Jeju Island

Well we've gone from the hustle of big-city Busan, to the tranquility and quiet of Jeju Island. Jeju is a small volcanic island about the size of Maui that sits just south of mainland Korea. We've been here for five nights and it has been extremely restorative. We rented a car and even though that part was a little stressful (incomprehensible road signs! bizarre driving behavior! no-rules roundabouts!) the ability to drive ourselves all over the island was completely worth it. Before we checked into our hotel, we took a scenic drive along the northern coast and were lulled by the deep blue and turquoise waters along the Handam Coastal walk.

The Aewol Coastal Road is a very scenic stretch with a charming area called Aewol Cafe Street. Coffee and desserts are a big part of Korean culture and you find cute cafes everywhere.

I'm not going to give you a day by day log of our time here, but instead I'll focus on a few things that Jeju Island is known for. Would you believe that South Korea’s tallest mountain is not on the mainland but offshore on this volcanic island? It’s about 6,400 feet tall and it’s pretty much visible from most places on the island, especially in the south.

We didn’t hike the whole mountain but we did visit the national park. Mount Hallasan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Volcanic eruptions from nearly 200,000 years ago right up to about 2500 years ago formed the island of Jeju.

We went partway along the Eoseungsaengak Trail (say that five times fast!). The climate and rich volcanic soil make for a diverse and varied ecosystem of trees, plants, and animal life. 

Jeju is also well known for having great hiking trails. We started seeing these little flags everywhere. They mark Olle trails. This system of 27 interconnected hiking trails was created by Suh Myung-sook who was inspired by the Camino de Santiago in Spain. 

There are 430 kilometers of trails here; they mostly follow the coast line and are easy to navigate if you look for the little flag markers. We had a really nice morning hike along trail #7 which wasn’t far from our hotel on the south coast. 

The great thing about the trails is that they are urban trails and often pass right alongside some cafes and restaurants with amazing views. 

Another highlight of Jeju are the waterfalls. We saw several throughout the week. One site, Cheonjeyeon, actually had a series of three waterfalls, although the first one only flows after a heavy rain. But we were able to see fall #2:

And after a long series of stairs we also saw Cheonjeyeon waterfall #3: 

Not far from there is another waterfall, Cheonjiyeon. (Not to be confused with Cheonjeyeon Falls - there is an i instead of an e. Honestly I have no idea if the pronunciation is even different. Regardless, I know I am pronouncing them completely wrong either way - I made inroads with Japanese but I am completely clueless with the language here in South Korea). 

And finally Jeongbang waterfall which supposedly is the only waterfall in Korea where the water falls directly into the sea, although you can’t tell it from the photo angle here!

Because of the volcanic activity that formed the island, there are many interesting rock formations and caves. The flat plateau of Beomseom Island was visible from the entire south coast, and our hotel pool had a spectacular view of it. 

There is an amazing cave system (Manjanggul) that we would have liked to see, but it is currently closed for safety reasons. So we visited a different one, called Micheongul cave/lava tube. It was actually a pretty warm day outside, but the temperature inside the cave hovers between 57 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Another rock feature all around the island are sea stacks. This one is called Oedolgae pillar and its name roughly translates to “lonely rock”. 

Probably the second most scenic spot on the island is another tongue-twister. — Daepo Jusangjeollidae basalt cliffs. Here the water is so shallow and crystal blue in contrast with the dark gray-black of the rocks. 

Here’s a better shot showing the basalt columns that formed when hot lava rock contracted and cooled, creating polygonal five- and six-sided pillars. 

And definitely the most scenic place on the island in my opinion was the Seongsan Ilchulbong Tuff Cone. This volcanic cone formed about 5000 years ago after an underwater eruption. It was also the backdrop for watching the Haenyeo Demonstration. 

What is a haenyeo? The name literally means “sea women”, and these are a true cultural treasure of Jeju Island. There are about 2000 women who make their living by free-diving to harvest abalone, sea urchins, and octopus using traditional equipment without scuba tanks. 

The Haenyeo way of life has been put on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List because it is unique to the province of Jeju. Every day at 2pm, if the weather cooperates, the Haenyeo women share a bit of their way of life with tourists in a demonstration. First they sing a traditional song, then they hop in the water and show their skills at spotting and collecting the hard-to-see shellfish at the bottom of the bay. Typically the diving is done from a boat, and they are careful not to over-harvest any one area. 

Before we left on our trip we had watched an excellent documentary called “The Last of the Sea Women” on Apple TV. It was a very good film showing some of the hardships as well as the triumphs of these tenacious women who work in such a harsh and physically demanding environment up into their eighties. Very inspiring, if you’re looking for something to watch. 

It’s a difficult job, and the women who do it are strong, resilient, and fiercely independent. They often continue doing this work well into their 70s and 80s. However, as the Haenyeo divers age and retire, fewer and fewer young women are interested in doing this kind of strenuous and physical work. And it is work -- although these strong, fit ladies make it look easy! It was very memorable to watch them seem to swim effortlessly through the water. 

We also just lucked out with the beautiful sunny weather, the fabulous black sand beach, and green slopes of Seongsan behind us. 

Another cultural icon here in Jeju is the Dol Hareubang, or “stone grandfather”. These statues were traditionally placed outside the gate for protection against demons. But now they have become a cute symbol of the island and you can find them everywhere and especially at tourist attractions. 

Even though they are a part of the Jeju cultural heritage, the islanders don’t take them too seriously and we saw quite a few humorously posed grandfathers, like this “thinker”. 

And while I’m listing all the top things to see on Jeju, I should definitely include the fact that Jeju is known for being an island of flowers. 

There is a whole Winter to Spring to Summer schedule that I found on the web telling you what plant blooms when. A great place to see whatever is blooming at the moment is Camellia Hill Botanical Garden. The camellias are out of season (they hit their peak here from December to February) but there were still a few in the greenhouse. 

It's also a bit early for hydrangeas but inside the greenhouse they were blooming with varieties I'd never seen before.

We've seen many of the hydrangea shrubs out in the wild around the island. I imagine in June it's quite a sight to see all of them in bloom on the hillsides. 

One thing we've definitely seen growing all over the island is citrus. The Cheonhyehyang mandarin oranges here are the sweetest and most delicious oranges I've ever had. The name roughly translates to “perfume from heaven“, and that is an accurate description, in my opinion! They are seedless with a thin peel, like "cuties" at home, but slightly larger and definitely more sweet with no bitterness at all.

We kept seeing a citrus fruit called "hallabong" on all the menus. Hallabong tea, hallabong ade, hallabong tarts. As it turns out, a hallabong is just a sumo orange, and is recognizable by its distinctive topknot - which looks like a sumo wrestler hairdo or the peak of Mount Hallasan, depending on which country you’re from. Both “sumo” and “hallabong” describe the same fruit, originally bred in Japan and called "shiranui" in Japanese. Shiranui is a hybrid cross between Kiyomi and Ponkan (and ponkan was my favorite variety of the juices we tasted in Matsuyama, Japan — no wonder I like sumo oranges so much!) We bought some hallabongs from a roadside stand and they were delicious.

Jeju has really leaned into the citrus theme. Every roadside stand and gift shop on the island sells bright orange hats and shirts, and we've seen many other visitors wearing the cute bucket hats.

Jeju islanders have managed to combine a love of citrus with a love of tea. Nearly every cafe we went to had some form of hallabong tea, or green/unripe citrus tea. We tried several different concoctions, but our favorites ended up being a "sunset" hallabong and hibiscus tea and a green tangerine tea. 

Speaking of tea, we made a quick stop at the Osulloc Tea museum and plantation.

There was an aging room where they aged their teas in three different kinds of containers (cedar, camphor, and oak whiskey barrels). We did a tasting and the cedar and oak tasted fine, but Kevin thought the camphor tea tasted like Vicks VapoRub. Not surprisingly, we prefer the orange flavored teas.

So our relaxing week on Jeju has come to an end! Tomorrow we head back to mainland South Korea to discover more about the history and culture in the town of Gyeongju.