Vertical Jeju

October 28, 2019- Vertical Jeju 

Our hotel is the Maison Garden, the most exclusive on the island. It’s a casino hotel and you have to trek from the lobby past the casino to the elevators. The rooms are black. The walls are painted black; the floors are stained black; the furniture is black. Have you ever tried to find black shoes, a black backpack, or a black carry-on in such a place? To brighten it up, they installed a frosted glass pocket door for the bathroom. So much for privacy.

Our local guide’s in laws live on an orange grove and grow tangerines for a living. The guide brought us samples to taste. They were the size of golf balls and not all that sweet. The ones at the hotel are larger and delicious. The fruit is sized with the medium sized ones exported and smaller and larger ones kept for local use.

Today’s agenda began with a trip to the Stone Museum. It’s a collection of natural lava formations some of which resemble animals and humans. There was a wonderful view of Mt Halla as it intermittently appeared from behind the clouds. 

The Sangumburi Crater was our next challenge. There were three ways to reach the top. Each path had a different level of difficulty. We chose poorly, although we made it. The hardest part was running the gauntlet of people taking pictures of each other with pampas grass waving in the background. There is a large crater lake at the apex, but it only has water seasonally. This wasn’t the wet season. I dutifully took a picture of the lake bed.

Lunch was a feast of shabu shabu. It’s like yaki tori with a twist. Here they make it with the famous Jeju black pork. Ours was made with beef. The meat is thinly shaved and quickly cooked in a broth where scads of different mushrooms are simmering. There is no flavor, so soy dipping sauce with a dollop of hot mustard is necessary. Assembly is definitely required. Just when you think the meal is over, there’s a twist. Remaining vegetables are lifted from the leftover broth, set aside, and a raw egg, cooked rice, dried seaweed,,and scallions are added. The result is a delicious porridge of which I overindulged. 

Just when we thought it would get easier, we were off to Seonsan Sunrise Park to see the women divers’ performance. There used to be around 30,000, of them, but they number closer to 4,000, now with their ages being in the fifties and sixties. Because abalone and other exotic seafood was demanded by royalty, this women’s work was much valued creating somewhat of a matriarchy. Men stayed home to care for children while the women earned a living. The unintended consequence was that men had time on their hands and turned to drinking and gambling. And yes, I walked down 150 steps to see the demonstration. David viewed it from above. Of course, I had to walk up those steps again. We had an option to climb yet higher to the top of the mountain. We opted to drink iced coffee and shop.

Seongup Village was calling our name, so off we went. It’s a living 500-year old village. The occupants may only alter the interior of their house. A stone wall surrounds the village guarded by phallic, maoi like stone grandfathers. Houses are built of rock and mud with thatched roofs of pampas grass. The roofs are held down by pampas grass ropes so they don’t blow away in the prevalent strong winds and typhoons. 

How can I leave out another industry brought to Jeju by the Mongols? Horse breeding is common and we passed several riding stables. In 1276, Mongols invaded Jeju. Why not. Their horses bred with Jeju horses which had distinct DNA. Where the original Jeju horse came from is unclear. Not only are horses valued for the work they do, but also for their meat and hair. They still eat horse meat. I saw a bag of horse jerky today. Didn’t buy it.

Dinner was pathetic. No one wanted to go out. We braved littered streets alone facing down motorcycle delivery guys on the sidewalk only to end up at a 7/11. We bought what was likely days old fried chicken, chips, and cream cheese caramel popcorn. Not that we didn’t try, but none of the restaurants we passed had English translations. We were too tired to fend for ourselves. Most tourists here are Chinese. Jeju doesn’t require visas and many Chinese come to buy in bulk at duty free shops then go home to sell the goods. Dinner isn’t included tomorrow either. Hopefully, we’ll get some direction from Jinny.

Tomorrow we see more Jeju nature: two waterfalls and pillars. The young guy on our trip is going to climb Mt. Halla instead. Waterfalls are too tame for him.

Toby

Woman Diver

Updated Instructions

Sabu Sabu

Grandfather Stone