Falling for South Korea - Jeju Island (Part 3)

Day 3 : Seongsan Ilchulbong - Hanyeo Performance - Seopjikoji

SEONGSAN ILCHULBONG

Well, we went to this Sunrise Peak yesterday but it happened that we want to witness the woman divers (Haenyeo) at the beach at the foot of this peak. This performance is something unique for Jeju island so it we thought that it is worth visiting this place again. This place has a beautiful scenery that we can appreciate. On top of that, there is a beach where we stopped by to see the Sunrise Peak from another angle. I was planning to visit Manjangul Lavatube but that would cost us more time to get there. So Seongsan Ilchulbong was our next spot before Seopjikoji.

Seongsan Ilchulbong viewed from the I-don't-know-the-name beach

There are Haenyeo divers if you care to use your macroscopic eyes

When we were going down the stairs to the bay for the Haenyeo diver performance, I managed to see a few interesting spots/objects/items, whatever you call it. I always admire the cuteness of the small little flowers frequently used in making bouquets of flowers, or commonly known as baby's breath. No idea though why it is called baby's breath. It seems that this cute flower is a common flower inhabiting this area and found in small patches.

Baby's breath are abundant here

Another thing which caught my eye was the pattern of the ground at the bay which is unique and natural. It appeared as a result of weathering and other complex geological process. If only I care to read the information before-hand, I might have been able to describe the process here. To some people, this formation is nothing or ordinary but I do not see it that way.

Interesting ground formation as a result of complex geological activity

It was worth waiting for the Haenyeos to perform though the performance bay was filled with tourists pretty early. Before the Haenyeo divers went down, they sang a song which if I am not mistaken, a song to boost their spirit to dive and a prayer for their safety. It was really a nice song to listen to though I did not understand even a bit of it. Of course it is more or less the same feeling when our grandmothers sing the folk songs.

At this stage, this Haenyeo divers really triggered me to be a good skin diver. While observing these Haenyeos, I realized that they were underwater for more than 3 minutes which inspired me so much. The longest time I took to do this skin-dive was 45 seconds ONLY. It is SECONDS, NOT MINUTES. The longest time taken for an amateur skin-diver can hold their breath is around 2-3 minutes but to get to that level, practices are a must. Problem with me is, I hate to go to the public pool alone. Sometimes it was ashamed when a SCUBA diver does not even have the skill to skin-dive especially the young ones.

A Haenyeo diver  with her catch. An octopus!!

Well, time taken is not the only thing that matters, but also the relatively low water temperature, surface and below surface. Seriously, it is not something that I can handle nicely when it comes to diving in cold water. But these Haenyeo divers, it was not a problem for them. On top of the diving skills, these Haenyeos  managed to lift the accumulated catch-of-the-day pretty easily and they have a tough-looking physical though they are relatively small in size.

After watching the performance, we had am early seafood dinner, which was an octopus and some kind of shellfish but I was  not sure which shellfish;  not clams, not oysters, it was something else. Those seafood were sold, cut n and cooked by the Haenyeos themselves. At first, they served us the raw octopus and shellfish but since my buddy do not take raw food, we requested that they boil the seafood for us. Not only the boiled octopus and shellfish, boiled seaweed, wasabi, onion cuts and some condiments were served too. And guess what, for that kind of decent meal, it costed KRW 50,000 for the two items. It is considerably expensive but worth the experience and the efforts of the Haeyeos. I totally forgot to take the pictures of our dinner because I was too preoccupied with the freshly caught seafood meal.


SEOPJIKOJI

When we were totally satisfied spending time in Seongsan Ilchulbong, we headed to Seopjikoji. We should have visited this place the day before but it was already a little too late and getting dark. Another short walking need to be done to get to the main point of attractions, the lighthouse and the chapel. This place was famous for the filming of a Korean drama, All-In, but it was not because of the drama I decided to come here.FYI,  I do not watch Korean drama at all.  I just need to see beautiful places, nurturing my pair of eyes, breath the refreshing air and let the breeze pamper my skin.

Personally, Seopjikoji has its own colour at different time of the day. During my visit here, it was already approaching dusk. I did see other nice pictures of Seopjikoji from the net which I believe taken in the morning or afternoon. So below are the only pictures that I managed to obtain from my camera.

The chapel where they said the All-In drama was filmed

To the top!!

The view of the cape and the cute lighthouse

Looking at another angle

Wider view of the cape

Upon walking back to our scooters, we drop-by a small shop selling souvenirs, typical Korean souvenirs actually. My buddy purchased boxes of Jeju chocolates while I was trying to get myself a donut as a snack for the evening, but it was not available, unsure if it is already sold out or they no longer sell it.

Finally, we get our scooters and headed back to Seogwipo. It was a long but full of fun day. That was the end of our day 3 in Korea.