Jeju Island

Seung Ah and I decided to go away on a long weekend to Jeju Island. None of us had been there before. We were pretty excited. I organized the logistical part of the trip and made our schedules, while she took care of the reservations.

Day 1

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and the cab company we hired for the weekend was late. But we were really excited and when the guy finally arrived, he was very helpful. We hopped in and headed straight to our first destination.



One of the interminable pictures taken of us



I wanted to see this circus/horse show Lonely Planet mentioned was interesting (I trust Lonely Planet with all my trips) and so when we arrived at the Green Resort we went straight for the horses in the paddock. We were offered a ride for a fee (rather expensive, by the way). Here I was thinking that I would really be able to go for a stroll in the bright sunlight with the fresh green grass surrounding us. It was pretty hilarious, actually. After taking interminable pictures of us on the horses, the men then proceeded to lead the horses down a lane and back again. That was our ride! They were holding onto the reins the whole time! And to add insult to injury, Seung Ah, who had never been on a horse, got to canter in the paddock alone, but they held onto my reigns as my horse cantered regardless of the fact that I had taken horseback riding lessons once upon a time in my youth. I guess they didn’t want to take any chances with the waygook (foreigner)!



After the riding experience, the show was to begin, so we headed inside. The building was a bit run-down, as were the costumes the people wore, but they were amazing. According to Lonely Planet, these are Mongolians, but from what Seung Ah understood, they were Chinese. They didn’t even speak any Korean. The music during the performances ranged from meringue to classical to new age…interesting and strange. The average age of the performers was probably about 16 years old. I had a twinge inside when thinking of the child labor, but what can you do? The acrobats looked really tired, bored or upset and their costumes were both too big and too old, but they were truly incredible athletes. The pictures should prove that to you.



Green Resort Show



After the bedraggled look of the acrobats, the horseback riders seemed like polar opposites. They were positively glowing and that glow was particularly obvious in a six year old boy who rode horses as if he had been raised by them. His pride in accomplishing each feat brought spontaneous laughter and applause amongst the crowd, particularly when he would leap off the horse, raise his arm and smile triumphantly. Though he seemed way too young to be doing this, he also seemed to love it. I don’t know the truth about it, but it was a great show nonetheless.

After the show we headed to the first of two waterfalls we would see on the trip. The first, Jheongbangpokpo, is one of only a few waterfalls in the world that empties directly into the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking. The sun was of the late-afternoon variety so the light was softer and shadows were cast upon the smoothed-out volcanic rock. Upon first sight, the view was reminiscent of those paradisal scenes in movies like The Blue Lagoon and The Sleeping Dictionary with the exception of 20 or so people already there admiring it.



Jheongbangpokpo



We stayed there for a while and then headed off to another waterfall, Cheonjiyeonpokpo. This is the biggest waterfall on Jeju Island, but there wasn’t much water. The rainy season isn’t during spring here, but rather in the monsoonal summers. The waterfall is in the middle of a beautifully tended park which would be nice to visit regardless of the state of the waterfall. As it is currently the rainy season, it would probably be best to see this waterfall now.



In the touristy part of the park I bought a summer bag made of cotton and dyed with onions, persimmons and wormwood. I’ve taken a picture. I also purchased a calligraphy made by a Buddhist monk. The man on the paintings was a well-known Buddhist wise man and the sayings are all related to finding happiness and well-being in your life. Pretty inspiring.

Seung Ah insisted we go to the Sex Museum afterwards, so we did. Among the other drawings and things, they had pictures of natural formations from around the world shaped as genitals. The most interesting thing for me was a reproduction of a traditional Korea home long ago where houses were still made of papyrus, like in Japan. When newlyweds would retire to their honeymoon suites, people would sneak up outside and wet a finger with their tongue. Then they would place that wet spot on the papyrus which would dissolve, creating a tidy little hole from which they could watch their own little live porno show. It’s was hilarious! As conservative as Korea is, there are those moments when you are surprised by these little stories.

 

After that busy afternoon, we were pretty hungry. We wanted to try some local food and the cab driver suggested we try horsemeat. Interestingly enough, I had spent 3 years in France and had never tried horsemeat though they sold them in supermarkets, but I was all for it here. Jeju Island is known for its horsemeat. We went to a restaurant that specialized in horsemeat and God help us, that’s all they served! We had the most insane experience! We ate everything they served us and believe me, they served us some pretty crazy things; from bone marrow tonics to raw vocal cords, raw liver and raw testicles (yes, you read correctly, and they were actually pretty good!).



Our appetizer: raw horse pieces



Day 2

On the second day there, we woke up at 6:15a.m. in order to get ready to hike up the tallest mountain in South Korea. This sucker is not a steep climb, but oh my God is it ever a bitch! For some reason I am still unable to understand, the trail we went up was lined with volcanic rock (by the way, Jeju is a volcanic island). So imagine hiking uphill for 4 ½ hours on a trail that is made up of craggy and sharp volcanic rock. What were they thinking?! If you ever go there, keep in mind that this is the Songpanak trail. I was cursing it the whole way up! When we got to the top we were soaked through with sweat, but the sense of accomplishment on reaching the summit was awesome. We could see three quarters of the island as well as the surrounding sea and that’s when I realized how small the island really is. In fact, Lonely Planet suggests that you take about 5 days and bike around the island. I’m not a biker, but in theory it sounds nice.

Finally survived the hike!

After a simple meal we were pretty beat, so we decided to head back down. This time we took another trail down which was actually even harder on the legs because, by then, we were so weak that each step jarred the knees, put stress on the ankles and forced us to rest on the way down in order to stabilize our shaking legs. It took us another 3 hours to get down. Every time we though we were done, there was another slope to go down and even some uphill moments every time we exited a ravine. We were practically crying from exhaustion by the time we got back to the entrance of the park.

It was 4pm by then and a new cab driver picked us up taking us to a place called mysterious road. This is a road that seems to be going downhill, but when you stop the car, it seems to be rolling backward up the hill! It’s a pretty cool optical illusion. After that little hiatus, the driver told us that Mini Mini Land was a worthwhile trip. We were so tired we just let him take us. That was probably the only regret I have about the trip. This place is like a Legoland except for the fact that the buildings aren’t made of Lego. Definitely not something you want to walk through after having hiked for 8 hours.

After that walk-through was abbreviated (I could barely walk, regardless of the fact that I was grinning through it), we headed to Songsan Illchulbong, hands down my favorite place in Jeju. It is a small coastal town and we stayed in a minbak there (the Korean name for apartment style rooms with their own kitchens). It’s the Korean equivalent of a bed and breakfast. Below the minbak was a restaurant and, for lack of interest or ability to walk far, we had dinner there. We were the only customers, but I had the best broiled fish of my entire life in that place. It was mackerel and it just melted in my mouth. I’ve eaten it since returning to Seoul, but have yet to taste one as good as the one on Jeju Island (it could also have been the fatigue rendering me delirious, but I doubt it). We also had a seafood soup and I ate my first sea snail in its shell. The shell was so beautiful that I adopted it. It tastes like lambi (conch). We also had what was my first taste of Raspberry wine (bokbuncha). It’s very sweet, but quite good. Later that night we crawled into bed and fell into an exhausted sleep, knowing we would have to get up at the crack of dawn the next day and hike up a crater.

Day 3

We woke up at 4:45a.m., slipped on our clothes and hobbled up the quiet, dark streets towards the looming mountain. We were in so much pain, but you know what they say. Get back on the horse. Songsan Illchulbong is known for its spectacular sunrises. The idea is to get to the top of this mountain crater and watch the sun rise, hence the early start up the mountain. What was good about this place is that they have placed steps the whole way up and it’s a fairly small mountain, in comparison to Halla mountain. But imagine the pain we were in as we walked up flights of stairs for about 30 minutes. All the adjumas (middle-aged women) and adjoshis (middle-aged men) were speeding by us. It was as though we had exchanged bodies for that walk up there.

View from Songsan Illchulbong

Unfortunately, the sky was too cloudy to see the sun rise, but there was a peace and a beauty on the top of that mountain that I’ll never forget. We could even see Halla mountain, the mountain we had climbed the day before, in the distance. It made the trip and the pain and fatigue completely worth it. We stayed up there for a while before finally headed back. This was our last day here and we wanted to make the best of it.

We returned to the minbak, took a nap and then headed out to the pier where we took a ferry to Udo Island (Cow Island). This island is an absolute pearl. Absolutely beautiful and pristine. By then it had started to drizzle (our luck had held until that time). The bus tours going around the island were a bit disorganized and there didn’t seem to be any maps of the island, but the drivers were dynamic and funny (Seung Ah was my translator during the whole trip to Jeju, bless her!).

There are three main beaches that Udo is known for. On that small island they have a black sand beach, a white sand beach and a coral beach. When we got to the coral beach we didn’t understand why it was called this, but we were told that during high tide when the sun is shining, the water takes on a coral color from the crushed coral/sand floor. We were a bit disappointed because we didn’t get a chance to see that.

Haenyos resting

The best part of this trip was the haenyos. Haenyos are part of the history of Jeju and Udo Islands. These are among the hardest working women in the history of this country. Traditionally, only women could become haenyos, or free divers. They would dive for fish and shellfish and could hold their breath for up to two minutes. Over the last 50 years, women have stopped carrying on the tradition and have opted for jobs that are less difficult. As a result, the only haenyos left these days are in their 50s or more. They are still diving. We saw a whole group up them under a gazebo; resting I guess. There must have been a good 40 of them. It was so exciting to see these legendary women in their wetsuits, with their masks on their heads. Later on, we were even luckier to see them working! They were splashing about in the water, the flippers making flapping noises as they reached for the seafloor.

After seeing that, (which was my reason for wanting to come to the island), we headed back to the ferry. By then it had started to rain steadily and heavily. We had an uninspiring lunch of seasoned galbi from a black pig (grilled pork; I’ve eaten way better in Seoul; I think it’s safe to say that if you go to Jeju, focus on the horsemeat and the seafood; don’t bother with the rest). I did get a chance to try yet another new thing that afternoon, an alcoholic drink called mackoli. It is made from rice and some kind of corn meal, I think. In any case, I wasn’t crazy about it because it tasted similar to beer, which has that bitter starchy taste. For those beer lovers, you should enjoy this.

After lunch, we went to a traditional Korean village which has existed for over 400 years. People still live in these villages and keep them in beautiful shape, offering to give free visits in exchange for your willingness to buy something from their little store. I was all for that. The folk-village was called Song-Eup and it was beautiful. It was raining quite steadily and we were given umbrellas for the trip. There we saw the legendary Harubang, which are statues dating back over 250 years that are spread out throughout the island of Jeju. The harubangs’ purpose is a bit of a mystery. They are quite reminiscent of the Easter Island sculptures. People don’t know why they were made, but they are really cute and the theory is that if you touch the nose of a harubang, you will have a boy. If you touch its ear, you will have a girl. It is also said that the harubangs that have their right hand placed above their left represent government workers and the educated population. The ones with the left hand over the right represented the warriors.

Harubangs

I gladly bought something from the store, a concentrated form of tea syrup that you’re supposed to mix with hot or cold water. It is called Omidjacha, or 5 flavors tea. It’s delicious: sweet and tart at the same time. It’s supposedly good for colds too. I’ve been drinking it cold, very refreshing!

After the folk village we headed to Stone Park. By then the rain was lashing away at us and our pants and jeans were soaked through, but we pushed on and into a beautiful world of ancient rock croppings and volcanic remnants. It was very green and very peaceful and interestingly enough, the rain meant that there were few people there and so I felt as though I had stepped into an enchanted land, devoid of others save Seung Ah; a world a thousand years old. It was really magical. We went to the Rock Museum there, but unless you are into geology, I wouldn’t recommend it. There was a lot of focus on the volcanic history of the island and the age of the rocks etc… Those of you Discovery Channel fanatics would probably love this, but it was a bit boring for me. I love science, but I prefer living things.

Stone Park

After leaving the Rock Museum and Stone Park, we headed to the Manjanggul, an underground lava tube. It was really cool but the steps going down were really hard on us because of the pain that we continued to experience. The pictures I’ve taken didn’t turn out so well because I didn’t bring my big flash with me, but hopefully you’ll get an idea of what it’s like to be walking through where lava once flowed. The ground and walls had smooth and rough grooves running through them and there was quite a bit of explanation as to what the different kinds of lava flows were called. I didn’t know there were different names, but I’m here to inform you that yes indeed, there are! I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if we hadn’t been so exhausted and in so much pain, but I’m really happy we got to go.

Manjanggul: striations left by a lava flow

We returned to Seoul that night and had an extra day off the next day to sleep and stretch. Just to let you know, my legs, especially my calves, were on fire for a week after that trip. I’ll never climb that mountain again! ;)

If you ever go to Jeju Island, a word of advice, climb Halla mountain on your last day; this will help you avoid being in pain for the rest of the trip.

P.S. Check out these pictures and another album full of pictures from our day in Everland, the most famous amusement park in South Korea. I went with Seung Ah, Jong In and Jae Jin. It was a blast. There are tons of pictures of this trip. Jae Jin went on a shooting spree!