During graduate school, I made several trips back to Korea, where I lived between 2006 and 2007. As opposed to just staying in Seoul the entire time (because TV and delivery Korean food is tempting), I tried to get out of the city at least once on each trip to visit a part of Korea I hadn’t seen while I lived there.
That’s how I made my way to Ulleung-do in the summer of 2010.
Ulleung-do is a small island in the East Sea (or Sea of Japan if you are an evil Japanese imperialist!) just north of the much-contested island of Dok-do (Takeshima in Japanese) that Koreans are constantly up in arms about. Most Koreans go to Ulleung-do as a package trip to take a boat ride around Dok-do, and proclaim how it is and always will be Korean, how evil the Japanese are for trying to annex their land, and basically how the Japanese are terrible in every way possible.
I’ll admit, Korean nationalistic zealotry can get really annoying at times – especially when mixed in with Korean’s weird evangelical brand of Christianity. But I digress…
What I mean to say is that most mainland Koreans miss Ulleung-do in preference for Dok-do, and it is a crying shame. I found Ulleung-do to be a lovely little island, with many stellar hikes and scenic vistas, and really amazing amazing food.
I’ll start with the former. My friend and I stayed in a lovely minbak (link is Korean only) in the more sparsely populated northeastern shore of the island. The minbak itself was about a 2 kilometer walk from the village (also known as Buk-myeon), and the second to last stop on the bus route that originated in the main harbor town of Dodong-ri.
First of all, the island itself is an extinct volcano that rises precipitously out of the sea, and the topography is dramatic to say the least. Not only are there tall, jagged peaks all over the island, but they are also lush and green. Everywhere you go there is deep verdant forest next to tall rocky cliffs and dramatic seascapes.
One of my favorite places on the island was the Haengam Coastal Walking Path – also a favorite of local tourists. The path started right next to the ferry landing in Dodong-ri, and wound its way east along the rocky coastline, mostly on man-made causeways, bridges, and boardwalk (as beaches were few and far between – most of the time rock dropped dramatically into the water). The path leads from Dodong-ri to Haengnam via Jeodong-ri, an incredibly charming/dilapidated (don’t the two always go together?) fishing village. My buddy and I drank beers (note to dry travelers: it’s incredibly difficult to be sober in Korea) and ate fried chicken and dried squid before hiking a bit more into the mountains.
Another highlight was visiting the Nari Basin – what is essentially the caldera of the dead volcano. Due to former volcanic activity, the soil is incredibly fertile, and what isn’t Korean military land is largely farm space today. The trip to the basin was a bit dodgy – on an old public bus up and down some very steep switchbacks. When we went (the height of summer, mind you), we were the only tourists there, and I got the impression from the various locals we encountered that they didn’t run into lily white foreigners that often.
And then there was the food…
The food on Ulleung-do was magnificent. While I am the first to admit that I am no foodie, and food usually ranks near the bottom of my list as a reason to visit a place, the food on Ulleung-do was local, hyper-fresh, and delicious. In Korea, different downs and regions have different specialties – I think it’s part of a strategy to commodify culture in order to encourage domestic travel – Ulleung-do’s being fried squid and pork belly, and vegetarian foraged bibimbap.
Most people are familiar with Korean barbeque in some form or another – but this bbq was other worldly. Start with the freshest imaginable squid straight from the ocean, and mix it with locally raised pork, and you have a winner. We ate at the same place in Dodong-ri (right off the main square in town before you start uphill – look for the signs for osam bulgogi 오삼불고기) several times and it didn’t ever disappoint.
In Nari basin, where there is magical volcano dust in the soil, agriculture is king, and the residents are not only prolific farmers, but also foragers. This made for the best bowl of bibimbap I have ever consumed. Included in my bowl were foraged fiddleheads and mushrooms, as well as the traditional pickled carrots, radish, and cucumber. And unlike the rest of the highly carnivorous nation, it was presented as a vegetarian dish.
I will say that it can be a bit difficult to get to Ulleung-do, especially if you can’t speak or understand Korean. I have fairly good facility with the language, and I would have been SOL without my Korean travel buddy. To get to the island from Seoul, you have to first go to Pohang or Donghae – I believe the former to be easier. From Pohang, you can catch the passenger ferry to the island. If you are traveling in summer, absolutely make a reservation as far ahead of time as possible.
Once on the island the bus is a great way to get around – it circumnavigates the entire island and stops just about anywhere that might be of interest. I had thought about renting a car there, but it turned out to be unnecessary. We stayed at the Ulleung Island Minbak. It was great, but, again, you’ll need Korean language in order to make a reservation. I wouldn’t let lack of Korean stop you from going to Ulleung-do – In my tenure in Korea I’ve never met someone who wouldn’t help with communication if I needed it.
Oh yeah, or you could take a boat tour around Dok-do, which I didn’t do. And I don’t regret it either!
