- map of the olle road-Picture: Joon Seok Lee
On Nov. 24, 2012, the 21st course, the last leg of Jeju Olle road, was open. After 5 years and two months since the first course was open in September of 2007, 26 courses of Olle road which circles the 425 km of Jeju have been completed.
Olle is a Jeju dialect which means a small alley from the house to the village. While the major mode of travel in the past used to be by car, Jeju Olle created the new genre of travel by ‘walking’ such that people walk slowly, being closer to the nature, interacting with village people, and directly experiencing the local culture.
Furthermore, Olle brings about walking craze not only in Jeju but in South Korea. The 21st course of Jeju Olle has a length of 10.7km, which starts at the museum of female divers leading up to the Jongdal Badang. Jong of Jongdal, the final destination of 21st course, means ‘terminate,’ and Shi of Shihung, the starting place, refers to ‘start.’ Given these meanings, Jeju Olle starts from Shihung and ends at Jongdal.
Yoon Jung-nam who came from Seoul said, “The 21st course is the one where we are most likely to see the appearance of the female divers and the scenery of the top of Jimibong is the highlight of this course.” She added, “What we can see the beautiful scenes of Jeju Olle should be credited to the concerns and wishes of Jeju Olle institution and many people who have made continuous efforts to complete the road circling Jeju Island along with the cooperation of the residents.”
In addition, a Jeju resident, Hong, Seoung-Eun said, “We hope that walking on Olle could provide people who are pressured with speed and works with relaxation and healing. By that way, Olle could become a road which produces the virtues of slowness and freedom.”
Jeju Olle has held the World Trail Conferences since 2010, continuously interacting with the world-famous trails and increasing its awareness among the world trail travelers through the Jeju Olle Walking Festivals. Jeju Olle is becoming a global walking journey beyond the domestic, which is heavily introduced in the ‘Lonely Planet,’ a recommended reading for the world traveler.
