When my husband and I made a decision to honeymoon in Japan and South Korea, I had one requirement for the itinerary: to go to an island, both Okinawa (Japan) or Jeju (Korea). With simply two weeks of journey time and lots of different plans packed into our itinerary, Jeju rapidly grew to become the frontrunner given its ease of entry. Only a one-hour flight from the South Korean metropolis of Busan, Jeju is usually described because the “Hawaii of Korea” (very like Okinawa is shorthanded because the “Hawaii of Japan”—although that island requires a three-hour flight from cities like Osaka to entry). I rapidly grew to become enamored by images of the island’s highlights, from the luxurious volcanic mountains to the well-known haenyeo (ladies free divers) to the little seaside villages with houses constructed of darkish volcanic stone. I additionally began watching a Okay-drama known as “Our Blues,” set in a single such village, with an ensemble forged that gave me a peek into the day by day lives of island locals. I used to be smitten.
Airbnb
Honeymoon hideaway on Jeju Island
Jeju has some busier hubs, like its namesake Jeju City and Seogwipo City, however we determined to remain in a kind of aforementioned villages for a quieter expertise. Our time in Jeju would fall on the finish of our honeymoon, once we knew we might crave an excuse to sleep in, or spend quiet nights within the yard after just a few too many actions in Osaka and Seoul.
When we discovered this Jeju Airbnb—charmingly labeled as an “Emotional accommodation with a view of Seongsan Ilchulbong”—we knew it was the spot. Despite the fact that “emotional” gets a bit lost in translation in the title, I was emotional thinking about the moment when we’d be wrapping up our honeymoon and wanting to stretch those final days.
The Airbnb is built into the shell of a 50-year-old house, partially made with iconic volcanic stones, but the interiors have been totally redone with soothing neutral linens, warm brunette wood, and modern amenities like A/C and a projector screen for watching movies. The star of the show? A round window right at the foot of the bed, which looks straight out upon Seongsan Ichulbong, a volcano rising out of the windswept sea and full of lore (the base of it is where working haenyeo famously do a short performance before entering the water to harvest abalone, urchin, and seaweed each day).
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We arrived on a wet evening, once we may barely see a factor as we walked by means of the courtyard and used the lockbox to enter our cozy little keep. Like different conventional houses on Jeju, the doorways are low (my husband, who’s round six toes tall, realized rapidly to duck on his method out and in). But the nice and cozy glow of the room, its plush linens, and a bit of basket stuffed with Jeju’s well-known tangerine juice, gummy bears, and occasional welcomed us in. We could not see by means of the picture-frame window that evening, however we remembered one thing even higher. The projector put in proper above the mattress was excellent for our first (and much-needed) film evening of the journey. We hit the button to unfurl the display in entrance of the window and cozied up. (And within the truest of luxuries, the Netflix account was already logged in, so we did not need to cope with the trouble of plugging in and verifying our personal. It’s the little victories typically.)