For a true slow-paced life, there’s nothing like visiting an island, a homestay in the countryside that’s nowhere near the city life we are accustomed to.
For that, we chanced upon a what you could say is a seemingly dubious Airbnb with tons of photographs taken with, perhaps a 2G phone but none of which is a clear photo of the room. You may question how did we still decide to go ahead with the booking?
Well, what really appealed us was the unpretentious and long description of the BnB listing. We knew we would enjoy this humbling experience. Indeed, this out of the ordinary experience just lack attention – here’s our journey in Jindo Island.
We set off from Busan to Jindo Island (via Mokpo) and then depart for Jeju Island.
Overview
- Getting to Jindo from Busan
- Arrival in Jindo
- Our Traditional Homestay
- An Evening Stroll in the Village
- The Miracle Sea Parting
- A Simple but Hearty Korean meal
- A Countryside Bus Stop
- Ferry to Jeju
- How to book your stay in Jindo?
Getting to Jindo from Busan
There are several ways to get to Jindo – one of which is via Mokpo, a city located at the southwestern tip of the Korea Peninsula.
Buy your tickets at sasang bus terminal in Busan. We paid 30,000 won/pax and took us 5 hours. Alternatively, you could also go via Gwangju to reach Jindo.
We deliberately chose Mokpo as it is known for its blue crab set meal (꽃게장백반) – a generous portion of raw marinated crab served with seafood stew and as usual, various seasonal vegetables as side dishes. The restaurants are walking distance away from the Mokpo bus station and priced at only 8,000 won per pax.
In Mokpo, we knew that we are no longer in a big city. Literally, no English is spoken. The interior of the restaurant is somewhat less business-like and more homely. To wash our hands, we went into their kitchen where there is a huge tub filled with water and the boss kindly pours it over our hands with a plastic bucket.
해남꽃게장백반
Address
519-1 Yeongsan-ro, Sang-dong, Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
Google Maps | Naver Map
Arrival in Jindo
2 buses and 8 hours later, we arrived in our homestay village in Jindo Island – the birthplace of the famous native dog breed, Jindo dog.
Greeted by halmae (which mean grannies) with their signature hairdo, short tight perm. Life is slow. There is no more convenient tapping of T-money card on public buses, you have to buy tickets at the bus station or pay cash directly to the driver. There are completely no high rise buildings.
Our village had only one convenience store, also one of the few places where you can get connected to good wifi.
We kind of felt it. We are in the countryside.
After alighting from the nearest bus stop, we had to walk about 10 minutes to get to our homestay. It is a narrow street with shops that don’t look like they are still in operation. Full of uncertainties, we walked through stacked stone walls, broken soju glass fences, persimmon trees and a couple of native breed dogs who greeted us with their hunting instinct.
Our Traditional Homestay
The homestay is a unique experience. A young couple decided to live a slow life in the fast-developing country and so they settled down in a small countryside village. Passionate to share their experience, they have been welcoming foreign travellers into their cosy hanok, a traditional Korean house that remains untainted by tourism. We are very fortunate to have come across this opportunity.
The host has two little children who are beyond friendly. Upon arrival, the host served hot tea for us and the children plucked fresh mint leaves from the yard. We also enjoyed the traditional sword dance also known as geommu performed by our host who is an actual martial art practitioner.
An Evening Stroll in the Village
We are complete city girls with agriculture taking up only 0.5% of our GDP which means we don’t get to see crops often or at all. Being in rural areas, everything is new to us. We have NEVER seen thousands of cabbages at one glance. We probably don’t even know how it looked like before it reached our local supermarkets. In here, even the dried paddy fields are glowing during sunset. It is hard not to feel at peace here.
The Miracle Sea Parting
Jindo is particularly famous for one thing: the miracle sea parting festival.
Despite the scientific explanation behind the sea parting every late April to early May, the folk tale behind it is way more popular. Right where the sea parts, a statue of Grandma Ppong with a tiger is erected as a symbol of the miracle.
It is said that Grandma Ppong was accidentally left behind in hoedong (tiger place) village while the family were moving to the nearby island of Modo. She longed to be reunited with her family and prayed night and day to the Dragon King of the Sea. In her dreams, the Dragon King told her there will be a rainbow bridge for her to cross the sea and indeed there was a rainbow bridge connecting her to her family at the sea.
Till date, annual rituals are performed by the people of Jindo in remembrance of the miracle.
A Simple but Hearty Korean meal
We entered a restaurant that was covered with blackout window film and was greeted casually by an ajumma (an affectionate way of calling middle-age women) sitting down at one of many empty seats. The restaurant, which apparently is also part of her house.
Her menu only consists of food served in earthenware bowls called ttukbaegi. We were more than happy about that. Within minutes, our ttukbaegi bulgogi (beef stew) and my personal favourite, bbyeol haejangguk (ox bone hangover soup) were served boiling hot to our table.
I finished every grain of rice and every drop of soup. It is DELICIOUS.
A Countryside Bus Stop
You know in a typical k-movie, countryside grannies wait hours for the bus? That’s what we did. And that’s part of the experience we wanted in the countryside. Buses follow an infrequent time table and have short operating hours.
This bus stop built with dark brown bricks against a plot of golden paddy field. When the sea breeze blows, the crops move rhythmically. Mesmerising.
Occasionally, you will also hear random halbae (which means grandad) speaking loudly on his phone and we always burst out laughing upon hearing it!
Waiting for a bus ain’t that tough.
Ferry to Jeju
Instead of taking a plane, taking a ferry to reach the tourist heaven was much more appealing to us. Like it was all meant to be, there was a ferry departing once a day near Jindo.
No advance booking required on regular days, we bought our tickets at the usuyeong port on the day of departure. Tickets priced at 38,000 won, 3 hours of ferry ride. A 10% surcharge is applicable on weekends and public holidays.
How to book your stay in Jindo?
We found the lovely stay through Airbnb, and you can click here to book! If you don’t have an account yet, sign up with my link and get an USD$45 worth of Airbnb credits: https://abnb.me/e/j2fTm9eXfY
We were so glad we did this journey to Jindo Island to see a different side of Korea. Travel slower and you’ll be amazed by every little thing in this foreign space.
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