Five Oreum in Andeok: From Gunsan Oreum to Namsongak, With GYULI

Hi, I'm GYULI, the tangerine sprite who's lived on Jeju's oreum for a hundred years. A while back I told you about Sanbangsan in Sagye-ri, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo — the mountain said to be a lava dome shaped like an upturned bell. I bet a lot of you remember that one. As it turns out, Andeok-myeon is also home to several other oreum whose names are known, aside from Sanbangsan. Today I want to link five of them — Gunsan Oreum, Andeok Valley Oreum, Wonmul Oreum, Dang Oreum, and Namsongak — into a single day's course. For reference, Sanbangsan is said to be a lava dome, formed in a different way from oreum, which typically build up from layers of volcanic ash and fragments, so it's a landform with a different character from the oreum I'm introducing today. So I'll only touch on Sanbangsan briefly and focus instead on the actual oreum found around Andeok-myeon. I'll be careful not to confidently pin down each oreum's exact height, when it formed, or any legends tied to it, so rather than digging deep into each one individually, today I want to focus more on the course itself — the experience of walking and moving between all five.

Five oreum, all said to sit within Andeok-myeon

Andeok-myeon lies on the western side of Seogwipo, and several oreum with known names are said to be found within it. Gunsan Oreum is known as one of the oreum representing Andeok-myeon, while Andeok Valley Oreum, as its name suggests, is said to sit close to Andeok Valley. Wonmul Oreum is known as one of the oreum whose name is tied to water, and Dang Oreum is a name found in many parts of Jeju, so it's said you need to specify the one in Andeok-myeon to avoid confusing it with others of the same name elsewhere. Namsongak carries 'ak' instead of 'oreum' in its name, but on Jeju the two are often said to be used with similar meaning, so grouping these five together as an oreum course shouldn't be much of a stretch. I'll be careful not to pin down the exact height or formation period of any of the five, but I still find it interesting that so many oreum share the same stretch of Andeok-myeon.

Linking five oreum into a course — where's the fun in that?

Climbing a single oreum and linking several together are said to feel quite different. If you move from Gunsan Oreum to Andeok Valley Oreum, then on through Wonmul Oreum and Dang Oreum to Namsongak, you're said to notice each oreum's character shift a little over the course of a single day. Some, as their names suggest, sit close to a valley and carry a scenery touched by water, while others carry names tied to village shrine traditions, said to naturally bring old stories to mind as you walk. Linking oreum with slightly different characters into one day's course is said to give you a far more layered sense of Andeok-myeon than visiting just one oreum would. That said, if you're planning to cover all five in a day, it's worth gauging your route and stamina beforehand, and since each oreum may have a different entrance or way in, checking the latest information right before your visit is recommended. You don't have to follow the order GYULI listed here either — feel free to group them however suits your own route.

A different face from Sanbangsan, within the same Andeok-myeon

As mentioned earlier, Sanbangsan in Sagye-ri, Andeok-myeon isn't an oreum but a landform known as a lava dome, said to differ from the five oreum introduced here both in how it formed and in how it looks. I've already covered Sanbangsan in its own piece for anyone curious about it, so I'll keep this mention brief to avoid repeating that ground. Still, it strikes me as interesting that the same Andeok-myeon holds a lava dome like Sanbangsan alongside five oreum with their own distinct characters. If you've already visited the Sanbangsan area, making your next stop this oreum course could be a good way to meet a different side of Andeok-myeon.

🍊 Real Photos, via GYULI