Ajumma's Journal: Namhae - Part 4 Rocks with Gender in Daraengi

The village of Daraengi itself can easily be explored in an hour or less, depending on your preferences. Of course, one could dawdle with a camera to take shots from different angles its most notable attraction – Amsubawi, the Male and Female Rocks which, according to legend, kept the nets heavy with fish and harvests bountiful as long as annual rites were observed.

Here's an extract from the KBS World Radio website which details the local legend:

'Amsubawi (Jaungam: female and male rocks) is said to attract many women, who come to these rocks secretly at night to pray for fertility, spawning the following legend:
An old man appeared in a dream to the sheriff of this district in 1751 (27th year of the reign of King Yeongjo during the Joseon Kingdom) and said, “I have been buried at Gacheon Village and I am very much troubled by the frequent passage of cows and horses. If you erect my body, you will surely have fortunate affairs,” and disappeared. The next day the sheriff went with his staff to the place he saw in his dream, dug up the ground and found the Amsubawi. He left the Ambawi lying upon the ground and erected the Subawi, just as they are today.'

Below: The Female Rock - Does she look like she's in heavy labour?

Above: You need good shoes and strong legs to get around Daraengi!

The 5.8 meter high Subawi (phallic-like rock) was obvious enough but one needed a little bit more imagination to see the outlines of the 3.9 meter high Ambawi ( female rock) as a woman in labour. I was more inclined to make my way past the terraced rice fields to get as close as I dared to the waves crashing on the dark rocks and stare at the mesmerizing swirling waters.

Eun-hee’s mom, the ajumma who runs the minbak I opted for, had suggested that I walk up to Mt. Seolheulsan ( 481 m ) but I had no clue as to how difficult the course would be and so I chickened out. Much to my regret as later when I looked more closely at the map in the local tourist brochure, it didn’t seem too heavy-going a course ( about 20 minutes to reach the summit). Missed out also on the chance to spot the freshwater crab "Chamgye" ( Eriocheir sinensis) which lives in the unpolluted valley streams of Seolheulsan.

Here's an interesting snippet from the Global Invasive Species Database:

Eriocheir sinensis (the Chinese mitten crab) is a migrating crab which has invaded Europe and North America from its native region of Asia. During its mass migrations it contributes to the temporary local extinction of native invertebrates. It modifies habitats by causing erosion due to its intensive burrowing activity and costs fisheries and aquaculture several hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by consuming bait and trapped fish as well as by damaging gear.