« Seattle’s Fish Club and Six-Seven Restaurant & Lounge | Home | Morning Calm…Korean Air Prestige Class »

Port of Call - Jeju Island … the New Maui

by Arie Boris, CruiseGourmet.com Editor-in-Chief

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the oldest and most prestigious professional travel agency organization in the US, is holding a huge Asia Destination conference & seminar on Jeju Island in March 2007. If you are a travel agent, contact ASTA (www.ASTAnet.com/expo) and sign up! If you are an avid travel enthusiast, ask your travel agent to attend! It is being held on the little known resort island of Jeju, which I recently discovered is one of the BEST pre/post-cruise destinations in all of Asia!

Located just off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, Jeju Island is a semi-tropical paradise with several luxury hotels, authentic regional cuisine, incredible natural scenery, beautiful beaches and a most charming, rural quality. For years this lovely historic Korean island has been a popular vacation destination for Koreans and the Japanese, but has remained largely unknown to most North American travelers.

According to Kim Jon Min, the Korean Tourist Office President, a major benefit of hosting the 2007 ASTA JEJU conference will be extending a welcome and educating hundreds of American travel agents about the charms of Jeju and South Korea as a premier vacation destination.

After a relaxing 14 hour nonstop flight on Korean Air (see “Cruising Altitude” section for a full review of Korean Air’s award winning “Prestige” Business Class service) we transferred to the domestic airport for the 50 minute flight to Jeju Island. The hour drive to the resort side of this volcanic island was traffic free and filled with views of endless tangerine groves, a commercial crop Jeju Island is famous for…at breakfast in our luxury hotel, the Shilla, freshly squeezed tangerine juice was the hands down favorite.

Jungmun Resort Complex is an all-inclusive entertainment/vacation development on Jeju Island that includes casinos, luxury hotels, an ocean side golf course, and beautiful natural surroundings. Located on Jeju’s southern shore, the complex is quite reminiscent of Maui, but with a distinctive Korean influence. Its luxury hotel facilities blend in beautifully with the natural surroundings. Popular nearby sites include Yeomiji Botanical Garden, a tourist fishing village, a quaint bridge overlooking spectacular Cheonjeyeon Falls, and the crystal clear waters of Jungmun Beach nestled at the base of high volcanic cliffs.

The complex includes the acclaimed Shilla and Lotte Hotels (two Korean luxury hotel chains) and a nearby Hyatt with its trademark soaring atrium lobby. The primary beach at Jungmun is particularly beautiful and is shared by the three hotels. Of course, each resort has magnificent pools, fitness facilities, luxury spas and casinos to help recuperate from jet lag.

Further exploration of Jeju Island revealed many wonderful natural sights, two of which truly moved me and reflected the true local cultural experience. The Bunjae Artpia is a “Spirited” garden where trees, stones and water accomplish a perfect harmonious balance. The Director, Sung Bum-Young, is a gardener, naturalist and spiritualist expressing calm and harmony through his life long dedication to cultivating this beautiful place. The motivation of this gentle man, which some consider a philosophy, is thoughtfully reflected in his book, The Spirited Garden (www.spiritedgarden.com )…“How meaningful to shape a wild tree into an artistic piece of work by forming an aesthetic design and giving it balance.�?

The Jeju Stone Park is equally as impressive for its expansive grounds, geological presentation on the natural formation of Jeju Island and volcanic rock formations art exhibit. To reflect a combined pragmatic view of science, nature, and history with an aesthetic perspective seems to be an inherent part of Korean culture. The park has the largest infinity pool fountain I have ever seen, the most impressive modern architecture and marvelous outdoor displays of original island stone houses dating back hundreds of years. Thoughtfully done, this is a wonderful and unique place to experience.

Jeju offers excellent dining options reflecting a variety of Korean cuisine with regional influence. Traditional Korean seafood soup is enhanced by distinctive shellfish harvested by the famous woman divers of Jeju Island. An age-old tradition, the fisher-woman of Jeju spend long hours in the waters surrounding the island relentlessly diving again and again, collecting the unique sea snails, shell fish and abalone in the bountiful waters of Jeju.

Korean Barbeque is delicious and very much a group experience. The server does the cooking on an electric grill in the middle of each table. The beef is then combined with a variety of vegetables, sauces and condiments, placed on a sesame tree leaf or lettuce leaf and enjoyed. It is a very different and appealing spin on what “barbeque’ means to us back home!

Traditional Korean food is very much a feast for the eyes, artistically presented with some influences from both Japanese and Chinese cuisines. Probably the best known Korean dishes are Bibimbap and Kimchi. Most Koreans can hardly imagine a meal without Kimchi. It has many variations and can be extremely hot; it is basically spicy sweet fermented cabbage leaves. Bibimbap combines the spiciness of red pepper paste with rice and vegetables to create a surprisingly pleasant harmony.

After a relaxing stay on Jeju, Seoul is a dramatic change. An enormous city of more than 10 million, it is dynamic, ultra modern and offers top museums and, of course, great shopping! We stayed at the downtown Lotte Hotel and, after an overnight snowfall, explored the beautifully restored Royal Palace from the Joseon Dynasty, circa 1395. Located in the center of the city, Gyeongbokgung Palace gives wonderful incite to the grand and noble history of the Korean people….and with the fresh snow, exploring the Palace grounds was truly like walking in a fairy tale.

For more information about Jeju and South Korea, please visit http://www.tour2korea.com

For more photos (scroll over photo’s for captions):