A day in the West

Saturday, February 7th, I awake with a sudden rush. I look for my phone, the time reads 9:05 am, damn, I slept through my alarm. I'm already five minutes late. I call Brian to inform him of my situation, and immediately throw on some clothes. I grab my cameras, and I run out my door and down the street.

After running a few blocks I slow down to catch my breath. I cross the street to E-mart to see Jim, Virginia, and Brian grinning back at me. Also with them is our driver for the day, Mr. Monkey: the Best Driver in Seogwipo, it even says so on his taxi car, and believe me, its not something easily earned.

He had to go 10 years without any accidents to be awarded the title. Besides his driving skills, he's one of the few taxi drivers that speak some English on the island, and he learns it by himself; with a charismatic personality to match, he most certainly is the Best Driver.

Loading our equipment into his trunk, we all jump into his cab and start our adventure with Mr. Monkey. The first stop on our journey was a nearby buddhist temple, Beophwasa Temple, built on the ruins of an older Mongolian temple. The temple itself isn't very big or impressive, but the temple grounds and surrounding area is worth the trip, especially in the spring/summer, when everything is in bloom.



Walking closer to the temple, we see that there is a ceremony in cession, and so we quietly make our way around to where the remains of the Mongolian temple are. It looks like a bunch of old rocks and thats exactly what it is. Trying to be respectful, we avoid going into the temple, and instead head towards a nearby pond opposite of the temple.



It doesn't look like much now, but I imagine what it will look like in a few months: alluring and peaceful, the perfect spot for meditation and contemplation.

With all the items on our agenda, we don't have time to sit around, so we get back in the car and drive West.

Driving along the coast feels great: wind in my hair and sun on my face. Rising from the horizon is the great oreum Sanbangsan. It looks odd, this incredibly high mountain just sticking out of the ground; as if the top of a mountain was cut and thrown there. As we drive past, Brian spots a photographic opportunity. Mr. Monkey pulls a u-turn.

We step out in front of a field of flowers. With the wind blowing strongly, we all quickly reach for our cameras, and start shooting. As we do, an old man comes walking towards us from an adjacent field. We get very suspicious; was he just walking down the road and spotted us?

Soon our suspicions are resolved. After a brief conversation with our guide/driver, Mr. Monkey, we learn that this field belongs to the old man. He insists we pay him 2,000 won to take pictures of it. We laugh, Brian pays, and we get back on the road.



Not far down the road is our next stop, Daejeong Hyanggyo, a confucian school. No longer in use, this school is one of the few reminders here on Jeju of Chinese influence. Its not a very big school, but its well kept, and it is interesting just to see such a place here.

I walk through the small gate entrance, stepping into the courtyard. Surrounding me are three structures, to my left, stairs leading up to the main hall. I examine the architecture and then climb the stairs, through another arch, to where the rest of my group has gone.



Brian scales a nearby wall, attempting to get into position for a better shot. Jim tries the door; its locked. Virginia climbs up onto the wall; I follow in suit, immediately getting a better view of the surrounding area. The oreum make for a perfect backdrop to the courtyard.



Looking back towards the main hall, I take a shot of its closed entrance and its design.



Climbing down from the wall, we decide its time again to get back on the road. A short ride and we arrive at the Chusa exile site. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on, so it wasn't particularly interesting. Climbing over a wall, I get my first look at some traditional looking Korean houses.

The walls are made of mud and clay, the roofs of straw. There is this enclosed pit area, where the pigs were kept; its also where the bathroom was. Its one of those practices that I hope doesn't still continue today.

Next up: The Spirited Garden, one of the biggest outdoor bonsai tree gardens. Flashing our alien registration cards, the attendant gives us our discount and we pay the 7,000 won admittance fee. The owner and head gardener, I believe, greets us at the entrance. We walk into the park and split up, going off in every direction.



There are bonsai trees everywhere: all different shapes, sizes, and types. I follow the brick path, passing by dozens of groomed trees. I arrive at a waterfall, and stop to take a few clips.



Below the waterfall is a pond, filled with these brightly coloured fish. There is a bridge that crosses the pond, which is purely aesthetic. I turn around to watch the fish for a few moments.



I continue walking along the path and spot Brian nearby taking some pictures. I approach him to see what his subject is this time.



Some of the trees have fruit on them, although none of it is actually grown from the trees. Its made to look natural however, but it does serve some artistic purpose I suppose.



Walking further down the path again I see Jim and Virginia emerging from a greenhouse. Curiously, I walk into the greenhouse and am surprised by even more trees. The garden is pretty impressive and has too many trees to count. I can imagine that its even more extravagant in the summer, at the peak of the season.



Its been a few hours, and my stomach is empty. I look to Brian and he's thinking the same thing. I walk back towards the entrance, where there is a centre. I spot Jim already inside, he beat us to it.

Inside I'm greeted by the seductive aroma of a buffet. We quickly discuss it and its unanimous; we pay and then grab some plates. Rice, curry, bulgogi, fish, chopche (glass noodles), kimchi, soup, pumpkin, and plenty of other choices await us.



I finish my first plate and head back for another. It was a good meal, and the timing couldn't have been better. All I needed now was a cup of coffee.

My wish would be granted just minutes later, at a stop down the road, the Mayflower cafe.



Its an interesting little cafe, with bits of wood, rocks, and plaster mixed together, giving it this almost driftwood cabin feel. What's even more interesting about it is that everything is free. The owner who lives next door, and is often away on trips to Seoul, has the cafe setup for anyone looking for a nice stop and some refreshments. You just pay what you think is fair, putting it into the donation box at the entrance.

There are several coffee makers, plenty of tea, a fridge stocked with juice and beers, and even a laptop on this stage with plenty of sound equipment. My first thought was, if no one is here, wouldn't someone take advantage of the owner's generosity and steal some of his equipment?

I suppose it is a risk, but living on Jeju, and not being that well known of a place, its just one of those perfect little gems that make up that diamond mine that is Jeju.

Brian and I had some coffee, while Jim and Virginia shared a pot of tea. Not long after we arrived, more people started showing up, and within minutes the place was busy with people inside and out, enjoying the patio and sunny weather. We all grabbed some beers for the road and put some won in the donation box.



As we got back into the cab, we switched up seating arrangements. I ended up in the front with Mr. Monkey. Our next stop was to the Jeoji Culture and Art Village, a spot known for its artistic values and creations. Its not a very popular spot, as the villagers there like to keep to themselves. Maybe they need the solitude for their creative thinking, or maybe they just don't like tourists, either way, we were heading there next.

Driving into the village, we spotted a few different museums: one of which was another tree garden; we had our fill of trees for the day, so we continued driving. We made our way to the Jeju Museum of Modern Art. Its a decent museum, its just too bad that its so far from anything else. Walking up the rock path towards the entrance we heard some music. It was then that we realized that some of the rocks had built in speakers...interesting.

Jim did the translating for us and approached the museum attendant about admission, meanwhile Brian flipped through a photo book, wherein he found a picture of Jim and himself; they were celebrities here. It was a mere 2,000 won for all of us, a respectful price to see the gallery.



The artist, Kim Ok Sun, is a Jeju resident who won a $50,000 grant for his works. With that money he invested some into the building of the museum. Only a year ago he was putting together a portrait book of foreigners living on the island; Brian and Jim were asked to be a part of it.

I wouldn't consider myself an art scholar, but I do have some artistic values, and the artist most definitely had talent.



Once we had gone through the gallery, we rejoined our driver, and went back on the road. While we were discussing which to go next, Suwolbang or Songaksan, Mr. Monkey suggested that we go the nearby oreum, Jeoji Oreum. None of us had heard anything about it before, but our driver insisted that it was a great place to check out, so we did.



The trail starts off with a steep climb, but then converges into a trail that loops around the oreum. Mr. Monkey gave us some directions and we were off. Walking through the trees, we spotted something up ahead: a massive cemetery. Jeju graves resemble mini-oreums, and can be found just about anywhere. Even in crops fields, where the crops come right up to the edge of the graves.

What we saw was a rolling hill filled with these graves; it was stunning.



As we kept walking we noticed a Korean up ahead, at first we thought that he might be upset with us taking photos, but we realized that it was Mr. Monkey. He had gone the other way around the oreum to meet up with us, and now had emerged what seemed to be ahead of us, with a walking stick nonetheless; weird.

He pointed out the trail to the top, where supposedly there was a crater. We started climbing again, only to arrive at a fork in the road. We went left and emerged at the top. The crater must have been the other direction. There was a man passed out in a small booth with Korean music blaring, we just passed him by and stood atop this platform for a view around the Western side of the island.



With evening approaching, we grabbed our things and headed back down the oreum, this time going the other way back to meet with our driver. Again we spotted some graves, but this time there were some black ones. Perhaps some newer graves that had yet grown any grass on them?



Driving into the village of Suwolbong, we were greeted by the sight of many drying squid. Squid in Korean is like candy; everyone eats it, except me. You'll find a lot of children snacking away on dried squid in class, like beef jerky. Maybe its the salt taste that they like, I don't understand it.



The view of Chagwido island from Suwolbong harbour is simply amazing. Despite it being incredibly windy out, we went down along the water to take some photos of the scenery. Jim spent most his time trying to avoid seagull poop; as did I.



Virginia, whom Mr. Monkey referred to as "Gloria" for the remainder of the day, was quite cold from the wind, and so went back towards the car rather quickly. We drove along the coastal road, until we came to a road that led up to this lookout point along the cliffs.

It was a great spot to lookout onto the harbour and the fields surrounding the village.



With our time with Mr. Monkey just about up, we left for our final destination of the day, Songaksan, for a view of Sanbangsan, Gapado and Marado.

The drive along the coast through the fields and villages was fantastic. It was like seeing another side of Jeju, void of any tourists, comfortable, with houses right on the water. It was like revisiting home for me; it felt great. I imagine myself biking along the route, enjoying the sun on a perfect summer day.

Unfortunately the wind was getting stronger, and the day colder, so we quickly walked to the lookout point at Songaksan. There was plenty of others around, taking in the view, and enjoying some drinks at a nearby tented restaurant.

We took in one last view of the area and then got back in our ride, headed for home. That was my day in the West.