Stone grandpas, itchy beer, and big waves - Jeju Island

Stone grandpas, itchy beer, and big waves – Jeju Island

November 17, 2019

eju is moody, at least on the edge a typhoon – dark skies and rough water. For me, it was one of the best times to visit, who doesn’t like looming storms and rain? I’m also a bit of a vampire and prefer night things to bright things – so the parallel arrival of myself and the typhoon worked out well.

This is part of the fun, the places you end up you would never have booked a flight to. Bali? Sure. Fiji – yes! Jeju – Huh?

The first law of motion travel

When you’re trying to visit all 338 countries and territories – you have to follow a list. The list says that Jeju island is an independent territory, part of South Korea but not part. So that’s how I ended up here – I visited Seoul, then followed the list to Jeju.

Sometimes, it’s a weird thing; you decide to do something, make a few keystrokes and you’re booked – but far in the distance. A few days go by, then maybe many and then it’s your last day – at home, you’re saying goodbye to your bed, having your mom watch your cat. Then you’re on the plane and suddenly there. But why are you here? Because you made those keystrokes. Booked a flight, and a hotel, texted for a taxi, waited in line, emptied your pockets at the airport, sat on a plane. It’s all kind of a passive process.

It’s like the first law of physics which says that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. With that first keystroke, once you set the trip in motion you’re already there.

Ocean is blowing on me

Girls pointing out to sea

Hanging bulbs – downtown Jeju

Haenyeo – the diving women of Jeju

Girls photographing on the sharp volcanic rock

Little Jeju

But what do you do in a place like Jeju? When you didn’t do much research, don’t have a car, aren’t into hiking through jungles and it’s the middle of an unseasonal typhoon?

Mostly you get wet, dry off then get wet again, take long naps, longer baths and then sightsee when it’s not raining.

First, Jeju is for hiking. You can hike to the top of the volcano, you can hike through forests, inside caves, to cliffs. In a typhoon, you can hike through mountains of mud. So far, I’m not much of a hiker, and my travel partner prays nightly for his legs to be replaced with robotic wheels. There is no joy in walking, and even less in hiking which just means ‘hard walking.’ When you know you’ve come to a place and you’re not going to participate in the main activity – it sort of frees you of all your expectations and you can just relax and enjoy it for what it is.

Like going to a carnival and you can’t take the rides, there’s still a lot to see, taste and experience even if you’re not being thrown through the air on terror machines.

The men on Jeju are so big!

How can I win this big toy???

White lighthouse

Red one

This is my Jeju

I know the golden rule of travel blogging is to help other people imagine what their trip will be like. But, this was my trip so I can only share what I found on Jeju.

I stayed at the Ramada, which overlooks the sea. There’s a stone boardwalk that stretches forever, it may circle the entire island – I don’t know. It was great to just take a slow walk along the ocean and watch the waves crashing against the poured concrete barriers which looked like giant jacks.

Along the way you come to several beaches, and a pair of lighthouses – one red, one white – shaped like giant horses. There are plaques set in the stone retaining wall that teach you about the community of women divers (Haenyeo) – who still dive for food, holding their breath as they dive up to 10 meters under the sea – even though their average age is well into their 60’s, some are in their 80’s.

You also come across wide empty plots of land with a lone motorhome parked on, sometimes even tents left abandoned and blowing in slices of nylon. It’s not a melancholic landscape as much as it is introspective. Looking down into staircases that disappear into the sea as if it’s inviting you in.

Posing on the gangplank

Shhhhh…

Catch me if you can

Diver woman

Fisherman

On the staircase

Walking around the town

On the boardwalk

Stone Grandpas

Stone Grandpas (Dol Hareubang) are found all over the island. “They are considered to be gods offering both protection and fertility and were placed outside of gates for protection against demons traveling between realities.” Generally phallic-shaped (with their domed hats) I kind of felt that while Easter islands Moai have an air of uncertain mystery – the Stone Grandpas are more of fertility trinkets sold to the tourists who come here from South Korea as it’s known as ‘Honeymoon Island.’

There are a few places to see them; a small park and then a much longer walk through the island. But both have individual opening days – so check in advance. I arrived a mere 2 min before closing after a spendy taxi ride and thankfully the people running the park gave me 15 min to look around. I ran my way through the winding landscape stopping to catch my breath and snap some pictures. Fun!

Jeju in the dark

The first night out I started at a local microbrewery I could walk to from the hotel – Bluebird by Magpie – with over 20 beers on tap it seemed like a good bet. However, after my travel partner had his first beer he complained of an itchy throat, so – of course, he ordered another beer thinking it would help the itch, it only got worse. For the next two days, he got to enjoy the mild feeling that he was about to suffocate. So, I guess he was allergic to something in the beer. I stuck to a Lavendar Lemonade which tasted sort of like bath soap.

The main concentration of bars and restaurants are in the downtown area. A short taxi ride away. Plenty of small bars and eateries to keep you occupied for a few days. Along with a bit of shopping, toy vending machines and punching bags every block or so. They seem to be popular with guys (and dates) getting drunk and showing how hard they can punch. (tip: hold the wrist of your punching arm with your other arm to brace it – otherwise you can walk away with a sprain.)

I also ended up wandering into a small bar (the only one I could find that spoke some English), but it turned out to be where Korean guys talk to girls while sitting around buying them drinks… Like a hostess bar, I guess. I eventually changed to another bar that felt like someone’s kitchen and offered up simple if good drinks and bar food.

There’s also Dombedon – known as Black Pork Street, which serves up – you guessed it; black pork.

“The Jeju Black pig is said to have a unique taste quite distinct from other breeds of pig and forms the basis of some well-known local dishes. The pork is smoked over burning hay, allowing the smoke to penetrate the meat juices resulting in a flavor quite unlike regular pork and somewhat chewier meat.

Until quite recent times, the pig was kept to dispose of human waste. They were housed in sites built below the outside latrines where their “food” was directly delivered (a pig toilet). This practice was still current in the 1960s but has now given way to more conventional feeding. Some commentators are adamant that this change has adversely affected the taste.” – Wikipedia

Finding a little cocktail bar in the middle of Jeju

Introduction to new booze 😉

Hand cut ice cubes

Am I going to punch it?

Pow!

Itchy beer

Love Land

An outdoor sex park? Actually because of Jeju’s appeal to newlyweds, and because in the past there was a system of arranged marriages Jeju became known as a place for sex education as well. The hotels offer an evening entertainment program that featured erotic elements to help the newlyweds relax.

Loveland opened in 2004, offers 140+ statues focus on the theme of sex and different sexual positions. There’s also a ‘masturbation cycle’ for girls that as you pedal these little flaps of rubber hit you in your bits… Hrm…

The sculptures aren’t all that great, but they were created by university students so it’s all good fun. There were a lot of older women walking around in groups and giggling the day I went – and lots of vaginas and penis statues.