Jeju adventure - Gwakji and beyond

Al's favourite beach on the island is at Gwakji on the north west coast

It is known for its spring water – there are open-air water baths for men and women

This cafe serves great fish and chips (excellent catfish)

For more photos of this great beach see Gwakji beach

Also on this coast is the fishing port of Hallim

... and Aewol

Jeju adventure - lava cave and a nutmeg forest

The Manjanggul Cave is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world. The cave is a designated national monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

A lava tunnel is formed when the lava spouts from deep in the ground and flows to the surface.

Manjanggul Cave has a variety of stalagmites and lava tube tunnels.

Only 1 km of the 13 km cave is open to the public

Then off to the Nutmeg forest

Bija-rim forest contains some 2,500 Torreya cunifera (nutmeg tree) aged 300-600 years old. 

Several rare parasitic plants grow within the trees. The fruits of the trees are used for medicinal purposes and for food. The wood is used in furniture. 

The New Millennium Nutmeg (shown here) is over 800 years old and is the oldest one in Korea – local residents wish the spiritual power of this tree to bring happiness, prosperity and health in the next Millennium. 

These stone grandfathers, wearing a traditional bowler hat and made of basalt, are called dol-hareubang. They are one of the famous symbols of Jeju.  Each dol-hareubang has a unique shape which is based on the administrative district from whence it came. The big-eyed dol-hareubang, which is commonly known and sold to tourists, is modelled on the one from Jeju-mok.

The common held views on the functions of the dol-hareubang are:

- to act as a guardian for health and prosperity of the community inside the castle.

- to provide a key religious function and prevent epidemics – it was thought that those that died of starvation or epidemics became evil spirits that would harm those who survived. To ward off these evil spirits people were ordered to put up dol-hareubangs outside the castle to protect the village

- to serve as a signpost designating the boundaries of a village so that those from out of town would not dare to pass the dol-hareubang to enter the castle.

Jeju adventure - quad biking on Udo

Udo Island is about 3.5km off the north east coast of Jeju - a 20 minute ferry ride from Seongsan.

View of Sunrise Peak (Seongsan Ilchulbong) from the harbour

Udo literally means “Cow Island”. It has this name because it looks like a cow lying down. 

We were told that the best way to see this small island was on quad bike... 

... so we donned our helmets and off we went

I have long had a wish to emulate those motorbike photographers you see on the Tour de France, so I rode pillion on Ann's quad and happily snapped away

The houses on the island were built before cars were commonplace so the roads are narrow and there are no traffic lights.

We spotted this sign near the beach - some useful do's and don'ts

The whole of the island is a lava plateau and a fertile flat land where sweet potatoes, garlic and peanuts are grown. . 

Peanut flavoured ice cream is a speciality on Udo

Jeju adventure - along an Olle

The olle walking paths on Jeju Island are 200km of connecting paths that will take travellers all along the south coast of the island. 

The Jeju Olle, which were inspired by the famous Pilgrim’s Trail in Spain, was made from the hidden, forgotten routes of Jeju Island, which cars cannot access.

The route will take you to forests, mountains, beaches, and remote places and offer unrivalled views over Jeju’s unique, dramatic, volcanic landscape. 

This particular olle took us up Dangsanbong - a hydrovolcanic edifice formed by explosive interactions of ground water and magma.
 .

There were spectacular views of the hinterland and the coastline

Splendid view of Chagwido, which comprises three islets, Daesom, Jisileeseom, and Wado. According to legend, an order to block 13 Hyeols (places of good spirit) on Jeju was given to a man named Hojongdan. However, he failed to complete his mission and on his return voyage a hawk suddenly turned into a storm and sank his ship. The name Chagwido means “Cannot go back” and was given from the belief that the mountain god of Mt Halla was angry and stopped Hojongdan from returning home. 

A Korean walker was having his lunch in the hut at the top of Dangsanbong - he had his bowls of Korean food neatly laid out on the table around him - he certainly came well prepared!

For details of this olle see Dangsanbong olle 

Sea level view of Chagwido

We travelled further down the coast to Songaksan

This mountain is also known as 99 Bong (99 peaks). The main peak rises 104m above sea level. There is also a crater about 500m in diameter and 80m deep

Along the jagged coastline are the large man-made caves built by local Koreans under the direction of the Japanese army during the Japanese occupation. 

The caves were built for suicide attacks using small ships against the fleet of the allied forces. The facility comprises 17 caves which were built into the cliffs by the forced labour of the Jeju residents.

Songaksan is also the end of Olle trail 10 - apparently walkers would stamp a book to verify that they had reached this point.

For more details of Olle trails see Olle Trails

Jeju adventure - Mermaids of Jeju

The Haenyeo diving women - known as the Mermaids of Jeju are representative of the matriarchial family structure of Jeju.

Haenyeo literally means “sea women”

They are skilled divers who can hold their breath for up to two minutes and dive to depths of 20 metres. They fish for abalone, clams and seaweed etc.

Unlike fishermen who go out in boats and use a rod and line, the haenyeo dive without any special equipment. All they take is a float to mark their location when they surface, a hoe to dig up the abalone and other shellfish and a net to hold their catch.

Until the 19^th century diving was done by men but it became unprofitable for them since the men had to pay heavy taxes for this work whereas women did not. Many women divers became the family breadwinners and “head” of the family – this clashed with Korea’s culture in which women had been treated as inferior. The administrators tried unsuccessfully to ban women from diving

In 1950 there were some 30,000 haenyo but by 2003 there were only around 5,000 registered as divers – 85% of these women were over 50. Now there are even less.

There is a wonderful book "Moon Tides" by Brenda Paik Sunoo about the Jeju grannies of the sea. See link for a review of the book Jeju Weekly review