Seoulscapade

Jeju Island is known as the Hawaii of Asia, an island populated by volcanic craters and whose landscapes bear a dark hue because of volcanic rocks and soils. The mother of all volcanoes on Jeju is the dormant Halla Mountain, which dominates at the centre of the Island. Mt. Halla, in fact, is all of Jeju Island. We decided to climb that mother.

You can see in the photos below what are merely the foothills–hard going enough. There was no snow anywhere else on Jeju but there was plenty on the mountain at that time of year and it made for an exhausting yet exhilarating hike. I’ll get to that in a moment.

Our trip came about when my wife Sunah managed to book a condo apartment at the Poonglim Resort through her company. Like the company condos we had stayed at on trips elsewhere, it was free. We strategically flew there before a long weekend and left as the holiday hordes began arriving. This meant that the condo was barely half full. We almost felt like the only ones there, as our condo apartment was at the end of an apartment block wing, which opened directly onto a large grassed terrace and overlooked the ocean.

Traveling around, we used local buses and taxis. On our first day, our first stop was the famous Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, not far from where we were staying, near Seogwipo Port; however, it wasn’t the season for it and not much water was falling. In an case, waterfalls have to be huge to interest me, and I wouldn’t call this one huge. It was a pretty spot and the area was relaxing to walk around in, but I was keen to get on and see my first volcano crater.

We headed next to the Samgumburi crater, which is relatively small but is near a main road and does not require climbing to get to. We took a taxi straight there, thinking it not a lengthy journey. It was longer than expected because the island is bigger than the impression gained from a glance at a map. The convenience and time saved with a taxi, however, was worth it.

After that we caught a bus to the Jeju Folk Village in Pyoseon, where we stayed until closing. Here we could see the traditional way in which the dungdweegi (dung pigs) were kept, and perhaps still are. There were live ones in the pens in the village that probably weren’t only for show.

I’d heard about the dung pigs, and knew about the reputation of Jeju’s pork, famed for it’s texture and flavor. As a vegetarian of course I was loathe to sample it. I was also troubled by the correlation between the quality of pork and that it was from pigs reared on shit, presumably human. The other problem I have with it is that in the natural world, most animals do not go out of their way to eat shit, when there natural diet is available.

You can see below a demonstration (dry rehearsal only) of the old-style feeding procedure. That’s me atop a specially designed squat that has a hole leading to the dining area in the pig pen. Next to it is a postcard depiction of the hijinks. Sorry, not that funny to me.

The next day was the mighty Halla mountain climb. Again, we employed the convenience of a taxi, but things were a little slippery as we journeyed up the mount. We were dropped at a crowded parking area, which on this day was the limit for vehicles; the rest of the way had to be on foot.

Not knowing what was ahead, we trekked a paved road that just kept going on and on. Eventually, we arrived at another rest area with restaurants and shops at the bottom of mountainous terrain. It had already taken us a couple of hours just to get to this point, and we were pretty weary, but we hadn’t even started climbing.

After some food and rest, we bought what were perhaps the most valuable things we purchased on Jeju: strap-on boot spikes. Then we set out on the climb. The views were magnificent, with thick snow, icicles and a frozen waterfall offering magical sights. There were plenty of other climbers about—crowds are seemingly the norm on any mountain in Korea, even before the arrival of long-weekend vacationers.

After ascending some mounts and passing through a half buried forest area, we ventured onto a kind of snow plain that led to another rest area. The snow was so deep here that further progress was not allowed, and besides, it was late afternoon and just about closing time. Everyone was being told to clear off. That we did, following the trail down the other side of the mount, again over a snow plain, with surreal views that included small secondary craters, and then down into an extensive forested area thick with snow.

Many hikers were tobogganing down narrow paths, sitting on plastic bags or backpacks. I did the same with my backpack (my preferred mode of transport). Even doing that, off and on, it took quite a while to descend the mountain and arrive at a larger parking area. From here we walked a road to reach the main road, where we could catch a bus into Jeju and then back to our resort.

It was certainly a relief to sit down on that bus when if finally came. Later, the evening was spent imbibing alcoholic refreshments to take the edge of the aches and celebrate our day with a well-earned feeling of accomplishment.

Our last day was less arduous. We simply visited the Botanical Garden or “Yeomiji” near our resort and walked along the coast back towards our condo, marveling at the coastal volcanic formations. These formed apparently from the rapid cooling of lava flows as they hit ocean water.

Later we visited one of the famed lava caves or tunnels, which were huge course ways created by ancient lava flows. There was a sign in one informing about a shelf that indicates the level the lava came to; as if a snipe at dummies, it said: ‘It is called a “lava shelf,” obviously because it looks like a shelf.’ That cracked me up. At a park surrounding one of these ancient formations, they had 300 year old bonsai trees on display, which for me were equally intriguing.

Altogether, it was a great trip and one not as expensive as people often warn it might be. It did not have that much of a touristy feel about it either, not to me at least, but perhaps that was because of the time we chose to go there. When at the airport readying to depart, we saw the holiday crowds arrive and were glad we’d avoided them.

Jeju used to be practically the one and only honeymoon destination for Koreans. One of the main reasons for that was because, not so long ago, ordinary Koreans were forbidden to leave the country. It was the main Island getaway. Now Koreans go further afield for honeymoons, but many still choose Jeju, and I could see why.