This summer, I flew to Korea with my family of three (dad mum and sis).
To be honest, my family and I did not enjoy
Seoul, at all. Especially since we visited Jeju BEFORE Seoul, and we've already experienced the best, thus Seoul wasn't much of our expectation.
The places I wanna visit in Jeju are all over the island, plus I didn't know from one place to another are of at least 30mins away by car. Talking about taking bus //faint. My friends told me that taxis aren't really easy to get unless you call for it. My dad can drive, but I'm so scared that he would flare if I bring him to the wrong place, he's just so impatient T_T and also, I really have no idea how to plan my route. And tours are so ex, like say close to 80,000won per pax for a day??
Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour Team - Reliable, Highly recommended!
So anyway, its either Jeju City, or
Seogwipo. But they are so damn far apart. I'm staying at Jeju City, which is 10mins away from the airport. And most of the awesome places are at Seogwipo :(
Went to check out on tripadvisor and people actually recommended taxi tours (never heard of it before) and most reviews are good about them! Collected super many driver contacts and texted few of them.
Some either don't reply (rude ._.), already booked (texted like 2 days before my arrival :p), or replied me super late. Chanced upon this particular driver Mr. Lee Hong Min (010 9396 4498) under the Jeju Namyang Taxi Tour and he's the only one who replied asap, oh yes forgot to mention that I contacted through Whatsapp, they're available on Wechat, Kakaotalk etc too, if I'm not wrong. It's cool, then I don't have to wait for email replies which I don't even check, nor spend on overseas text/calls. However, due to my super last minute request, he was already booked
and recommended me another driver under his team, Mr. Ko Soon Tae (010 2553 1950). I'm totally cool with anybody to be honest, becuz I was too desperate. But, since I've got time, I went to google a bit on Mr. Ko and AW YEAS, found reviews on him, and they are all good and happy feedbacks :)
Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour Team - Reliable, Highly recommended!
My flight was slightly delayed on my arrival, and poor Mr. Ko had to wait for us outside, (I had no wifi and couldn't reach him) and I could immediately recognize him when I'm out (through his Whatsapp pic lol). He warmly greeted me and my family and he couldn't wait to bring us out to the car park so we can take pic with the airport behind us. We had more than one camera (throughout the trip) and he helped us with all (free professional camera man)! After that he made us guess which is his car (he hinted that his car was the only taxi around) and I immediately pointed
at the Jeju Nam Yang Taxi in front of us. He did mentioned that they are a lots of illegal "black cars" doing taxi tour too, and they charge around the same 110,000-150,000won as the legal ones. I read on forums that some are really unprofessional and some claimed that they can speak english which they can't, and worse, some didn't even charge accordingly.
Better safe than sorry :p
Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour Team - Reliable, Highly recommended!
After we settled down at the hostel, I went through with him the places I wanna visit (stole some from tour group sites) and I think I listed around four for day 1. He took less than 3mins, likea pro, he explained to me that there are actually places worth visiting and are not listed in my notebook (which will be along the way anyway) and suggested that we should perhaps drop by (meanwhile started listing down the additional places). I did tell him that we are tired, since we flew overnight and wish to rest early and we did managed to reach our hostel by 8pm (we left around noon) and oh my gosh I think we went at least 5 or 6 places for day1?? How good is that, and Mr. Ko didn't even wanna charge us extra supposed to stop at uh, 4pm? lol he just hoped that we would enjoy ourselves for the first day so we can get all hyped up for the next day.
While driving from one destination to another, which I've already mentioned, takes about 30mins to 1hour-tish, he kept telling my family to take a nap first, and he will wake us up when we're reaching. Meanwhile, he would open up the window and fresh air would enter the car, which we will never experience in the city (lol engines and pollutions).
Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour Team - Reliable, Highly recommended!
Also, we did not have to worry about our meals becuz he had everything planned properly and they are all affordable local food and its really a pity that my family has a small appetite and we didn't really enjoyed the food to its best :( Mr. Ko is really attentive, and started ordering smaller proportions for us after our first meal and made sure we won't overspent and waste food. He got my all my favorite food and brought us to really unusual places to have our meals which we will never get to experience in Singapore. Like buying fresh meat from the market and bringing it to the bbq place 5mins away, having jajangmyeon at the park, fried chicken at the beach
etc. So anyway, we kinda overslept the next day and skipped the free breakfast provided at the hostel, but Mr. Ko the great went to takeaway gimbap for my family and happily ate in the car. Oh yes btw, he cleans his car very often as the first day we actually went sandy places and messed up his car. But the next day it was clean again!
So on the second day, we went to several places (which again most are not from my list but I'm more than happy to visit) and we're really satisfied with all the greeneries and picture takings etc. Oh and I slightly mentioned that Hallasan was initially in my list and after much considerations that my folks won't be able to make it, I have to skip it. And the next thing I knew, Mr. Ko said he's gonna drop by Hallasan for me to take a quick pic! :D I was overjoyed. Plus, though he is not very keen with me visiting museums becuz its really quite a waste of money and time which
I agreed, but Teddybear Museum shouldn't be missed! :p So he dropped me sis and mum there, and he's so nice to bring my dad to the waterfall instead hehehehe so thoughtful! :)
And we 'somehow' met Mr. Lee Hong Min cuz a Jeju Namyang Taxi was driving past and Mr. Ko immediately recognized his team leader :) Mr. Lee looks like a very humble and nice man and he texted me on the first night to check if I'm good and also called Mr. Ko during our tour to ask how are we doing! :) It's really a pity not being able to book him, but I'm all good with Mr. Ko too, hope to see him next time then! So yes on our second day, supposedly 8hour, we freaginnnn ended after 11tish hours!!! And again!!!! Mr. Ko didn't want to accept our overtime fee, and he said he really want us to enjoy Jeju to the fullest since we are only here for a short trip. He even tried his best to make sure we can catch the sunset on our last night at Jeju :) how sweet~ Initially, we only booked him for two days. But Mr. Ko volunteered to send us off to the airport the next day! He even helped us to take our last picture outside Jeju airport again, lol and he even helped me with
check-ins etc. I really struggled a lot with check-ins to be honest, since I can't speak Korean, and wanna act smart take JejuAir T_T
Okay, but it doesn't ends here. When we're in Seoul, Mr. Ko texted me often. Like everyday, to check if we're having fun and all. He even recommended me places to visit and the local delights which I must try! Oh and the best thing is, he even collaged our photos into a short video clip and sent me and my sis through Whatsapp :)
Guys, if you're gonna visit Jeju one day, I highly recommend that you check out on taxi tours. Becuz you can save a lot and visit a lot of places at the same time as well. It's also important that you pick the right taxi company/drivers as well.
I remembered that the hostel that I'm staying at, we met Singaporeans on the second night and they're from the same uni as my sis. They said they opted for taxi tour too and went to 3 places. My family were like WHUT?! We went like at least 8 or more for the day, I really felt that they got cheated to the max. Okay so if you're really gonna visit awesome Jeju, let me share a few contacts and they're all reliable and perfect drivers for you.
Ko Gi Bong 010 9622 5832
Ko Soon Tae 010 2553 1950
Kim Choong Kun 010 6342 5688
Lee Hong Min 010 9396 4498
Lee Tae Young 010 9981 9320
You can also email them at nytaxi5445@hanmail.net
They're all from Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour, legal and inexpensive!
Have fun and all the best! ^^
Jeju Nam Yang Taxi Tour Team - Reliable, Highly recommended!
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g297885-i10493-k7585946-Jeju_Nam_Yang_Taxi_Tour_Team_Reliable_Highly_recommended-Jeju_Jeju_do.html
