Gacheon Daraengi Village, Namhae

At the southern tip of Namhae Island, where Seolheulsan and Eungbongsan drop straight into the sea, more than 100 tiers of rice paddies climb the slope like a giant staircase. These terraced fields, carved out of the hillside to win every scrap of farmland, meet the sea so dramatically that Gacheon Village was designated a national Scenic Site (myeongseung) in 2005. Walk down between the terraces to the pebble beach below and you see how villagers have lived off both the land and the sea.

Paddies carved into a mountainside

A darangi (or daraengi) paddy is a narrow strip of rice field cut into a steep slope and held up by a stone retaining wall. The staircase you see today is the result of generations adding one terrace after another on a coastal slope where flat land was scarce. Namhae County calls it Daraengi Village; the official heritage name is the Terraced Paddy Fields of Gacheon Village, Namhae.

There are no detailed records of the village's beginnings, but papers kept by the Gimhae Kim and Haman Jo families, who have lived here for generations, suggest people settled here around the reign of King Sinmun of Silla in the late 7th century. The Seolheulsan beacon tower, probably used during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, also shows the village already existed by then. It was first called Gancheon (間川) and took its current name, Gacheon (加川), in the mid-Joseon period.

What to look for

• Amsu Rocks: Two rocks stand 5 m apart at the corner of the lowest field. The "male" rock, 5.8 m high, stands upright in a phallic shape; the "female" rock, 3.9 m high, leans like a pregnant woman. Villagers call them the male and female Maitreya, and they are a provincial folk heritage site. Legend says they were found in 1751 after an old man appeared in a dream to Jo Gwang-jin, the Namhae magistrate, and told him where to dig.
• Bapmudeom ("rice tomb"): A spot where villagers buried rice during the village rite to pray for good harvests and catches, another trace of the old local beliefs alongside the Amsu Rocks.
• Pebble beach and footbridge: Follow the paths between the paddies all the way down to a shore of smooth, rounded pebbles.
• Nodo Island: Out to sea you can see Nodo, the island where the late-Joseon writer Kim Man-jung lived in exile.

A village rite for peace and plenty is still held at the Amsu Rocks every year in the tenth lunar month. Sources differ on the day: the 15th or the 23rd.

Tripto tips

• A living village: People still farm and live here. Stay off the paddy walls and fields, and be discreet around houses and yards when taking photos.
• Time needed: Allow about an hour for the main points: the Amsu Rocks, the rice tomb and the pebble beach. The paths are steep, and the climb back up is harder than it looks.
• When to go: In late spring, after transplanting, the flooded terraces mirror the sky; in summer they are green, and in autumn the staircase turns gold.
• Walking: Course 1 of the Namhae Baraegil trail, the Daraengi Jigetgil, passes through the village. Take in the whole staircase from the road above the village first, then walk down.
• Getting there: Rural buses run from Namhae Bus Terminal towards Gacheon, but there are only a few a day. Drivers can use the car park at the village entrance.
• Nearby: Namhae German Village and Boriam Hermitage are in the same county and fit into a day trip.