On a Yeha East Course Bustour - Part 2: Seongeup Folk Village & Sunrise Peak hike

Our 2nd stop after the Trick Art Museum, our tourguide brought us to our next stop,
Seongeup Folk Village (성읍민속마을). Located at the foot of Halla Mountain on
Jeju-do, the village is a small town that holds a vast amount of culture. The
village is known for its black lava rock walls, the straight but curvy alleys
to block the wind.

You will be able to find countless stone grandfather statues at this village!
And as our tour guide explained, the olden days Koreans believed that if to be
pregnant with a boy, the mothers should touch the nose of the 돌하르방.
Interesting, isnt it?

At the entrance of the Seongeup Folk Village

These must be the black lava rock walls...

And the village has turned into a cultural center for visitors to learn about the
rich Jeju-do culture. 

Can you visualise a Korean drama set in the olden days?
Just need to wear a hanbok to complete the look.

And our tour guide was really professional coz she explained the building of
the village and its history. 

A hut!

More villages...!

I cannot imagine staying in it though = /

Look! Our famous drama of all time was filmed here too.
대장금 (大長今)

I would love to have a picture with the village hut, no matter how mismatch i
look! haha

Our tourguide was really funny as she said "There are 3 things that Jeju-do doesnt
have. Do you know what they are? Jeju doesnt have thieves, stealing and doors!"
It meant that it is really safe in Jeju as everyone had an open-door policy so there
were no need for doors, literally!

So all the villages needed were 3 wooden sticks to show if they were at out
(for long time) or out (for a short while) or at home by putting in the no. of
wooden sticks..so that their neighbours would know without having to knock.

Just an empty plot of land surrounded by stones to mark territory?

Blackberry trees! Apparently they grow their own blackberries
and honey as they are good cure for insomnia, constipation and
bronchitis.

Commoners walking in the village

Okay i just found this interesting...like some sort of a well or wheelbarrow?

아주머니 trimming her plants. And 2 things that Jeju-do has - women and
typhoon (strong wind). haha

Beautiful flowers

Jeju's sweet 감귤 (tangerines)

This is also a lifestyle

This is 정의현 객사 where it used to be an inn and place to hold festive parties.

Taken from another angle

마을

A place for sightseeing?

Yay! After a long morning of soaking in the history and culture of Jeju-do, we
have finally arrived at a restaurant for lunch! 먹자 ^^

Of course, we chose to have the famous Jeju Black Pork for lunch!
We had 흑돼지 once at the Black Pork street during our first trip with Agnes-ssi,
but 충분하지 않았어!

Such a Korean delicacy. Must try again!

The meat is not black even if it's a black pork but i was told
that usually the restaurants will leave a few strands of black
hair on the pork meat to show that it's truly black pork! LOL

We ate along with our other members of the tour bus.
Happily filling our tummies to prepare for our next hike!

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak [UNESCO World Heritage] (성산일출봉)!!

A photo before we commence our 60-mins trekking is a must!

Looking all fresh before we start!

출발! (Let's start!)

Yes! We are very excited to climb the Sunrise peak (as many
know Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak as) = ) All geared in our
sunnies as we take on the 600 stairs climb to the top!

등산을 하자!

Initially the steps were these large...

Say "Kimchi" on our first few steps. 

Such pwetty sight along the pathways

We reach our first pit-stop. Get a good view over the deck shall we?

Overseeing the cliffs on the east and north sides. The northwest side is a grassy hill 
that is connected to the Seongsan Village, where we came from earlier!

Celebrating our little achievement hahaha

Say "hi" to 돌하르방 as we trek on...

View from midway

Ligna-ssi! Persevering on..."we must reach the top..!"

Selfie!

lol...and more selfie when catching my breathe too

자연 (nature) ^^

The signboard that is supposed to encourage us to press on...
It says we are left with 140m to go & we are 115 m above sea level = )

섬!!

Deckview

Stealing a picture with Ligna-ssi. 화이팅!!

Look at the tiny steps as compared to what we had in the
beginning...

I cannot stop snapping and snapping. 바다!

Although we didnt climb at sunrise, the deep blue shades of the sky and skyline
is an overwhelming view for me. 

Another deck shot that we must take

We mark our steps here!

The signboard talks about changes in the coastal area of Seongsan area

Will you forget your cares and woes momentarily by just looking at this?

YES! We finally reached the peak. 산위에서...기뻐!
(So happy to be on mountain top)

Pats on our back!! 

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption over
100,000 years ago.

나 왔어 = )

Before we head down after the 600 steps climb

Leggo!

More pictures taken at the peak

Looking at the steps i can only hahaha

Over the horizon

Everyone is enjoying the clear air on top

Wallpaper pls!

Ligna-ssi snapping away lol

아! 좋죠? (Isnt it great?)

Pardon my trembling knees pls. Overcoming my slight height
phobia

Human jam on the way down

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak has 99 sharp rocks surrounding the crater

and the sharp rocks makes the crater look like a crown

Can we lie here for a picnic, pretty pls?

As we head down, we spotted the women divers getting
ready for their show

Loving this place!

발리와 친구!

Different activities to do. Apparently, we can also do horse riding at the ridge.

But were didnt want to miss the Jeju women diver performance!

We saw the preparation before the women divers set off to the sea.

Getting the speedboat ready

여행!

Before the women divers get on the speedboat, they will usually do a short
song and dance performance...

And most of them are already 할머니 (grandmothers)

So we can imagine how tough it would be for them to be diving. But they
are healthy 할머니

Set off to dive for pearls?

Diving in a scenic view

Look at the huge cave rock behind them!

A close-up of the dive

and they drag their returns up the shore

And pour them out to sun

Although we could only see seaweed and nothing else (no
shellfishes caught) but we applaud them for their determination
at this age.

And we did out tourist shots at the end of the show.

Cannot bear to leave this lovely place and view.

Jjjang! Clear waters

아름답다!

Big caves Big rocks

Thankful for the wonderful memories at Sunrise peak ^^

Matcha and strawberry icecreams to snack on (and quench our thirst)
before we headed up the bus to our last tour stop - Manjang Cave!