Goin' down the road

I've been at my pension almost two weeks now and it's about time I've discovered what lies down the road past my place. Goin' Down the Road (1970) just so also happens to be a classic Canadian film, and one of my favourites, about two Nova Scotians who travel west looking for work; ironically, I've travelled so far west that I've ended up in the East.

When I had finished my "war ride" with Matt this early afternoon, I thought I would take a shot in dark and find out what exactly is down there. I was a bit surprised at what I had found:



After going through several winding roads, I emerged onto the main road of Beophan village. I followed it for several minutes, looking for a road leading down to the shore.



Going down a road I came upon a narrow paved path along the shore; from there, Beomseom island was in clear view. I followed the path, and watched as several Koreans walked down to the shore to fish on the rocks.

I found this interesting terrace with several statues of haenyo and other fish designs. They were quite extraordinary and were worth my time to stop and take a few shots.



There was this statue that resembled the pisces symbol, with a hole in the center, that I thought was also interesting; if you look through, Munseom is perfectly framed in it.



Being a pisces, I thought that it was very auspicious; this was later confirmed by the Blue Rock Thrush sighting I had moments later.

The last statue was a melange of designs, with attention to fish and netting:



Besides oranges and dol hareubangs, I would put haenyo as one of Jeju's most prominent symbols; nothing says Jeju culture like a woman free diver.

All of the haenyo I've ever seen have been old women. Their numbers are slowly dwindling. I only wish that there were more young women trying to keep the tradition alive, perhaps I'll meet one some day.