Jeju Joyland

At the top of a hill above the seaside harbour village of Aewol is Joyland. More of a private hermitage but built to accommodate a family of four year-round, each cabin is electrically powered, air conditioned and with full kitchen. (There’s also a rice cooker, kettle and microwave in each cabin.) Sparse in design with two double beds in the loft and wood flooring below the low-rise staircase, the TV (with Netflix) contrasts with rustic environs. Chairs are available in the dining hall. Nearby is red Daiso store, pharmacies and fishing village known for its heroic losses during Japanese colonizer tortures of matriarchs; Sineom neighbourhood police headquarters was also responsible for haenyeo resistance diver deaths as 1/10 of Jeju’s population was murdered. Wifi is free and Google Translate is a “must,” like orange spraycans of Off (mosquito repellant) from the nearby supermarket. Halfway to Suwolbang cliff/peak and Geopark (Jeju Olle Trail course 12) by Chagwido Island via Noeulhaean-ro, Hangyeong / Panpo-ri), this Aewol locale is a way of checking out Arte Museum close to Saebyul Oreum volcanic trails and tree. The citrus growing outside cabins are native to Jeju. Gueom stone salt flats nearby were also extracted by Japanese colonizers (“Volcano Island” by Kim Sok-Bom, Zainichi Korean in Japan). Surrounding hills and to the East—a focal point for atrocities in the 1940s—remain lush; and grandmas on motorcycles might remind guests of the 1273 anti-Mongolian or 1940s anti-colonial resistance by Jeju women.