Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak & The Haenyo (Jeju's Woman Divers)

The lady divers of Jeju, or Haenyo (properly pronounced 'hay-nyaa': 해녀- or 'sea women') remind me a lot of the 'Ama women' (pearl divers) in Japan. In Jeju's instance however, these women were best suited to collect the island's aquatic treasures of abalone and conch (abalone porridge (전복죽), by the way, is one of Jeju's most famous dishes and can be eaten best around Seongsan Ilchulbong) and exporting them to Japan in the 1970's. The traditions of the Haenyo can in fact be dated back to the 17th century when the men were off at sea leaving the women to become heads of the family, as seen in a matriarchy, this clashed with the mainland's Confucianist culture wherein women were regarded as second grade citizens.

Unfortunately, the same successes that brought the Haenyo prosperity and allowed them to provide for their families (not to mention boost the local economy) also meant that their daughters could go to universities in the big cities and on the mainland, acquiring modern 'real world' jobs and side-stepping the trades of their mothers. The traditions of these women may be lost forever in a generation or two as the economy on this island switches from fishing to tourism. Most of ladies I observed on this trip seemed no younger than 50 and perhaps as much as 80 years old.

It's hard to not feel a little nostalgic reading about the Haenyo, in a constantly changing world small things get left behind and vanish forever...in a few years all that might be left of these strong women is a statue and a placard. (And a documentary someone made...)

After this I viciously recommend walking along Route 1 of the Jeju Olle trail to get some nice context shots of Seongsan Ilchulbong and perhaps ride a donkey...

Post about Jeju Island. Post about Seogwipo City.

How to get there:

From Jeju or Seogwipo city bus terminals get on the intercity bus bound for Seongsan, either will take between one and two hours.

(These buses also take in a lot of other tourist and accommodation spots so chances are you'll be able to grab the same bus from wherever you are in Jeju. If you can understand Korean, the bus website, if you can only read Korean, bus route pictures)

Soundtrack:

Jeffery Lewis - Sea Song

"The ocean's grandmother, on the back of a turtle..."

I guess this is the third in my trilogy of posts about Jeju. As I mentioned in a previous post Jeju is a long-dormant volcano island and one of its most popular volcanic sights is Seongsan Illchilbong, a lava 'tuff cone' also known as 'sunrise peak'.

Geographically Seongsan Ilchulbong is a fascinating piece of land, formed by hydrovolcanic eruptions nearly 5,000 years ago when the sea level was similar to the present day. Magma would have heated the surface or sea water creating near-instantaneous explosions of steam, water, ash and volcanic rock (a phreatic eruption, similar to that of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption for those who care). The humid conditions in which it is thought to have been created resulted in it's most icon feature, the bowl like crater, which unless you catch on the perfect day will never look like it does in promotional tourist pictures...probably the same the sunrise too, most days the path to the summit is opened one hour before sunrise and costs a worthwhile 2,000W entrance (at all times).

I've heard some say the walk up can be a little steep and quite taxing, but it's also a short walk and there are many rest stops along the way. One can also experience a 'hold on to your belongs' boat ride around part of the island for 10,000W, but again the weather best be good or all you'll see is fog. Personally I recommend walking up to the peak first, after which heading down to the right of the tuff cone to see the famous Haenyo...

Everyone gets a bit trigger snappy-happy when these ladies do their ritual folk-song during one of the scheduled performances. Don't be a dick, show some respect yeah?