My family took a wonderful cruise vacation this month in Asia, starting out in Tianjin, China, with excursions to Cheju Island, Korea and Kagoshima, Japan. The highlight of the cruise was viewing the total solar eclipse near Iwo Jima on July 22. We ended our trip in Kobe, Japan and spend two days in Osaka before flying home. It was a wonderful trip, and one of the highlights for me was our trip to Cheju-do. I have been to Korea twice before to visit relatives in Seoul, Inchon, and Tongduchon, but had only heard about Cheju-do from my mom and family members.
We arrived in Cheju (or Jeju) at 8:00 am on July 19, to cloudy skies. We had booked an excursion with the ship we were on, trying to cram in as many sights as possible into an 8-hour stop. At the pier, we were met by Korean drummers in colorful costumes, welcoming us to the island. Aside from the eclipse, this excursion was the thing that I was most looking forward to on the trip. My mother had told me many times about Cheju-do, and how Koreans go to this romantic island getaway as a "honeymoon paradise." Of course, while we were there, I had to call her to rub it in that I was here and she was not. I'm nice like that.
My 8 year old son, Alex, was super-excited to be going onto dry land again, because the afternoon of the first day at sea left him a little seasick. His distaste for the kids' program on board the Costa Classica ship didn't help much, nor did the al dente pasta, which he upchucked in large, undigested chunks four hours after consuming it. Needless to say, we were all happy to see land and cloudy, but rainless skies over Cheju-do, after 3 days of rain in China and onboard the ship. Alex really seemed happy to see land, so much, it seemed as though he wanted to lick it.
We boarded a tour bus with about 40 other passengers, making stops at Yongduam (Dragon Head Rock), Tamla Mok Sok Won (natural sculpture garden), the Cheju Foklife & Natural History Museum, and in true tour tradition, exiting by way of a gift shop. The bus had lacy purple curtains and comfortable seats. Our tour guide was a lovely, smiling woman who had the American nickname "Sharon" after the official flower of the island, the Rose of Sharon. She said she chose the name because the flower was tough and resilient, like she was.
Our first stop on the tour was Yongduam, or Dragon Head Rock, a rock formation by the sea made by volcanic rock. Sharon told us that the Dragon's head had been damage by a typhoon, so the dragon now looked more like a bunny rabbit. She told us that the two main exports of the island were "tangerines and babies." Tangerines were grown and sold year round to the mainland, and "babies" because this island was known to be a romantic place for honeymoons, so many women left with a little something extra.
Sharon also told us she became a tour guide because her father said she talked too much, and under Confuscian beliefs, this was grounds for divorce. So, she decided to make good use of her chatty nature and make a living out of it. She was a delightful guide, very knowledgeable about the island and it's customs and culture. She explained that in mainland Korea, the tradition was that multiple generations lived together, and it was expected that the oldest son would take care of the parents. In Cheju, they had the opposite tradition: when the oldest son married, the parents had to move out of their family home and give it to the the child and move into a new house with any remaining children. She said this was just one way that the island was culturally distinct from Mainland Korea.
At Yongduam, we climbed down a series of wooden stairs to the black volcanic rocks below, near the sea. An old Korean man was changing into a swim suit, and waded through a small tide pool and jumped into the ocean for a swim. Nearby, women divers set up baskets of the catch of the day--fish, abalone, mussels, and clams. The island is famous for the hardworking women divers who support the economy with their catches, and have some kind of amazing ability to hold their breath for long periods of time. The rock formations reminded me of the lava rock beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii, so I could see why my mom and Sharon both referred to Cheju as the "Hawaii of Korea."
Sharon told us that the language is a regional dialect, a combination of Korean and Japanese. Mainlanders often mistake the dialect as Japanese, and many Cheju Islanders speak 3 languages--Korean, Japanese, and Cheju. It has a unique culture, including a tradition of stone carving that looks something like Polynesian stone tikis. Small replicas were sold as souvenirs throughout the island, and we found numerous examples, including one incredibly life-like boy who looked a lot like Alex.
From Yongduam, we went on to the Cheju Folklore and Natural History Museum. This was a nice museum with artifacts and examples of the flora and fauna of the island. There were a number of displays of Korean men and women doing traditional handiwork, showing life on the island in days gone by. I particularly liked the large number of earthenware pots, which were used to bury kimchi to allow it to ferment. They also had a replica of some of the caves on the island, showing spindly sodastraw stalactites growing from the ceiling.
After touring the museum, the bus took us to Tamla Mok Sok Won, an outdoor sculpture garden. The interesting thing about this place was that many of the sculptures were tree roots that grew in the shape of human forms, Chinese characters, and other recognizable objects. The islanders had an ancient tradition of carving heads and figures out of stone, and these were arranged throughout the park. Sharon told us that these were not made by artists, but by everyday people. Most of them were primitive, but quite striking.
Some of the tree-root sculptures were housed in traditional island homes, stone cottages with thatched roofs with bundles of straw tied down tightly. The winds are quite strong on Cheju, so the villagers had to learn to tie good knots or risk having the roof blow off in a storm.
I wandered off from the group for a bit, so I missed a good deal of the explanation of what some of the things were. I enjoyed being out in the trees and seeing the carvings and the little houses made of stone and wood. It was a beautiful and serene setting with many unusual things to see. On a prior trip to Korea, I had visited Min Sook Chon, the Korean Folk Village, and seen similar traditional houses.
In all, I really enjoyed our time on Cheju-do, and would like to visit again when we are not so rushed to see so much in a short time. The tour offered us a small sample of what the island has to offer. I'd love to go back and see some of the other sites we missed.
--Glennia
For more info on our trip to Eclipse '09, visit The Silent I and you can find more pictures on my Flickr.
