Jeju is the special autonomous province of South Korea situated on the country's largest island. It is an island of three NOs--no gates, no beggars and no thieves. It is the island of wind, stone and women. Windmills harness the power of the wind that comes in from the sea. The lava stones are everywhere and provide beautiful demarcation among the fields and other landmarks. Perhaps the most unique aspect of a visit to Jeju are the fascinating Lady Divers. The women train from the age of 6 to become free divers to collect the seafood for the entire village to eat. In the 1970s there were 30,000 and now there are only 5000. The average age is 64. This is a tradition that will be ending in the coming decades. But for now we were able to watch the ladies get ready for a diving demonstration and then cheer as they caught octopus and abalone with their bare hands.
From here we visited a traditional village as well as the local market. Here the market was filled not only with fish but also wonderful citrus since this is grown in abundance on this volcanic island. Pork as well as fish is favored here and it too was available in the market.
No comments:
Post a Comment