Before

Before
leaving for South
Korea, I asked my Korean friend living in London
which places I should visit. “Jeju Island!” she replied, without
hesitation. I wondered how she could be so certain.

Jeju-do was not the place to go for a typical South Korean
experience; the island is one of the country’s few corners where
the infamous high-speed ppali-ppali (meaning “quickly, hurry up,
faster!”) culture is less prevalent. The slow pace of life on Jeju
has earned the island a reputation as an escape from the
mainland.

The coast is the obvious attraction. In the north west, the
nearby island of Biyangdo paints an idyllic backdrop to a fishing
village, a lava field, a cactus farm and flaxen beaches. Oreum are
another principal feature of the landscape – there are more than
360 of these volcanic hills across the island.

Away from the tourist hotspots and sea-view cafés, however,
you’re reminded that Jeju is still a very rural place, famed in the
most part for its citrus orchards. Fields are demarcated by low
drystone walls, or batdam, which cast a web across the landscape
and give a sense of openness. Much of the island is modernised, but
in parts such as this, it feels as if unchanged for centuries.

Yet more than anything, this is an island that pleases all who
visit – whether hiking up Hallasan mountain, watching sunset from
the edge of a crater or skirting along the winding coastal “olle”
trails. Everyone visitor enjoys Jeju in their own way, giving each
place here a significance of their own. My friend was right; now
that I’ve visited and explored for myself, I realise how she could
have been so sure.

@coykun| coykun.com