Haenyeo Museum

8 November 2022

Those who are familiar with Jeju or who had watched recent Korea dramas featuring Jeju, e.g. “Our Blues”, would have known about “haenyeo”.

A "haenyeo" is a woman diver who gathers marine products for a living, and Jeju is home to the largest number of them in Korea. Equipped with only a lead-weighted vest and goggles, the haenyeo would plunge into waters, dive underwater and hold their breath for up to two minutes while gathering clams, abalone or seaweed from the ocean floor.

The vast majority of living haenyeo are now over the age of 70 and this is a disappearing trade. Hence the importance of a museum dedicated to record, preserve and provide education about this fast disappearing culture.

I included this museum into our itinerary as I felt we should learn more about the haenyeo culture while visiting Jeju. 

The museum is located near the Sehwa coast in the northeastern part of Jeju.  On arrival, I was surprised by the museum’s large and modern building, with a large open garden with various sculptures and a resting area in front of it.

Entrance fee is 1100 KWR per person. Upon entry, we were invited to watch a short video presentation of the Haenyeo culture. While waiting for the next screening of the video, I went to see the sculptures and art work displayed in the lobby.

After watching the video we went to explore the 3 exhibition halls.

Exhibition Hall 1 is entitled “Haenyeo Diver’s Life” and has a replica of a traditional haenyeo’s home, her meals and her traditional beliefs.

Diorama showing the typical layout of a Jeju fishing village in the old days.   

Jeju's thatched houses were built using stones, soil, wood, and belts that are easily available in nature. To overcome the strong rain and wind, the thatched roof was tied with a band, the walls were built using stones, and the fence was also built with stacked lava stones.

Jeju's Traditional Raft called the 'Tewoo'.

Replica of a traditional haenyeo’s home.

Earthen jars for storing rain water, preserving and storing food. Fishing nets and diving equipment hung on the wall.

When travelling, I always look forward to sampling the local cuisine. Hence the section on Jeju food was interesting.  Because Jeju Island is surrounded by the sea on all sides, Jeju food culture is characterized by many dishes made with ingredients such as conch, abalone, sea urchin, and seaweed. They are cooked simply to retain natural flavour of the ingredients. They use only simple seasoning like soybean paste and boiled fish.

I was surprised when I saw in the video presentation that Haenyeo resumed their dives as soon as 3 days after childbirth. These women certainly had a hard life. No such thing as maternity leave for them.

The women dive daily, even through their pregnancies. 

Because their livelihood and safety depended so much on nature, Haenyeo pray to Yeongdeung, the dragon god who they believe controls the sea. Before they begin their dive, there is a prayer for safety and a wealthy catch. 

Shamanic rites being performed to make offerings to the dragon god. The lady in the colourful clothes is the Shaman.

Exhibition Hall 2 showcases the Jeju haenyeo's  workplace, history, and community.

The clothes worn by Jeju haenyeo for diving are called 'mulot'. In the past, it consisted of 'mulsojunggi' (bottom), 'muljeoksam' (top), and 'water towel' to tidy up the hair.

From the early 1970s, haenyeo wore rubber wetsuits with lead belts, which allowed them to work for longer hours and greatly improved their efficiency.

Exhibit showing a Bulteok, a place for the diving women to change their clothes, as well as a place to rest and keep warm after a dive in the cold sea.

A Bulteok is a place for the diving women to change their clothes, as well as a place to rest, keep warm after a dive in the cold sea. A fire was lit in the middle of a round stone wall to warm the body. It is also a place where information and skills on materials work, such as knowledge about materials, tips on materials, and location of the sea, are passed on and acquired, and mutual cooperation among haenyeo is reaffirmed and decisions are made.

Haenyeo community is strong and regimental. The diving women do not arbitrarily jump into the sea and do things alone, but act according to the rules and laws that have been set. In addition, when working with material things, they do not work alone, but work together, and when they are in trouble, they can jointly cope with dangerous situations. Haenyeo cannot exist apart from the group. They even have a ranking or class system depending on their level of experience, age and virtue: high, mid or low class. Starting from as early as 11 years old, it takes seven years of training almost every day before a girl can be considered a fully qualified haenyeo.

Exhibition Hall 3 has an underwater theme called “The Sea” and displays the fishing industry’s culture. Traditional fishnets and fishing equipment are on display including small ship models and salt farm models.

Life-size model of a Jeju's Traditional Raft called the 'Tewoo'.

I think the 45 minutes at the Haenyeo Museum was well spent.

Our next stop would be at a restaurant in Sehwa that specialising in local abalone and seafood dishes. After a visit to the Haenyeo Museum, we could now better appreciate those abalones that we would be eating for lunch.

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Abalone and seafood lunch at Galchi Gongjang (갈치공장) Restaurant

8 November 2022

A good place for lunch while touring the eastern part of Jeju restaurant would be at the coastal area in Sehwa, where there are many seafood restaurants serving abalone dishes, one of the must-eat cuisine when visiting Jeju Island!

I had shortlisted a few restaurants for our lunch after visiting Manjanggul Cave and the Haenyeo Museum. Myeongjin Jeonbok (명진전복) was my first choice as this is probably the most well-known eatery that serves many of Jeju’s abalone dishes. As this is a very popular restaurant where there is often at least a 30 minutes wait to get a table, I had also picked another nearby restaurant as backup in case the queue or wait is too unbearable.

It was a short scenic drive along the Sehwa coastal road from the Haenyeo Museum to the restaurant. Upon arrival, we realised that this day happened to be a Tuesday and Myeongjin Jeonbok is closed on every Tuesday!

My backup plan needs to be invoked. So we went to a restaurant called the “Galchi Gongjang” (갈치공장) that is just a few minutes away along the same coastal road. Galchi Gongjang can be loosely translated as Hairtail Fish Factory. What a strange name for a restaurant.

Address: 1296 Haemajihaean-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea

Blue signboard outside the “Galchi Gongjang (갈치공장) that is located by the coast in Sehwa. The Red signboard shows “Jongga Abalone” which is now part of same restaurant.

The restaurant is clean and new and has large airy glass windows with views of the sea.

The restaurant was quite spacious and there was no queue. We were shown to our table immediately.  Large open glass windows allow diners to have views of the sea.

The service staff at this restaurant speaks fluent Chinese, so there was no language barrier. There is also menu with pictures on the wall and prices are clearly stated. The menu shows the abalone dishes from Jongga Abalone as well as galchi (hairtail fish or cutlass fish) dishes from Galchi Gongjang. Probably both the restaurants are now merged or under same owner/management.

Since we had already planned to eat the cutlass fish at another popular galchi restaurant the next day, we ordered only the abalone dishes.

These were what we ordered:  

Abalone hotpot rice for 15,000 KWR that was served in metal pot, not a pot made with lava rock. The rice comes with plenty of sliced fresh abalone on top and garnished with toasted sesame seeds. There were also small pieces of pumpkin.

Abalone seafood ttukbaegi with whole abalone, prawns, pieces of blue swimmer crab and baby clams in doenjang jiggae. This is a value for money dish at 15,000 KWR. This dish also included a bowl of steamed rice.

Abalone porridge for 12,000 KWR.

Grilled abalone with butter and garlic.

We also ordered the grilled abalone with butter and garlic to share. 10 pieces of whole abalone in shell for 30,000 KWR. The picture above only showed 9 because someone was took one before the photo was taken.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the use of technology at a remote coastal restaurant. A server robot brought the utensils and 5 side dishes to our table.

The above are the side dishes that were delivered by the robot.

There is also a self-service counter where we could top up the side dishes. The translucent rice noodle with sesame oil side dish was very tasty and we took extra servings of this.

Besides the side dishes, the restaurant also serves a deep fried flatfish as a “service dish” or free dish.

Service dish was the deep fried flatfish with crispy skin and crunchy bones. Yum.

After visiting the Haenyeo Museum, we could appreciate the effort and hard work that has gone into our meal, although I guess that most of the abalones we eat could be farmed ones.

So, what does fresh abalone taste like?

For people living in South East Asia, the abalones we usually eat are the canned ones. Canned abalone is very tasty since they are pre-cooked and soak in brine (salt water) and artificial seasoning during the canning process.

The taste of fresh abalone is quite different. Fresh abalone is more sweet than salty.

Of the abalone dishes that we tried, it was unanimous from my group that the abalone stew was the best. It came with 3 whole pieces of fresh abalone in shell, 2 prawns, pieces of blue swimmer crab and lots of baby clams. The soup base is mainly doenjang jiggae with chunks of radish, zucchini, pieces of hot green chilli, doenjang paste, and garnished with green onions. All that for only 15,000 KWR. It would have cost a lot more back home.

Next was the grilled abalones in hotplate with butter and garlic. The abalones were tender enough to cut with a spoon. The sweetness could be tasted as we chewed slowly on the pieces. Very unlike the canned abalone that we usually eat back home.

We found the abalone porridge and abalone hotpot rice a little bland, with no wow factor. Having visited the Haenyeo museum, we learnt that it is Jeju’s food culture to cook food simply to retain their natural flavour. They use simple seasoning like soybean paste (doenjiang) and little added seasoning.  Although not as tasty, it is good that we get to experience these cuisine.

Overall, my group enjoyed our abalone seafood lunch at this place. The service was excellent. In fact, the restaurant manager, who speaks English, came to check if we are enjoying our meal. 

The aftermath of the abalone feast by 4 persons.

Perhaps, it was a blessing in disguise that our original restaurant of choice was closed. We got to try the delicious abalone seafood ttukbaegi and a delicious fried flatfish, in addition to the usual abalone porridge, abalone hotpot rice and grilled buttery abalone.  

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Back to Seongsan Ilchulbong or Sunrise Peak

8 November 2022

When touring the eastern part of Jeju, visitors should one of Jeju Island’s most famous geographical features called Seongsan Ilchulbong or Sunrise Peak. 

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone crater formed approximately 5,000 years ago by a volcanic eruption underneath the sea. It now rises steeply from the sea on almost all sides and access to the summit, at 180m above sea level, is via a narrow strip of land with a more gentle slope.

Although the name implied that this is THE place to watch the sunrise on Jeju Island, I would not sacrifice my sleep to climb to the summit for sunrise viewing.

I had visited Sunrise Peak before in 2011 and climbed to the summit to view the crater and the surrounding areas. Hence, this visit was more for the benefit of my travelling companions who are first time visitors to this place.

I had booked at private taxi tour to bring us to selected attractions on the eastern part of Jeju. This site is extremely popular and the large car park was practically full when we arrived in the afternoon. Perhaps the unusually warm autumn weather with clear blue sky played a part.

Our driver and guide, Mr Won, managed to find a space at an obscure place. In fact, he was proud to show us a “secret” place where we could take photos of Sunrise Peak without the crowds.

The same place also offers views of Udo Island across the sea. Udo, literally "Cow Island", has this name because it looks like a cow lying down but I could not discern that from our viewpoint.

Our travelling group with Udo Island in the background and Mr Won’s shadow in the foreground.

Once the mandatory photo-shoot was done,  we had a decision to make. To climb to the top of Sunrise Peak or not.

A fee of 5000 KWR per person (used to be only 2000 KWR!) is charged for those wanting to take the trail to the summit. I knew it was a steep climb and that the view of the crater was not really that exciting - I had been here, done that before. So my wife and I chose not to go again. Another couple who were still feeling the after-effects of our Hallasan hike also chose not to go.  

Our group split up into two. Four persons (2 couples) who were first time visitors chose to take the trail up to the summit. While waiting for them, we took a walk on the seaside trail on the left side of the Seongsan Ilchulbong.

Visitors who do not hike to the summit can also choose to spent time at the many stalls selling souvenirs and try the street food next to the car park. There are also opportunities to get pony rides for about 10,000 KWR near the entrance of the trail leading up to the peak.

View of the steep seaward cliffs of Sunrise Peak.

I had walked this seaside trail next to Sunrise Peak before. This time, we took a steep flight of steps down to a cove below with black sand beach. 

At this beach, boats could be boarded for a tour round the seaward wide of Sunrise Peak. At 1.30 PM and 3.00 PM daily, the famous Jeju woman divers (Hae-nyeos) will give a performance of their amazing diving abilities but it was already past 3 PM when we arrived.

Cove with black sand beach by the left side of Sunrise Peak. 

There is a hut where haenyeos were selling their catch to visitors. These are eaten sliced, like sashimi, in the hut. Having visited the Haenyeo Museum earlier in the day, we could appreciate the hard work that these aged ladies went through to make a living.

We did not dare to eat these sea critters raw.

Couple of fishermen on the black sand beach.

Beach with black sand (fragments of black lava rock) are common in volcanic islands like Jeju.

Rock formation with interesting lines. Are these lava flow lines?

In the midst of relaxing on the black sand beach, Mr Won suddenly came to me and told me that if we want to visit Sangumburi Crater later, we got to leave by 4.20 PM as last entry to the Sangumburi Crater is 5 PM.

There were frantic texting to the 2 couples who were taking the trail to the summit to inform them of the situation. Fortunately, they appeared like magic at 4.15 PM and we were soon on our way to Sangumburi Crater.

On our way to Sangumburi Crater from Sunrise Peak.

It was a tense drive from Sunrise Peak to Sangumburi Crater! Speed limit is quite low on Jeju’s roads and there are speed cameras a plenty. My Won tried his best to get us there before 5 PM. While his eyes were glued to the road and the speedometer, my eyes were glued to google map showing our current location and the clock.

It was going to be very close!

Did we made it? See the next post.

 

This is the view of the grass covered crater at the summit of Sunrise Peak, shot by one of my travelling companions.  Still look the same after 11 years.

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Fields of Silvery Grass at Sangumburi Crater in Autumn

8 November 2022

Although Sangumburi Crater is interesting as a relatively rare marr-type volcano crater, my main reason for visiting this place is for the silvery grass that flowers in autumn, specifically in the months of September and October. While such silvery grass could be found all over Jeju in autumn, Sangumburi Crater has an impressive large patch that attracts visitors and photographers.

Fields of silver grass at Sangumburi Crater.

The best time for photography is just before sunset when the warm rays of the setting sun cast an orange hue on the vast grassland.

Fields of silver grass turning into gold at sunset.

The opening hours for this place are 09:00 to 17:40 hour during November to February, with the last admission 40 min before closing. Sangumburi Crater was the last place in my itinerary while exploring the eastern part of Jeju.

We almost missed the last entry, having rushed over from Sunrise Peak. In fact, we arrived with barely 5 minutes to spare. The entrance fee was 6000 KWR per adult, which was kind of expensive. After purchasing our entry tickets, we had only 40 minutes to enjoy this place.

Layout of Sangumburi Crater. The observation platform to view the crater is at the top of the map while the grass patch is on the right.

I made a beeline to the patch of silvery grass. There were still many visitors on the pathway that cuts through the vast patch of silvery grass, all taking selfies and photos of the magnificent landscape.

There was not much time for photos as the sun was already quite low. We headed towards the crater, stopping for photos frequently along the way.

This place is also a popular location for filming of k-dramas and movies.

We finally reached the highest point where there is an observation platform overlooking the crater. Sangumburi Crater is a geological marvel in that it is a volcanic crater that is formed in the flatland. Unlike the Baengnokdam crater on Hallasan or the crater at Seongsan Ilchulbong, one can view the crater at Sangumburi without a steep hike. In fact, the crater is only a gentle 10 minutes walk from the entrance.

Sangumburi Crater is what geologist describe as a marr volcano, relatively rare compared to a tuff cone or tuff ring volcano like Seongsan  Ilchulbong. A marr-typed crater is formed by gas or steam explosion without eruption of lava or volcanic ashes (hence the lack of the cone).  The explosions are usually caused by the heating and boiling of groundwater when magma invades the groundwater table.

View of the crater from the observation platform.

The crater is 650 meters wide, 100 meters deep, and 2,070 meters in circumference. It looks like a man-made circular stadium. Normally there would be a lake in the middle of a marr-type volcano crater but at this crater, there is a variety of plant-life in it instead.

The place became less crowded as the sun sets behind Hallasan.

Sun setting behind Hallasan.

There was still plenty of light for photos after sunset.

  At the highest point, next to edge of the crater.

Stone marker at Sangumburi Crater. Can you see the moon rising behind?

I saw a young Korean man shooting photos of the rising moon with his telephoto lens. The full moon was particularly red having just risen minutes after sunset. I later found out that this is the Blood moon and there would be total lunar eclipse visible at Jeju later that night and the moon would become even more red.

View of the rising red moon at Sangumburi Crater. The view reminded me of the picture seen on the screen placed behind the throne of the Joseon kings, where there is a white sun and a red moon over 5 mountain peaks.

We requested the young man to help us take a group photo and he kindly agreed.

Group photo taken with the help of the young Korean photographer.

After taking the group photo, we rushed for the exit as it was 5 minutes to closing time at 5.40 PM. We do not want to spend the night at Sangumburi Crater.

Our group was probably amongst the last to leave.

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