Jeju Island is the lergest island in Korea and makes up almost 2% of Korea's land mass. Before this trip, i had never heard of Jejudo, but the Seoul to Jeju air route is the most traveled in the world. On average, a flight lands on Jeju Island every 7 minutes, and the volume of travelers was evident by the queue at the taxi stand.
So why is this place so popular? I think it s because of the variety of activities, geology, beaches, and accommodations that can mixed and matched for families, singles, and world travelers interested in UNESCO-recognized sites.We started our pre-booked full-day all-island tour with a private driver at 8 am. Mr. Kim was a very pleasant man about my age who had learned his English on the job. It was pretty rough, so i made liberal use of Google Translate with my roaming plan. Between Mr. Kim and Wikipedia, we learned a lot about the island, its volcanic geology and the fascinating cultural history of the free-diving Haenyeo.
1. Woljeongri Beach - originally a fishing village and now hosts dozens of watersport rentals and coffee shops. We walked out to the pier and handed over our phones to Mr. Kim, who we quickly realized intended to be our tour photographer. Thanks to him I had over 200 photos and videos to go through at the end of the day.
2. Seongsan Ilchulbong Marine Provincial Park is the eastern most part of the island and an unbelievably beautiful volcanic tuff cone.
3. Haenyeo Museum - celebrated and documented the history and community of women divers, many now over 70 years old, who gather shellfish and other sea life from the volcanic reefs. Throughout the island, we saw little blue houses painted with images of the Haenyeo that serve as changing rooms and meeting spots for the different the Jeju haenyeo collectives. We didn't see any haenyeo in the water, but in two locations i saw a group of older women sitting together with baskets that could have been post diving. It was through learning about the Haenyeo that we learned about the 1948 “4.3 Uprising” on Jeju Island. After separating from Japan's colonial rule in the 1940s, there were disagreements among groups as to how the new Korea should be governed. It could either seen as a courageous demonstration of islanders who wanted reunification with North Korea, or a communist insurgancy against democratic rule established by the mainland. Unfortunately, the crackdown of the military on the islanders resulted in the massacre of ~ 30,000 people or10% of Jeju's population).
4. Seopjikoji Coastal Walk - What struck me during our time spent on this around the island, and here especially, was the similarity of climates in Jeju and at home, and the number of plant species that I recognized. Japanese farfugium, Japanese fern, rain lilies, fall asters, etc.
5. Sangumburi Crater - It may be hard to see this volcanic crater in my photo because it is now covered with vegetation, but it is the center of a protected natural area and named for its resemblance to a rice storage area (sangumburi in Korean). The park included not only the crater, but acres of billowing sawgrass, and a notable collection of firs, cedars, and rock carvings.
6. Jeju Stone Culture Park - As a volcanic island, rocks are everywhere, and are so important to the Jeju Island culture, building methods, and historical religious beliefs that there is an entire museum and park dedicated to the geology and uses of volcanic stone. The immensity of the stone carvings and the unique designs easily made this my favorite stop on the trip. I wish we had had more time, but we spend enough time to see the geologic museum and hall of lava balls, the Grandfathers gathering, a collection of old millstones and door markers.
7. Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall - It is the only fall in Korea where water falls directly into the sea and it was packed when we went, but worth the view. The round stones at the base of the waterfalls were also cool.
8. Yongmeori Coast and Basalt Columns - We next went to an area of basalt columns, similar to what I have seen in Iceland and Mom has seen in both Iceland and Ireland, but with the benefit of being lower so that we could more easily see the hexagonal shapes of the columns on top. The contrast of the columns with the ocean and the intensly blue sky these columns my favorite. As we were exiting area, we stopped for some of the famous Hallabong tangerine juice and ice cream. It was here that we learned that the King Cherry Tree is native to Jeju Island and that there is a large cherry blossom family here each April.
9. Hyeopjae Beach for Sunset
10. Handam Coastal Walk where we watched the sky turn orange and purple against the shadows of volcanic rock and wind turbines.
After a large lunch of vegetarian bimbimpap at a small family restaurant outside of the Sangumburi Crater, we skipped dinner and went straight to our hotel. We repacked to get ready for tomorrow and were asleep by 9.
Breakfast at Hotel Leo
(Vegetarian Bimbimpap #1)
Hyeopjae Beach for Sunset
That's a lot in one day!
ReplyDeleteChris’ blog amazes me. With all we have been doing so far, how does she find time to write all this?? Alla, her mother 🤪
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