Visit Jeungdo Salt Farm in South Korea and take pictures with the Salt Mirror, mudfish and red plants of Taepyeong Halophyte Garden before finishing with a Sea Salt Ice Cream.
About an hour and fifteen minutes’ drive from Mokpo and Gwangju lies Jeungdo Island. This island is probably best known for its Salt Farm and the Sea Salt Ice Cream sold at the site. But there is more to see.
1) Salt Museum (소금박물관)
Upon reaching Jeungdo Salt Farm, you first spot the Salt Museum with its wooden exterior and red and blue letters announcing it’s the Salt Museum. This salt shed was made of stones mined from the nearby mountain in 1953. With the construction of a wooden shed in the late 1980s it was turned into a warehouse, and was later partly renovated to house a salt museum. As the original appearance is well preserved, this shed is significant in the history of salt farms and stone architecture (Registered Cultural Heritage No. 361).
Inside you can watch the Superpower of Salt movie in English (ask the staff) to learn more about the importance of salt. It is kinda long but as the rest of the museum is pretty much Korean only, this is the only information you will get. Pay special attention to the floor of the museum: you can see the old storage area, now decorated with salt sculptures.
2) Sea Salt Store and Ice Cream shop (소금가게)
Opposite the museum, you can buy salt souvenirs at the shop. Most products are huge (who doesn’t need 20kg of salt) but there are also some kitchen-ready saltshakers (pure and mixed with herbs) and salt beauty products from another facility that are more practical as souvenirs. I am now the proud owner of a Korean saltshaker with salt that was aged for eight years.
Next to the shop, you can find a small building selling Sea Salt Ice Cream with topping. If you feel adventurous you can try the Mala variant with a topping of ginger, red pepper and garlic, which sounds just as exciting as it tastes. Perhaps ginger and red pepper only would have tasted good but the garlic messed it up for me. I didn’t even taste the salt in the ice cream because of the red pepper and was jealous of the matcha and raspberry topping ice creams of the others in my party. But it could just very well be your new favorite type of ice cream topping: give it a try if you’re in for something different.
3) Salt Mirror
A visit to Jeungdo Salt Farm is not complete without actually visiting the Salt Farm itself and taking pictures of yourself and your party members while using the salt field as a mirror.
4) Taepyeong Halophyte Garden (태평염전)
Jeungdo Island is best known for its Salt Farm, the Salt Museum and the Sea Salt Ice Cream but my highlight of the day was Taepyeong Yeomsaeng Botanical Garden. In the botanical garden, you can see halophyte plants, a salt-tolerant plant with a reddish look that grows in soil of high salinity.
Taepyeong Halophyte Garden (or Taepyung Halophyte Garden) was created in 1953 along with the Salt Farm and is the only salt farm wetland biota in South Korea. The garden helps the farm by preventing flood and purifying seawater. Various types of salt plants and diverse wetland grow naturally. The garden has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
5) Mudfish land
Within Taepyeong Halophyte Garden, but also along the riverbank in the whole area (and thus warranting its own paragraph) you can spot crabs and mudfish, famous for being the main ingredient of Chueotang (mudfish soup).
I ate the best Chueotang of my trip at a restaurant specializing in grilled eel (갯풍식당) on Jeungdo Island. If you take their main course (갯풍 장어 정식) to grill eel, you’ll get the mudfish soup (here called 짱뚱어탕) as well. You can also order pork belly (삼겹살) or grilled beef patties (떡갈비) if you prefer meat over fish.
6) Muan Red Clay Mud Flat
On your way to Jeungdo Island, you pass Muan and its red clay farmlands. Take a picture of the red fields that form a strong contrast with the very green vegetables that are farmed there.
This red clay landscape is replaced by one of salt farms on Saokdo Island and Jeungdo Island.
7) Cafe with a view
If you’re looking for a break from driving, try Azalea coffee (아젤리아커피) at one of the narrowest parts of your route. From the cafe terrace, you have a nice view of the ocean (or mud)
Read more about Mokpo and the surrounding area
- Find out about Gatbawi rock, Daedunsan Cable Car and other places nearby in my Lesser-known south and west of South Korea itinerary
- “1987: When the Day Comes” Film Set in Mokpo
- Visit the Gogunsan Islands if you’re in for more islands (two hours north of Mokpo or an one hour drive from Jeonju)
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