From Hello Kitty Island, Lava Crater to Folk Village
A small island in southern Korea, Jeju is one of the most
visited place of this country. Jeju is
one of the 9 provinces of South Korea, its natural scenery, beaches and climate
attract not only honeymooners, but also families and children; not only
Koreans, but also foreigners. Jeju Island
is 73 km long and 31 km wide (Yes, I’m Asian, I use metric system). Jeju has two major cities, on the central
northern and southern coastlines: Jeju
City, and Seogwipo. In my previous post I said, I visited 6 cities
in South Korea
including an island, but I didn’t know in that island there are two cities :p
haha! So 7 cities in South
Korea! Yay! 69 cities in total (excluding my
home country)
Jeju, aside from being known as ‘Island of Gods’, ‘Hawaiian
of Korea’, it is also called ‘Samdado’ which means island of three
abundances. The three abundances are
wind, women, and rock. The island is
very windy, which is a good thing in
Summer! Women because they run the
island :p I mean, Jeju has high women population, so they are the provider of
the family and they are known for their beauty. Its traditional culture stands in contrast to
the mainland and most Asia as being
matriarchal. Rock because it’s part of the local’s people belief; if you visit Jeju you will find a lot of
stones in this island, the ancient people of Jeju Island
belief in paganism, one of them is God of Rock.
And I think I should also tell you the three things which
aren’t in Jeju Island: Gate, Beggar, and
Pickpocket. The typical house in Jeju
has no gate, there are neither beggars nor pickpockets, it shows that the
people here can get a proper job for a living.
I spent 2 nights only in Jeju with 1 and half days of full
tour in the island. On the previous
post, I have visited Yongdu-Am (Dragon head Rock) and Ice
Museum and Trick Eye Museum.
Today I got the chance to visit, uhm, Hello
Kitty Island,
Teddy Bear
Museum, Eco Land Theme Park, Seongsan Ichulbong and Seongeup Folk Village.
- Hello Kitty Island & Teddy Bear Museum
My local guide, Emily, by far is my favorite local guide,
she swapped the schedule to match with the weather that day. So in the morning, we visited Hello Kitty Museum and Teddy
Bear Museum
because both are indoor attractions and it was foggy and pouring. Both museum are 15-25 minutes distant by
bus.
Alright! So, Hello Kitty! Geez, I’m never a fan, but I admit
it’s super cute place, it has vast collection of the dolls, statues, virtual rooms,
photo sets, kids playground, souvenir stores, café , basically it’s paradise
for children.
Teddy Bear Museum
or Teseum is pretty much the same, but you can hug and hold the stuffed dolls,
in Hello Kitty Island,
visitors are not allowed to do that. Minus
the café, virtual rooms, and playground.
Just another paradise for kids.
Mostly people go here to snap some photos on the sets given,
there are a lot of sets with cute theme.
2. Eco Land Theme Park (에코랜드테마파크)
Eco Land is situated in Jeju City. I almost forgot I visited this place, not because it's not interesting, but because we spent such a short time in here. We took the train to look around the forest park and walk across a lake, which was very misty and foggy, I didn't snap any pictures. It's basically a nice place for children, not that much of attraction, mainly just green park for picnic, it's Eco Land.
Eco Land Theme Park is built in the 1km² Gotjawal primeval forest. Visitors can explore around in a train that looks like 1800s’ steam powered Baldwin train. The five Baldwin train look-alike operated in the park were specially ordered and manually manufactured in UK. In the large Gotjawal forest with railway trails, visitors can see a variety of plants, animals, and insects living in the mysterious Gotjawal forests, while touring around by the special train. It also has a lake for visitors to experience the ecosystem of the forest, take a walk, and enjoy picnic. Besides, there are many things to enjoy including Eco Bridge, Hovercraft, Eco Windmill, Picnic Garden, Kid’s Town, Eco Road, Bare Foot on Scoria, Floating Café, and topiary art works. - visitkorea.or.kr
After lunch, we visited Seongsan Ichulbong, it’s acknowledged
by UNESCO World Heritage in 2014. It’s
an archetypal hydrovulcanic eruptions upon a shallow seabed over 5,000 years
ago. The top is 182 meters high and on
top of it, there’s a huge crater surrounded with 99 sharp rocks which make it
looks like a bowl or also a crown (it depends on your imagination,
people).
Visiting a place like this, of course, I hiked to the top, I
mean, come on! There are two options for the visitors, either they can hike to
the top and see the whole island or take the road to the beach and see the huge
cliffs. Me, of course I took both! I wanted to see it all! I just had to hike
quickly, it’s not that high, the stairs look safe and firm, so no worries. I
was only given 1 hour, and I got the peak and the shore, yay!
Honestly, the scenery is not overwhelming, when I got to the
top, I didn’t go ‘Woaaaahhh’ and I don’t have Go Pro like camera to capture the
top of the crater, so I could get the ‘bowl’ or ‘crown’ shape. Even if I had Go Pro, I doubt I could get it,
because that kind of shot only possible from a ‘bird view’. The beach was nice. Well, it was rather cloudy that day, I
suppose sunny weather would elevate the whole scenery, otherwise it looks so
average to me. But I did enjoy it, it’s
a new place, it involves physical activity, I’d rather go to places like this
than anything indoor.
 |
| View from the Shore |
4. Seongeup Folk Village (성읍민속마을)
The last visitation of the day, Seongeup
Folk Village
is located at the foot of Halla
Mountain. It is not only rich in culture of Jeju Island,
but also as filming location for K-Drama Dae Jang Gum (Jewel of the Palace), I
know this one, my mother used to watch it.
The village looks like typical mountain village with its large
millstones and stone monuments.
 |
| Traditional House |
Emily showed us while explaining the importance and history
of the village. It was cloudy that day,
but not cold, not chilly, and village is very tranquil, calm and green. It was a very nice afternoon walk even with 3”
knee high boots J The village is very large, we only spent 1
hour or so and I think it’s enough.
Black pig is very famous in here, it is said to be nutritious.
I don’t eat any four-legged animal protein,
so don’t ask me about the details. They
smell horrendous, ugh.
Cultural properties in the folk village have been handed down from generation to generation and include treasures such as residential houses, Confucian shrines and schools, ancient government offices, stone statues, large millstones (pulled by horses or ox), fortress ruins, and stone monuments. Among the cultural gems of the folk village are intangible cultural assets such as folk plays, native foods, local folk craftsmanship, and local dialect. Even the trees are an important part of the area’s heritage. – visitkorea.or.kr
 |
| Locals believe when married couple want to have a child they'd touch the nose of either one of this rock statues. Right arm on the top represents a son; left arm on the top represents a daughter. |
 |
| Can you see the heart-shaped stones over there? :) |
So, that's all for the second day in South Korea. Lucky, it wasn't raining, well, it's not the sunny weather I love, but it's good enough :) Good enough to walk around, great for hiking, so I didn't get sweaty, good to wear leather outfit, haha. Good thing I wore halter neck blouse with thin polyester fabric, leather pants, and knee high leather boots :p and yeah, I changed my boots with Nike Free TR before I hiked the mountain. duh.
5. Mysterious Road (Dokkaebi Road) (신비의도로)
Bonus! Actually we went here the next day, but I didn't get off the bus, because well, the main idea visiting this place is to show the visitors about this nature phenomenon.
This place is not unique in Korea, it is a fact that there are several places like this in the world, e.g. Magnet Hill, Magnetic Hill, Gravity Hill, Mystery Hill etc. There is one in Java Island, Indonesia; never been there though. There is one just outside the city of Madinah, Saudi Arabia; been there, done that.It lies on a hill at the foot of a mountain, and connects two major highways on Jeju Island. It has earned its name, as objects and liquid appear to roll and flow up the hill instead of down, when, in fact, such image of gravity defiance is an optical illusion rendered by the seemingly high surroundings. - visitkorea.or.kr
0 comments