Day 5 - May 14, 2019 – Jeju Island, South Korea

Our plan today is to explore the eastern half of the Jeju Island.  We stopped first at the Jeju Folk Village which is one of the filming locations of the popular K-drama “Dae Jang Geum”.  We then moved on to the Seong-eup Folk Village which is also a filming location for the TV series.  The Seong-eup Folk Village is more authentic as it is still being inhabited today.  The open houses allow visitors to walk in and imagine a more difficult living condition many generations ago.

Part of "Dae Jang Geum" was filmed on location here on Jeju.  It started the craze on K-Drama over 15 years ago!

Front gate of Seong-eup Folk Village.  Can you spot Yiling inside the gate?

Jeju used to be a difficult place to live instead of the resort it is today.  Getting exile to here almost equals to death sentence.

Protective wall surrounding the settlement

Village Inn complex

The only outhouse for the Village Inn complex

After 15 years, Dae Jang Geum still is the definitive K-drama for some people (like us)

Some houses are better than others 

Many of the houses are still inhabited today - albeit with lots of modernization inside (e.g., windows)

These may be the same jars used for making Kimchi many generations ago!

Air-conditioned traditional house!

Next we drove to Seongsan to catch a ferry to Udo after parking our car.  The ferry took less than 30 minutes.  Udo is most famous for its Haenyeo – “Diving Grannies” who are old women divers still diving daily for seafoods as a way to make their living.  The emergence of women divers started in the 17th century in Jeju due to several reasons:  Male population was decimated by constant warfare, and women are more physiologically suited for diving (more fat insulation 😊).  There may also be some taxation issues as well allowing women to dominate the seafood diving business.  This tradition still lives on today but less and less women are entering this profession, earning this bunch of female divers the nickname “Diving Grannies”.  We bought a hop on hop off bus ticket to do our tour around the island but this was a mistake as we could have more freedom by renting a tuk-tuk or electric bike.  Worst, the bus was very small making getting back on the bus a challenge after any stop over.  We ended up stopping at two locations: a lighthouse plus Biyando which is another small island linked to Udo by a bridge.  At Biyando, we saw many diving grannies hard at work in the middle of the ocean.  They kept on diving down to bring up their catch, took their breathes, then dived again.  We also met saw several old women picking seaweeds by the shore.  Perhaps they were ex-divers who had to give up their diving career for various reasons?

Standing on Biyando is interesting.  Here I am standing on a tiny island which is linked to a slightly bigger island (Udo) which is a short ferry ride away from yet another island (Jeju) which is quite far from any land mass.  The bus dropped us off just in time to catch the next ferry back to Jeju Island.  From the ferry, we can see the imposing Ilchulbong which is a volcanic crater with sheer steep slopes.  It is a popular spot for people to climb to view the sunrise in the morning.

Map of Udo (a small island off the east coast of Jeju-do).  Biyando is yet another island off the east coast of Udo!

The car ferry taking us from Seongsan to Udo

View of Udo from the ferry

Udo welcomes us.  Hop on/off bus is just behind at the pier

Lighthouse at the north tip of Udo

Somehow this lighthouse has a long line up for photo taking

Over the years, tourists just keep piling up the rocks into small cairns all over the coast.  Not the big structure - that was the watchtower to send smoke/fire signals for defense.

Entrance of the bridge to Biyando

The bases for the sign are pastered with sea snail shells

Rest spot on Biyando

Statue of a Haenyeo (Diving Granny)

Can you see all the Diving Grannies working out in the ocean?  (Hint: They all carry a yellow float for resting and hanging their catch)

Lighthouse at the end of Biyando

We stopped next in the nearby Seopjikoji Peninsula and its famous lighthouse.  This is the location for many K-dramas including “All In”.  “All In” K-drama actually built a church near the lighthouse for their filming.  This “church” has now become a giant gingerbread house.  The sea stack, Candle Rock, stands majestically next to the lighthouse.  There were throngs and throngs of Korean and Southeast Asian tourists mobbing this spot, lining up to go up the stairs to the lighthouse.  I now understand where all the disappearing tourists from the airport go.

Seopjikoji Lighthouse and Candle Rock

This rock looks like a giant tortoise

This location was used in another K-Drama "All In".  They even built a small church for the series!  It has now become a gingerbread house.  Notice the throngs of tourist going up the trail.

This spot can be very scenic...

...if we can lose the crowd.

The big building in front is just a restaurant!

On the horizon is Ilchulbong, a dramatic volcano crater popular with people going up to see sunrise on Jeju Island

A look of Seopjikoji Lighthouse from the other side.  Still crowded with people on top.

Leaving the mob behind, we drove to Manjanggul which is a long lava tube underground.  The whole lava tube is over 7 km long although only the middle 2 km is open for tour.  We arrived to find that we had missed the last admission time.  Nevertheless, we managed to mingle with the crowds exiting and sneaked in for a quick tour.  This lava tube is indeed huge and is probably the biggest and longest we have visited so far all over the world.  Too bad we did not have enough time to walk the whole length.

Inside Manjanggul lava tube

This lava tube goes on for 7 km!

We headed back to Seogwipo in time for dinner.  We found the place, Angeori Bakkeori, recommended by Lonely Planet for their humongous set dinner.  To our disappointment, though they set out lots of plates, their portions and tastes are less than expected.  So much for following guide book recommendations.  After dinner, we headed back to Home Plus, the superstore we found last night, to pick up more bargains on quick dry clothing and underwear.

Impressive looking set dinner.  On the left is our new found favorite drink - Makgeolli (Korean Rice Beer)