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[HanCinema's Korea Diaries] "Andeok" May 1st-3rd

Sanbangsan (산방산) is the major tourist landmark in Andeok, a huge mountain visible from just about anywhere in the district. As such, there's an ongoing carnival on the south side. Just the usual stuff- a walk by the beach, amusement park rides, food, subarmines tours, and a full reproduction of De Sperwer, a Dutch ship that crashed on Jeju back in the seventeenth century. The story behind that is, well, pretty much what it sounds like really. The crew of De Sperwer was stuck in Korea for awhile and then they left.

More than the story of De Sperwer itself I was drawn to the lower levels of the ship (the ship itself being its own museum), where boat reproductions are everywhere. The turtle ship in the center...doesn't really have that much to do with the European boats in this collection but, hey, in Korea, where you see model boats, sooner or later you'll run into a turtle ship. Jeju's various museums are built on themes that appear to be selected at random, yet somehow the seventeenth century boat expedition was the main one to catch my attention. Probably helped that the museum has no entry fee.

The main part of Sanbangsan that can actually be explored is covered in temples. Which makes sense- the mountain is steep enough as to be impossible to navigate without paths, and a mountain is exactly the kind of place one can visualize Buddhists building cool stuff just because. This is one of the more elaborate bell structures I've seen. Funny thing, though, as of yet I can't recall seeing anyone ring the bell, even if I do hear them every so often.

While most people come to this area to climb to the top and get some amazingly fresh mountain water, the Sanbang Temple (산방사) is the more curious landmark to me because it's obviously currently in use for veneration of the dead. That's what all those candles, photographs, and food are for. It's all part of the ritual. It's easy to forget that these Buddhist temples aren't just supposed to be pretty to look at. They're places of religious practice, and ought to be respected as such.

After that, it was down to the coast. So far as I can tell the beach to the south of the mountain, east of the tourist area, and west of the guest houses does not have a name. In fact, I'm not totally sure it's even legal to enter this beach. There's a sign barring entry only on the east side. None of the other paths are barred, and I saw other tourists wandering around the dunes as well. Because why wouldn't they. These are some pretty slick rocks, you know?

As are these drums. Next to mw own guest house the Otaku Guest House celebrated its grand opening with drum performances. Because that's how people who self-describe themselves as Otaku meet- by joining traditional Korean drum clubs, moving to Jeju, and opening a guest house that serves Zombie Ramen. It's like regular ramen only much spicier. Not "too spicy for foreigners" spicy, but "spicy to the point of kinky masochism" spicy.

...And I suppose at some point I should actually show you a picture of Sangbangsan. It's funny really. I have a bunch of pictures like this, always from different angles because the mountain is the main distinctive feature of Andeok. Yet rather paradoxically, the sheer universality of Sangbangsan makes it a less interesting topic of discussion for me, because if you go to Andeok, you will find it. It's the little landscapes, the little monuments that stick out better in memory even though I, too, spent a disproportionate amount of time just staring at this huge mountain because...wow. It sure is big. Next stop- the Korean mainland, with its somewhat smaller mountains.

Article by William Schwartz

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