Jeju Island is located just off the southern tip of the South Korean mainland. After a short flight, I arrived on what is known as Honeymoon Island in South Korea. The island has a reputation for natural beauty with pristine beaches, romantic settings atop small mountains for watching sunrises and sunsets, and cooling waterfalls to sit beneath and let the spray and breeze cool you during the heat of the day.
But I was not on a honeymoon, but traveling alone and in fact, I have been told I don’t have a romantic bone in my body anyway. I came to the island because next to Seoul it looked like the most interesting location to spend a few days. The fact is, you don’t have to be a honeymooner to like mountains, waterfalls, sunrises, sunsets and beaches. But in addition to Jeju’s natural wonders there are additional sites to enjoy; the Haenyeo Women, Gwansumsa Temple, the Seongsan Folk Village, Sanbanggulsa Temple, and lots of quirky specialty museums.
But before I could enjoy any of Jeju’s natural and man-made treasures I had to rent a car and GPS to get around. I thought I had planned this out quite well. I reserved a full-size sedan and GPS unit to make finding my way around a snap. I even thought to have the young man checking me in set the GPS to my hotel on the other side of the island and since the rental site was not on the airport grounds program in the location for the return trip.
What I failed to anticipate was that the GPS was programmed in Korean. All verbal and written instructions were in Korean and I was a ways down the road before it occurred to me that I couldn’t understand Korean Karen’s instructions – I had just been following the blue arrow on the map.
And being a man, returning to the rental car office and having it reset was out of the question. Men never turn back nor admit not knowing something or needing help. At least not this moron! So, I plugged the hotel address into my IPhone’s Mapquest and navigated using both screens and with instructions blaring at me in both English and Korean at the same time like stereo.
And I made it safely to my hotel in Seogwipo, checked in, enjoyed a nice Korean Barb B Que dinner of Black Pork Shoulder and Korean Beer before bed.
Day 2
Next morning I was on my way to Mount Sanbang and the Sanbangulsa Temple when I saw a sign for the Museum of Sex and Health.
I thought – Hmmm I’m into health I think I will check this museum out. One strange thing about Jeju is that there is a museum for almost anything you can imagine – Teddy Bear Museum, Hello Kitty Museum, Maze Land, Haenyeo Museum, Woodcutter Museum, Trickeye Museum, Kim Man Duk Museum, Ceramic Culture Museum, Drama World, Dado Museum, Tea Museum, Airplane Museum, Old Car Museum, Museum of War and Peace, Greek Mythology Museum, and many more that I saw signs for but can’t remember.
And the “Health” museum was quite comprehensive and mostly about sex with only small exhibits on STDs and erectile dysfunction. And the exhibits on sex ran from the informative to eroticism through the ages. Who knew our forefathers and foremothers were just as randy as we are? Lots of cool appliances and inventions for pleasure from ancient times until today. Attached are plenty of photos of the “Health” Museum. Hope you don’t find them too offensive.
But to me the most interesting subjects in the museum were the middle-aged Korean women’s reactions to the various displays. They came in twos and threes and fours together giggling and whispering excitedly with each other. They would scan the room to make sure no one was watching before they seriously studied an exhibit. I enjoyed when our eyes met and theirs dropped immediately in embarrassment. But one can only play deviant voyeur for so long – so off to the mountain and temple I went to cleanse my corrupted soul.
Mount Sanbang is not much of a mountain but it is located right above the coast providing spectacular views of the coastline and sea. The Sanbanggulsa Temple complex clings to the small Mountain’s flank with temple structures scattered up the wooded mountain side culminating with a shrine in a small cave high up on the mountain side.
Once I felt I had spent enough time in the temple to cleanse my mind of any remaining unclean thoughts from the “Health” museum, I drove across the island to Hyeopjae Beach and watched newlyweds take their wedding photos. And it didn’t take long to get bored with that and wish I were back in the “Health” Museum. Since that museum was on the other side of the island and two visits in one day might brand me a pervert I chose to drive to the Manjanggul Cave. The cave is a very cool and long lava tube that you can explore with hundreds of other tourists.
Next up was a sunset visit to Seongsan Lichulbong (Sunrise Peak). The hike up to the top of the old volcanic plug takes about 30 minutes and is right at a 600 feet elevation gain. Attached are plenty of photos of the day.
Day 3
I began my 2nd day visiting the Jeonbang Waterfall, Cheonjeyeon Waterfall and Bridge, Oedolgae Rock (a formation just off the coast), and the Jusangheolli Cliffs. These natural wonders were spectacular and I will just let the photos speak for themselves. After lunch, I drove to the world’s strangest Theme Park – The Loveland Adult Theme Park.
Jeonbang Waterfall
Cheonjeyeon Waterfall and Bridge
Oedolgae Rock (a formation just off the coast)
Jusangheolli Cliffs
The Loveland Adult Park is an outdoor Sex Theme Park. It seems many years ago some college professor decided that a great class sculpting project would be to sculpt erotic statues of men and women in sexual poses. Over the years, the place has grown to a top Jeju tourist attraction. So how could I visit Jeju and not experience the “Art” Park? The sculptures ran from the erotic to the hilarious. I’ve included photos that I hope are not too offensive.
After I had my fill of “Art” I moved on to the Gwanumsa Temple. This temple is high up in the central wooded mountains of the island abutting a national park. The complex of temples, shrines and gardens blended in nicely with the surrounding forest tract. And my final stop on the second day was to the Jeju Folk Village.
Gwanumsa Temple
The Folk Village was quite large and covered all aspects of village life on Jeju Island. Exhibits on the types of houses farmers, hunters, fishing families used thru the ages.
Day 4
My last day on Jeju I spent in the very interesting Haenyeo Museum. The Haenyeo are Jeju’s world-famous women free divers. These women have been earning a living since the 1600s diving as deep as 30 feet holding their breath for minutes while holding only a knife and until the 1970s wearing only cotton clothing. The women, some in their 80s dive to collect seaweed, shellfish, octopus, and other seafood daily.
I didn’t know it at the time but I had seen six or seven of these elderly women as I was parking my rental car to hike up Sunrise Mountain the previous afternoon. I was on the wrong side of the mountain from the parking lot so I just parked on a street above the cliff and walked across the clifftop to the park’s entrance for the climb up. As I was gathering my day pack and water from the trunk of the car I noticed the old women sitting on the curb in a line just talking and lounging. They all had leathery and wrinkled skin from sun and wind exposure and several were wearing parts of wet suits which I thought was strange but didn’t make the connection.
The next morning as I was walking thru the museum looking at the exhibits I saw photos of several of the same women on the walls of the museum. Attached are photos from the museum including photos of photos of some of the women who have spent their lives doing this dangerous work.
American women mark the 1970s as their decade of liberation. The Haenyeo mark their century of liberation as the 1600s. They have been both bread winners and fulltime mothers for over 400 years in the most difficult of professions. Quite a feat! On to Japan.