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Jeju Olle Story
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"Olle" [Ole] is the Jeju word for a narrow pathway that is connected from the street to the front gate of a house. Hence, "Olle" is a path that comes out from a secret room to an open space and a gateway to the world. If the road is connected, it is linked to the whole island and the rest of the world as well. It has the same sound as "Would you come?" in Korean, so Jeju's "Olle" sounds the same as 'Would you come to Jeju?'.
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Jeju Olle's founder Suh, Myungsook used to be the chief editor of a weekly news magazine. She worked hard as a journalist, but after struggling to reach her dream job for twenty years and then being at the top of her profession for another fifteen years, she needed a rest. She was exhausted and her mind felt empty, so she set herself a new goal. She hoped that she could walk the road to Santiago (Camino de Santiago - 800km pilgrimage from France to Spain). Eventually she made her pilgrimage in September, 2006. She met a British woman at the end of the trip and they promised to share their comforts and happiness on the road with others when they returned to their homelands.
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She returned to her hometown, Jeju Island in Korea, and she decided to make a hiking trail that would be loved by walkers from all over the world. She and her team (a few volunteers) tried to find the hidden roads of Jeju, searching for lanes that cars cannot access, restoring old paths and creating new roads for hikers to explore.
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The first trail route was opened to the public in September, 2007. Since then, the Jeju Olle exploration team has created a combined total of 200km of walking trails in Jeju Island. Currently eleven trail routes have been opened to walkers and the trail exploration team is still working on new routes.
Jeju Olle hopes all walkers who explore the Jeju Olle trail routes gain "peace, happiness and healing" on the road. We've traveled at high speed so far, so it is time to give your soul a moment's rest.
