerous tour agencies (chinese operated ones) who offer land tours in USA. Quite cheap. Problem is they pick you up on the street so depending on your luck, it may be difficult to find the pick up location.
Lucky for me, both my land tours pick up along the same street in Chinatown LA, so I did not have issues finding the right place. Do note that you are not allowed to bring your luggage onto the Hover Dam and Canyon (After 911, things are a lot tighter), so i had to leave my luggage at the tour agency and bring a backpack. Luckily nothing was missing when I retrieve it 3 days later. (I suppose they have a reputation to protect.) But i did worry abt it a lot….