Korea - Jeju Island

Jeju Island is Korea’s most famous local honeymoon destination and can be considered as Korea’s equivalent of Hawaii. It takes only one hour by flight from Seoul to Jeju Island. It is also frequently visited by foreign tourists particularly those from Japan and China. Besides that, Jeju is also frequently used as a filming site for Korean dramas such as All In and Dae Jang Geum. The hit movie Shiri was also filmed here.

Jeju is famous for 3 things: Lots of volcanic rocks, lots of wind and lots of women. On this island, there are many women divers known as haenyeo. They age between 40 and 70 years old, and dive into the ocean to search for abalone, shellfish and seaweed to sell. The amazing thing is that they dive into the ocean without any oxygen tanks. Unbelievable but true!

Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) is located at the east end of Jeju Island. It is a top attraction and a must visit for visitors to Jeju because, it resembles lovers who are whispering sweet words to each other. It has also been designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage since 2007. It is an extinct volcanic crater which juts out to the sea. To see the crater, visitors need to walk up for about 30 minutes.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall is located at Seogwipo. it is named Cheonjiyeon as the pond is between “heaven and earth”. The waterfall is unique because the water falls into the ocean after passing by a small pond. Before travelrs reach the waterfall, they will see other sights such as the Jeju women statue and a bridge.

Due to the popularity of Korean drama Dae Jang Geum, many visitors also flock to the Traditional Folk Village Museum where part of the drama was filmed. Here, many travelers learn that the gate of a traditional house consists of three removable bars. The number of bars placed represents the house owners’ time of return. If visitors see one bar, the owners are returning very soon while two bars means that visitors should come back later in the evening. Three bars then represent that the owners would only be back after a few days.