Jeju Island: Exploring a Gem of the Pacific

Last week, two friends and I decided to take advantage of our final long weekend in the country during Seollal (설날) - also known as the Lunar New Year - and hop on a ferry to what is reputed to be the most beautiful place in all of Korea - Jeju-do!

Recreations of the famous Jeju hareubang statues.

For those who don't know, Jeju (제주) is a small (73km by 41km) oval-shaped volcanic island 130km off the southwest tip of the Korean peninsula. Famed for it's beauty and often called 'the Hawaii of Korea', Jeju was recently named one of the New 7 Wonders of the Natural World - and I have to say, even in winter, Jeju lives up to it's hype.

Exploring the rock formations on the southern coast of Jeju.

While the 2 million year old island is literally littered with mini extinct volcanoes (360 of them to be exact), volcanic craters and lava tubes surrounding the main volcano of Hallasan (한라산) - also Korea's tallest mountain, coming in at 1950m (more on that in the next post!) - these are only part of what make the island so spectacular.

In addition to having a unique geology, Jeju's relative isolation has given it a unique cultural history. While Jeju was eventually annexed by the mainland Goryeo Dynasty in 1105 and the Mongols after that, then returned to Korea with the takeover by the Joseon Dynasty (who used it as a place to send political exiles) in 1404, and thus has shared much of it's more recent history (such as Japanese occupation) with the mainland, prior to this, Jeju-nese history is somewhat of a mystery.

Cheonjiyeon Falls (천지연 폭포) from a distance. You can see Hallasan rising into the clouds on the right.

Very little is known about the pre-Goryeo Tamma Kingdom and how it came to be. Island legend states that the three demigods: Go, Bu and Yang, rose out of the ground and became the islands first residents. When the three men were out hunting one day, they ran across three princesses who had washed ashore with all of their agricultural accoutrements and livestock. Marrying these three women, the hunters settled down and established the three main agricultural clans of Jeju island. The hole in the ground from which the hunters emerged can still be visited at Samsunghyeol Shrine (삼성혈)- which remains an important location for the seasonal ancestral rites performed by their descendants - in Jeju City.

A stone ring and tripple alter surround the hole through which Go, Bu and Yang entered Jeju at Samsunghyeol.

Other unique features of Jeju-nese culture include thatched roof houses - although these can only be seen today in the preserved traditional 'folk villages', the inexplicable ancient basalt mushroom-like grandfather statues called Dol Hareubang (돌 하르방) which dot the island, the hand-stacked stone dividing walls to allow for Jeju's famous winds to pass through without toppling them and, last but certainly not least, the haenyeo (해녀) - Jeju's famous women divers. Although now somewhat of a dying breed, women began to do the work of diving into the waters along the coast to collect shellfish in the 19th centuries when their husbands discovered that their families would be tax exempt if they did so!

As interested as I am in culture, as much as I loved hiking Hallasan and as fascinating as the publicly accessible portion of the lava tubes at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Manjanggul (만장굴), geologically speaking, it was the coastline that took my breath away!

Looking toward Munseom (island) from some of the Rock formations along the coast in Seogwipo.

While the northern coastline around Jeju City (제주시) has some fun rocks, it's the south near Seogwipo (서귀포) that is really stunning. Not only is the area around Seogwipo studded with waterfalls, to the West of the city lies the resort area of Jungmun (중문), home to Korea's Jusangjeolli (주상절리) or  'Black Beach', made of hexagonal basalt formations reminiscent a smaller version of the Giant's Causeway connecting Scotland and North Ireland. While Jeju's Jusangjeolli is not as large as the Giant's Causeway, the emerald blue (no, really, that's the only way to describe the colour!) water the rocks rise out of makes it breathtaking to visit.

Jusangjeolli. The colour of the water made me nearly desperate to jump in - and it was February!

Jungmun is also home to Yakcheon Temple. While I have seen a lot of temples during my time in Korea, Yakcheonsa is ranks up there with my favourites. Done up in a more ornate style that reminds me more of the temples I've seen in Taiwan than any I've seen in Korea, the combinations of pastels and golds, as well as the amazingly detailed latticework carvings on the windows made a visit well worthwhile.

The bell tower at Yakcheonsa with oranges in the foreground. In addition to being famed for it's beauty, Jeju is famed for the deliciousness of it's oranges. Sadly, I was there a month too early for these ones to be ripe.

The giant gold Buddha inside Yakcheonsa. The great hall is said to be one of the biggest in Asia. With three floors of viewing galleries, each surrounded with painted panels depicting stories, I may well believe that.

Even further to the west along the southern coast was quite possibly my favourite spot on the island - the Yongmeori (용머리 - dragon's head) Peninsula. While it's invisible until you are down there and closed off at high tide, the coast below Sanbang peak (삼방산) if formed of weathered vocanic cliffs and caves that just bed to be explored. This is also where the monument to Handrick Hamel - the Dutchman who washed ashore on Jeju in 1653, was captured and enslaved, eventually managed to escape with 7 others in 1666, and wrote a book bringing news of life in the Joseon-era Hermit Kingdom of Korea to the rest of the world - and recreation of his ship are located. The small Mt. Sanbang itself is also worth a visit as it is home to Sambanggulsa (삼방굴사) or Sambang Cave Temple.

Looking toward the Yongmeori Coast from Sambang Temple. Hamel's ship is just visible in between the temple and coast.

A view of Hamel's ship through his momument.

While Jeju is fairly small, the sheer number of protruding mini volcanoes can make getting around the island somewhat time consuming. It's possible to travel by public transport, but having a car (and in smaller areas, bikes) might be more convenient (you need an international drivers licence though). We were lucky enough to stay in a wonderfully accomodating hostel (the owner even fed us traditional New Year's Tteok-guk (rice cake soup) on Seollal!), which offered cheap tailor-made driving tours. You can check out B&B Pan here. The island is also crisscrossed by 'Olleh Trails', 200km of connecting walking trails which have been divided into 13 different routes - although on many you can jump it at any point along the path.

Looking back toward Sanbang while walking the coast.

Some of the formations on the Yongmeori coast. This one is about three times my height.

Some more of the crazy geological features.

There are a number of ways to get to Jeju. Flights leave from most of the larger city airports on a daily basis and ferries, from Incheon (Seoul, 14hrs), Mokpo (4hrs) and Wando (3hrs), to Jeju City on the North Coast leave just as frequently. The fastest Ferry, and the most convenient for us, is the JH Ferry run by Orange1 which leaves from Jangheung (장흥), near Yeosu in southern Jeollanamdo, and arrives at Seongsan (성산) on the west coast of the Island in 2 and a half hours. There is also a free shuttle bus run by the ferry company which connects Gwangju to Jangheung. Their website is here. Unfortunately, it is entirely in Korean.

A view of Ilchulbong (일출봉), or Sunrise Peak in Seongsan on the East Coast at Sunset.

Palyeongsan: Where the Mountains meet the Sea

Located on the tiny little dingleberry-shaped peninsula of Goheung county (고흥군) is Palyeongsan (팔영산) National Marine Park and Recreational Forest. For me Palyeong Mountain itself was the real draw- not for it's height (it's only 608m at its highest peak), but for the stunning views it affords of the innumerable islands to the south.



The island view from one of Palyeongsan's peaks.

In addition to providing spectacular views, Palyeongsan provides oportunities for a wonderfully fun hike. Named for it's 8 peaks (팔 or 'pal' means 8), the trail involves a lot of going up-and-down and, as the peculiar rock formations which make up the peaks are particularly... well... rocky, there is a lot of scrambling/low level rock climbing involved as well (with chains and footholds in place as optional aids). So much fun!

Looking back toward the Korean hikers on Yuyeongbong (유영봉), Peak Number 1 of Palyeongsan, from Seongjubong (성주봉), or Peak Number 2.

The view of Yuyeongbong when not zoomed in.

Since the mountain is not particularly large, the hike can be done in only a couple of hours (even, if, like me, one is hiking on a sprained ankle. Required Safety Note: Do not try this yourself ;).). We started off at the Goheung Ranger Station near Neunggasa (능가사 - Neungga Temple), went up (and down, and up, and down, and up - well, you get the picture) over the peaks (heading westward), out to the highest point at Gitdaebong (깃대봉). We then took the lower trail to circle back for the return. It's also possible to continue forward for an additional 4km, which would bring you to the Nampo Museum (남포미술관) /Yeongnam Elementary School (영남초교) park entrance. Both park entrances have local buses going past. All in, our looping route was approximately 8.6km and took about 3 hours 30 mins.

Looking northward and inland.

The view eastward from Orobong (오로봉), or Peak 5.

While summitting and descending so many peaks in such a short space of time is thoroughly enjoyable, I have to warn anyone planning to hike Palyeongsan to go on a weekday. Because the hike is not too long and affords such great views, it's absolutely packed to the gills with Koreans on the weekends. On the bright side, if your aim is to immerse yourself in local culture and avoid foreigners at all costs, this would be the perfect place to do it! Korea doesn't get much more charmingly rural than Goheung-gun.

A view of the 8 peaks in the distance from the campground at the base of the mountain.

To get to Palyeongsan, hop on an intercity/express bus to Gwayeok (과역) or Goheung (고흥). The park is a short local bus ride from there. Gwayeok is located approximately 2 hours south of Gwangju (by bus) and Goheung is a little further on. The bus ride alone is worth the trip. The initial bit is slow moving and winds through some small towns (which are adorable in their own right). The views along the latter half of the route, however, are absolutely stunning! The locals in the area are also supremely friendly - they colluded to insure that a scarf I had forgotten on the local bus was returned to me when we got to the Gwayeok bus station at the end of our hike! 

Yeosu World Expo 2012!

Last week we took the students on a post-exam field trip to the 2012 World Expo, which just happens to be taking place in the nearby port city of Yeosu (여수) located roughly 2 hours south of Gwangju. Despite the rain (and there was a lot of it. It managed to permeate my umbrella so that I was soaked through before I even made it to school to catch the bus!), it was a pretty cool day. This year's expo theme is "The Living Ocean and Coast", so what better place to host it than in a port city?

   

Excited students below Yeosu's Digital Aquarium

Rather than wandering around with the other teachers, I decided to tag along with different groups of students - definitely a wise choice, as getting to see the excitement on their faces at the aquarium was pretty awesome, as was watching their delight when they started catching crabs by the shoreline (I left some a group of boys after about 10 minutes of this only to return an hour later to find that, not only were they still there crab-hunting, they'd been joined by a great many of the other boys. Funnily, they kept complaining to me every time one of them got pinched by a claw :P).

Hunting for crabs.

Got one!

As we were only at the expo for 6 hours (shame, that, there is a great deal to see!), I didn't have the opportunity to check out too many of the national pavilions in the international area. Those which I did see and which are worth visiting included Japan, Switzerland and France. Japan's pavilion used animation to tell the story of hope after it's recent Tsunami-induced disaster. While the story is a bit contrived (there are English subtitles) the stunning 3D holographic animation in which it is told makes the experience breathtaking. There are long lines for this, so pick up your ticket (at the Japan pavilion) in advance. The Swiss exhibit was made wonderful by the inclusion of a glacial ice core and information surrounding environmental data collection. Definitely cool to see. France I just liked for the inclusion of jelly fish and a cute colourful aquarium at the entrance. 

An Ice Core as old as Korea at the Swiss Pavilion.

The French Pavilion.

My main focus of the day was on exploring the theme pavilions (and watching my students catch crabs). My two favourites of the ones I managed to explore were the Marine Industry & Technology Pavilion, which primarily involved a hilariously k-pop-y discussion of the benefits of kelp set in a future undersea laboratory (I got the feeling the presentation was mainly geared towards kids - English subtitles once again) and the Expo's 'Eco-Friendly' Aquarium containing 34,000 animals of 281 different species . While I'm not usually a huge fan of seeing animals in captivity and would have preferred to see the Baikal Seals and Belugas in larger tanks, the aquariums 360° Aquadome was fantastic. What can I say, I was won over by having sea turtles, hammerheads and a number of other large marine species swimming directly over, under and around me :).

Solar Panels at the Aquarium.

The reaction of my students when they realized that he was not, in fact, a statue.
(It involved a lot of excitement and screaming)

Their excitement at the solar-powered charging station.

Our faces projected onto the aquarium walls.

An Asian river otter. 

The piranha tank. This caused a great deal of confusion as my students refused to believe, when I told them in both English and Korean, that these tiny fish ate people. The English sign reading "Man-eating piranha" which my students read as though there was no hyphen was of no help. The reaction when I finally dragged them over to the Korean sign was doubly hilarious because of this :D.

A giant clam.

The orange dot you see peaking out of the clam is actually a small fish that seemed perfectly content to be in there whether the clam was closed or open.

Jelly fish!

A view of the 360 Aquadome from outside.

Inside the dome.

Oyster Farms

While the rain, sadly, kept me from staying for the evening's free K-Pop concert (I decided instead to catch the bus home with my school - shame, it would have been nothing short of awesome to have seen 2PM and miss A live), the sky did clear around midday, allowing us to catch the Korean culture and talent show occurring out near the 'Big O'.

Yes, those are real live girls swaying on bamboo poles!

All in all, it was a pretty great day. I definitely recommend going if you get the chance - although chances are limited since the expo period ends on August 12th (it's been on since May). Single day tickets are 33,000won, double days are 53,000. All concerts are free for ticket-holders and there are a number occurring on any given day. I recommend going on a weekday as weekends can get pretty busy and lines will be long. For more info on the expo, please click here. For a map & pavilion details, click here. For a listing of K-Pop concerts occurring on the ground, click here. Note that there is a free bus to the expo departing from and returning to Gwangju. I don't have any of the details. I do, however, know that seats must be booked 3 days in advance.