Sokcho and Seorasksan National Park

And now. . .the long awaited update from our weekend jaunt to Seoraksan National Park.

Finally getting around to this post a month or so later I won't, though I could, give you all the details. Rather, I'll try and let the pictures do the majority of the talking. The ones I put up should give a decent picture of the trip though between Nate and I we have about 300+. So, if you're looking for greater visual clarification, just ask!

To get to Sokcho from Seoul we caught an 8:15 (yes, a.m.) bus leaving from Gangbyeon Bus Terminal. Turned out our 20,000 won didn't just buy us seats on any bus but rather number 1 and 2 on the luxury express to Sokcho. We were traveling in style!

Now that's luxury!

All Aboard to Sokcho!

Our front row seats offered us a spectacular view of the passing city directly out the oversized front window. At the same time, our seat location meant that if some immovable object were to appear in front of the bus, we would be the firs two to meet it, flying through the aforementioned windshield!

Olympic Stadium and the Han River from the bus

Up front we were also afforded a view of the bus' thermostat, which read nine degrees Celsius when we first boarded. Not long in to the trip, meaning, not long in to my nap, I awoke drenched in sweat. A glance upwards told me that the temperature had quickly risen from nine to 24 degrees Celsius, presumably from the many human bodies crowded aboard. Now 75 degrees ain't bad if you're walking through a shady park but sitting on an early morning bus dressed for a day of hiking, well, it wasn't exactly nice!

I did eventually doze back off only to be awoken by the bus lurching off of the main highway. Clearing my eyes I was surprised to see that the surrounding countryside (or mountainside to be more exact) was covered in snow! Only a few hours ago I was in the relatively mild Seoul city center where I had dressed for a day of un-snowy hiking. Oops!

Reststop Buddies

While stretching my legs I was asked by an enthusiastic group of men to take their photograph. After doing so, they eagerly ushered Nate and I into another picture with them, taking turns playing photographer so each would have his own chance standing next to the foreigners in the picture. After pausing only long enough for everyone to pee and the men to have a cigarette, or five, the bus took back off again, this time, downhill.

Not soon after pulling out of the reststop did the landscape change drastically. The tall snow covered mountains quickly gave way to dry brown rolling hills. After a few miles heading east through this rather barren landscape, we eventually came to a coastal road and turned north. This new route offered spectacular views of the East Sea (also known as the Sea of Japan).

Every few hundred meters a new beach spread out before us yet each one was as inaccessible as the last, guarded heavily by barbed wire and rows of watchtowers. Though I had read about this in LP before heading out, I was surprised to actually see beach access cut off to what would have otherwise been a great summer hang out! Apparently, being as far north as Sokcho, one must face the omnipresent threat of. . .the North Korean Navy!? I'm not entirely sure how much is for show and how much is for real but I sure wasn't gonna test those waters. Nevertheless, at one beach along the way we did spot a pair of surfers in full body suits doing their thing. . .then again, they could have been spies sneaking in under the guise of afternoon surfers!

After making a number of stops in what we presumed to be the city of Sokcho, we finally pulled into the Sokcho Bus Station a little before noon. While my LP map suggested the the nearest information station would be about a 20 minute hike down the road, we luckily encountered just such a venue right outside the terminal! At the little kiosk we picked up not only a number of Sokcho maps and booklets but also advice on how to get to Seoraksan National Park, located a few miles back down the road we road in on.

Welcome to Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal!

From the terminal it was only a short walk around the corner to the front of City Hall where, after not too long, we were picked up by the 7-1 local bus. 1,000 won and 15 minutes later we were dropped off at the entrance to Seoraksan National Park!

Good Ole' 7-1, Sokcho-Seoraksan

Immediately upon exiting the bus I was stunned by the beauty, and vastness of the surrounding landscape. While we now stood in the midst of enormous snow covered peaks, only a few minutes before we had been literally on a sandy coast line. Not to mention that earlier that morning we had been in the world's second largest metropolis.

We made our way towards the park's entrance but not before doing a little souvenir shopping along the way. Nate and I both picked up bandannas that doubled as maps of the park. At the time I wasn't sure why exactly I bought one other than that it was too cheap to pass up and the idea of a map bandanna was simply alluring. Little did I know that it would eventually serve me as a helpful headband and later an interesting wall decoration!

Finally making it to the gate we both coughed up the 2,500 won entrance fee that would have easily been avoidable had we simply kept walking past the small ticket booth that we both almost overlooked. For an additional fee we could have bought tickets up the cable car which I was finally able to talk Nate out of based on the grounds that it literally led to nowhere. Although it was a hard sell, I'm glad we didn't take it as we barley were able to see everything that we did before the weather eventually turned!

Enter Seoraksan National Park!

With no real idea of where to go and miles upon miles of hikeable trails in the park, we decided to forgo Daecheongbong, the park's highest peak at 1,707 meters, and head instead towards Heundeulbawi and Ulsanbawi, which for all we knew, were a pair of famous 'rocks' in the park. According to an information sign, the first part of the hike was to be easy while the last hundred meters or so fell into the difficult arena. Even so, for a hike of only a few kilometers, I thought that the estimated time of about four hours was somewhat exaggerated. We obviously had no idea what we were getting in to!

Seated Bronze Buddha

Not far into the park we came across an enormous seated bronze Buddha, labeled just that. While there was no temple covering this immense statue, people readily shuffled up the stairs to drop to their knees and offer prayers and incense at the figure's feat. Not wanting to untie my oversized hiking shoes I decided it best to venture no closer than the stairs.

Soon the paved open walkway of the park's entrance gave way to a stone covered path cut out of an ever thickening forest. As we made our way gradually uphill we passed dozens of middle to highschool aged students, apparently on a variety of field trips, as many didn't seem to be hiking by choice! When we weren't battling too-cool-for-schoolers for footing on the rocky path, we were able to stop and take in the incredible beauty of our surroundings.

Just a walk though Seoraksan

Every few hundred meters the scenery would change completely as we passed numerous creek beds, most of which were dry, temples set in to the foothills, mountains that shot up from nowhere and endless forests of strange but somewhat familiar pine trees. My only regret is that we weren't there about two weeks later as I can only imagine how beautiful the area would have been in full spring blossom!

Clearly the 'new' bridge in town. . .

As the crowd around us thinned the trail began to grow steeper. With each bend in the path I swore we had to be approaching our first destination, Heundeulbawi. Only after declaring that we were 'almost there' a half dozen times did we finally emerge on a small plateau guarded by a small mountain temple and an enormous wobbling boulder. Well, to be honest, the boulder wasn't wobbling but we had read that if pushed just so, it can in fact be moved.

Heundeulbawai, or 'Rocking Rock' is well known throughout Korea as the majority of it's residents have at one time or another taken the opportunity to try and roll this teetering boulder off the each of the cliff on which its balanced. While to this day no one has been successful, the nation of Korea has plenty of snapshots of people doing their best Superman impersonation (see below).

Both Nate and I took a whack at it and, while it at first seemed impossible, the boulder does in fact get rocking side to side when enough force is applied at just the right, very short, intervals. This later discovery lead me to question the reliability of the text I read that claimed no matter how much force is applied, the rock will never fall from it's current position. . . .I know a guy named Newton that might disagree, but then again, he probably wasn't scared to sleep with the fan on either.

Supermaning at Heundeulbawi

After taking the obligatory snapshots at Heundeulbawi, we continued up the trail towards Ulsanbawi. Immediately the path took a sharp upward turn which was quickly noted by our sleep deprived bodies. For what must have been an hour or so we climbed a seemingly never ending path that head straight up towards the base of an incredible cliff. The large looming rocks we correctly assumed were Ulsanbawi. Unfortunately, what we did not correctly surmise is that we would eventually be climbing the rocks themselves. From the trail it seemed as though the bottom of the rocks was the goal, not their peak!

The story of Ulsanbawi

"According to the legend, Ulsanbawi comes from the city of Ulsan in the southeast of Korea. As Mt. Geumgangsan was being built, Ulsanbawi walked to the north as the representative of the city. Unfortunately, Ulsanbawi arrived too late and there was no more room. Ulsanbawi was ashamed and slowly trudged back to the south. One evening the rock went to sleep in the Seorak area. Ulsanbawi felt the area was so beautiful there that it decided to stay for good. The view of Mt. Seoraksan from the rock is outstanding." -The Sky to Sea Activity: Sokcho The Sokcho Tourist Information Center

Even as we approached the bottom of these giant rocks I for some reason presumed that I had finished and that the stairs, viewable in the background of the below picture, were simply, I dunno, for show?!

Where's Adam!?

As we stopped to catch our breath I chatted with a couple from the south part of Korea who try and make it out to Seoraksan a couple times each year, both for the exercise and the incredible scenery. From where we sat, it wasn't hard to imagine why people would return to this spot year after year. Though the park is obviously smaller than our Stateside national parks out west, when you're up in the midst of Seoraksan and can't see anything but the surrounding mountains, it's easy to imagine that you're in the middle of the Rockies. . .though here some of the hikers wear highheels.

A view worth coming back for!

After pausing sufficiently long enough to be laughed at by hoards of hikers who simply climbed on by without stopping, we eventually turned to face the enormous metal stair case that hugged the side of what seemed to be a near vertical face. Starting up it quickly became evident that the remainder of this hike would in fact be 'difficult.'

It's getting colder!

Climbing higher and higher, the altitude became apparent as we began to pass more and more patches of ice and unmelted snow. The particular mini-glacier you see behind me above eventually fell in a deafening roar, just as we made our way around and bend and out of its sight. Even without seeing it, we guessed what had happened and on the way back down, confirmed our suspicions.

The only way to describe the rest of the hike upwards is grueling. Sure, there were stairs and we didn't have to do a whole lot of scrambling, except at the very top, but even so, it went up, quickly. As I tried clamoring up the stairs without stopping (a feat I will posit as impossible), we passed at least a couple people who had literally resorted to going up on all fours, determined to make the summit, not so much by their own will but by the demands of their climbing partners who clearly egged them on!

Made it to 875m!

Alas, we did eventually 'summit' Ulsanbawi only to be greeted with a spectacular view of the northern part of Seoraksan Park and the dwarfed city of Sokcho below. Out in the distance we were able to see the East Sea but a thick haze blocked out any chance of sighting Japan off the coast. Though that didn't stop a gang of young Korean men from screaming out in anger towards the east, presumably with regards to Korea's recent loss to Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

I done did it! 875m

Though it was tempting, we opted not to have our photo taken and placed in a big 8x10 plastic folder that could be worn around the neck. I didn't feel bad though as the vendor at the top selling such a ridiculous souvenir did not seem to be short of customers at all!

Having seen enough, and beginning to get a bit over crowded at the relatively small summit, we turned back for a harrowing journey down what must have amounted to almost a thousand stairs. We of course paused for numerous photo shoots along the way as Korea has made us both pick up the side hobby of amateur nature photography. . .enjoy!

Solitude

Heavy Lifting!

Loner

Descending back down the way we came, we took a pause at Heundeulbawi to peek into Kaejoram, a temple literally carved out of the mountain. Said to be built in the year 652, it has apparently undergone a good amount of upkeep while still retaining a very ancient, and cave-like atmosphere.


We finally made it down to flat ground and immediately plopped into the first chairs we came across. While we would later feel bad for not patronizing the neighboring food stall, as the man working there was very kind to us on the way up, and down, I wouldn't have passed on our meal for anything. We ordered a bottle or makgeolli, or Korean rice wine to start as it's a Korean mountain climbing tradition that we have learned to embrace enthusiastically. When our drinks came without the normal side of anchovies and vegetables we decided it best to order some real sustenance, even though I had packed a bag pack full of nuts and berries, for some reason assuming we would be without civilization for days on our single night excursion.

With an unfamiliar Korean menu we did the best we could and ordered up something with the word kamja which I recognized as potato. Turns out we correctly selected and order of kamjacheon also known as potato pancakes. Nearing passover time I found this coincidence to be slightly more than amusing, especially as the pancakes were absolutely fantastic. No, no sour cream or horseradish to douse them in but even so, they were deeeelicious! And to wash it down with mountain style kimchi and a bottle of makgeolli, mmmm what a treat! Just don't ask me whose are better, Grandma's or the Mountain's!

Ulsanbawi from Camp Eats!

While lunching we met a nice group of young Korean men who were studying broadcasting and making a documentary about their day climbing Seoraksan. I had noticed them earlier trying to take candid video of Nate and I so clearly they were excited to talk to us and actually ask our permission to film a few shots. No clue what our role was to be but with a number of friends huddled around us at a table it made for a great shot. I gave my e-mail address to one of the guys who promised to send me the pictures but alas, it doesn't look like we'll ever receive them. So, you'll have to settle for one of Nate and I having potato pancakes on the mountain!

Lunchin'!

As we finished up our lunch a large sheet of clouds rolled in and swallowed up the sun that had warmed our climb so nicely. Growing chillier by the moment we decided it was time to head down and get outta the park before the weather really turned nasty! On the way down we did take the time to swing by Shinheungsa Temple, set right at the foot of the surrounding peaks.

Kicking it in the temple courtyard

Rocking out with the temple guards

We found our way back out the front gate and caught the 7-1 bus back towards town. With no real idea of what to go or where to stay, we decided to hike it towards the water. Darkness soon fell around us though in Korea it's often not a problem as cities are more than well lit and crime is simply non existent!

Wandering through town we passed a number of 'love motels' but decided to keep wandering towards a bit more, well, happening area. Though Sokcho is a relatively large town, every street we turned down seemed to be dead and usually, this is not a good sign in Korea. So, we kept on walking. Turns out wandering led us into some nice surprises as we came across a group of locals playing around in a parking lot. While we initially were going to simply ask them for directions towards a 'populated' area, we ended up kicking and throwing balls (soccer- and base-) with them for quite some time. Alas, all we got out of our friendly pitstop was a good work out which, at that point, neither of us really needed!

Somehow we did eventually make it to the beach and were greeted by a brightly lit boardwalk. Walking closer we began noticing fireworks taking to the air all along the beach. No, we didn't have impeccable timing for the annual show but rather people were buying them from the corner stores and setting 'em off themselves all along the beach.

Sokcho Boardwalk by Night

As it began to drizzle, we grabbed some refreshments from the corner store and headed out to the beach to sit, relax and enjoy the 'show.' Eventually we gave in to temptation and bought some fireworks ourselves. Even as the rain and wind picked up, people remained on the beach, enjoying the firelights of their neighbors.

Fire Flies

I too had some great fun with giant sparklers. It took only took a few tries to grab the picture below!

That's me!

As the rain grew to be too much we darted in to the corner convenience store where we again implored about something to do in Sokcho. The shop owner grew excited, asked us if we would like a club to which we agreed as long as he could figure out how to get us there. Now, I'm not entirely sure why we would have agreed to this after a day of hiking, still in our sweaty and again wet clothes but, it turned into quite the fun little adventure. The man gave someone a call and told us to sit tight as we would be picked up.

A few minutes later a mini van appeared outside and he ushered us is. The driver quickly swept us away to a large building adorned with neon lights that read Arabian Nights. We were led inside past a number of men in business suits congregated in circles smoking outside. Around the first velvet lined corridor we came out in to an enormous room of 50+ 'dining' tables that made a semi-circle around a club like dance floor. Complete with booming music and laser lights we were undoubtedly in the middle of Sokcho's nightlife.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we didn't last long as our waiter insisted that we purchase a pair of beers for 10,000 won each. He eventually discounted them I believe by a dollar or so before telling us politely that he would see us again but that we would be asked to leave now. No problem! Thanks for letting us sit for a bit though!

Back out in the rain we figured it was hotel time for sure. I thumbed though LP desperately looking for direction. Coming to an entry about the castle shaped Samsung Love Motel, I suddenly remembered that we had passed by such a building only a few hours before. I called the number in the book and asked if they had rooms available for 40,000 won, the prices listed in LP. They agreed, or at least I think they did, and we hopped in a cab, only to arrive a few minutes later.

The Samsung Love Motel in Sokcho

With the 40,000 in hand I reassured that we could get a double room. Money quickly exchanged hands and we were taken upstairs! Fantastic! While we shunned the first room as it seemed to have only one sleeping set up (on the floor), we were shown to a second with an actual real life bed. As doubles clearly aren't an option in love motels, the owner, or worker, kindly brought in a yo or floor mattress for the second set up. For less than $40 USD, we'll take it!

After changing out of wet socks and what not we slipped out for a late night snack of kamjatang, potato soup. Unfortunately, the soup lacked potatoes and instead was filled with giant rib bones of some creature that too lacked any meat. This meal was far from satisfying but, being beyond exhausted, I had no trouble getting to sleep on my thing floor mattress back at the love-tel.

Sunday morning we woke early and headed out into the gray morning. We first ventured back towards the water front where we passed two separate parties of hikers whom recognized us from the day before. We then walked out and along the water to a pier that stretched out towards a small island, Jodo, inhabited primarily by birds.

Morning on the Boardwalk

Along Sokcho Beach

At the end of the pier we stopped to take pictures under the love tree and I can only imagine thousands of couples do each summer as Sokcho's beaches are flooded with tourists wanting to escape the grind of life in Seoul.

Hanging in the Love Tree

As we stood and looked off towards the horizon, we noted a boat in the distance growing larger. We waited long enough to watch it pass and head towards a dock near the city center. I joked about it being the 'ferry to Russia' that I had read about in LP. Turns out, I was right. . .

Nate longing for an escape to Russia

Sokcho Beach from the pier

As we wandred north along the beach towards the city center, we were eventually forced up off the sand by a long wall of barbed wire that we had seen previously driving into the city.

Protection

Sokcho Seawall Selfie

Continuing north we eventually came to the Cheonghodaegyo Bridge which spanned the Cheongchoho Lake separating downtown Sokcho from, well, wherever we were. Unfortunately, the older part of the bridge didn't exactly span the full way but stopped on a pier unconnected to the downtown mainland. While a new bridge seemed to lead right into the heart of town, we learned upong further inspection that the bridge wasn't exactly, well, ready to be used yet. See the picture below for clarification!

A Bridge to Nowhere!

Seoraksan National Park from the Cheonghodaegyo Bridge

Argh! As this relatively small inland lake seemed un crossable, we turned around and headed back towards where we came in order to go around the outside of it on foot. While it seemed to be quite the detour, we knew of no other way across. Even so, walking along the lake shore provided us with an interesting view into the life of Sokcho's many fishermen, the majority of whom seemed to lie dormant on Sunday afternoon. Not even the starfish were dancing today. . .

Sokcho's brightest stars

While the whole town seemed to be dead, we did again see signs of life at sea. A ferry boat passed us at one point, exiting the inland lake from a small channel. As I watched, I noticed that the people on board, primarily middle aged women, seemed to be lined up, waiting to approach a man dressed in monk's garb who stood at the front of the crowd. After approaching the monk, the women would then dump a bag of fish over the edge of the railing and return to the line. I can offer no more insight on this situation that what you can surmise from the above details. . .yes, it was strange. If you expand the picture below you should be able to see the monk in orange towards the back of the boat on the first level. Good shot Nate!

An ever so mysterious ferry. . .

Not long after witnessing this magic ferry, we came to a gate that at first seemed to force us to again backtrack as we were already doing. Alas, we realized that just on the other side of the gate people were boarding a small barge/raft that seemed to be attached to a line running across to the other side of the channel! We were saved!

We quickly pounced through the gate and rushed up the 'captain' who pointed us towards a small ticket booth. There, another man asked us for 200 won each in exchange for boarding the boat. He actually needn't have really asked as there was simply a sign saying 200W hanging above a big bowl of coins into which people presumably throw their money and make themselves change.

We hopped on the raft just before things stated rolling. The cable that I at first thought was attached to the boat was in fact stationary and attached to both sides of the channel. In turn, the 'captain' and other men on board took turn using long hooks to drag the barge along by pulling against the anchored cable. An ingenious, efficient, environmental friendly water crossing! What a great mode of transportation!

I probably could have ridden back and forth another couple of times before I tired of the system. Over our initial shock of the twenty cent solution to our problem, Nate dove into the action and helped to 'drag' us across the water where we disembarked on the opposite shore.

All aboard the raft express!

Safe on dry land we headed towards the city center, first passing through the Sokcho Fisheries Market, or Jungang Market. Though some of the raw fish looked tempting, we were both too nervous and uncertain of the situation to take advantage of what many people claim to be an excellent place for sashimi. Oh well, maybe next time, if we have a Korean guide with us!

Sokcho's Jungang Fisheries Market

We followed signs to the Lighthouse Observatory and Sunrise Pavilion, both of which had been visible earlier from the pier at Sokcho Beach. Headed towards the north end of town, we passed Dongmyeong-hang Port in which the majority of signs were written in not only Korean but English, Chinese and Russian as well. I guess the sign wasn't lying when it said international terminal. Turns out the giant boat we spotted earlier was in fact the ferry to Russia! What an odd place to be that there just happens to be a 'ferry to Russia.' Last time I checked that's something I haven't previously encountered in my life.

The Ferry to Russia

Venturing up a small hill I was provided a great over head view of the Yeonggeumjeong Sunrise Pavilion that jutted out into the East Sea. At the same time, Nate decided to take the the small bridge out towards the pavilion. . .can you find him in the picture below?!

Yeonggeumjeong Sunrise Pavilion

Playing on the breakers

Though I'm sure it offers great views of the city, we decided to pass on making the short hike up the Lighthouse Observatory as we felt we had already conquered enough stairs for one weekend's adventure!

The Lighthouse Observatory

Finally, exhausted from a day of hiking and a morning of trekking aimlessly around a seemingly deserted city, we turned back towards the intercity bus terminal where we prayed there would be something, anything leaving for Seoul. We never did brave the famous Dongmyeong Raw Fish Market and instead settled on a glorious lunch of steamed kimchi, kimchijjim.

Back on the luxury express towards Seoul I immediately conked out, only to wake up just in time to snap a quick picture of Ulsanbawi and it's sister peaks that had been covered in snow while we slept peacefully at the Samsung Love Castle.

Snow Peaks

I didn't again stir much until we reached the traffic jam just outside of Seoul where we were treated to a hazy sunset over the Han River.

Sundown on the Han

I don't remember much about the subway right home but I'll tell ya, I was glad when it was over! For a two day get away Seoraksan was just the place. I'm sure I could go back and spend days hiking through the park but then again, why would I spoil such a great trip by trying to repeat it.

As for my next intra-Korea adventure, well, I guess I'll have to wait for another bye week in soccer! Or then again, it might just be coming sooner than I originally intended. . .more on that to come.

What a lot a' hoopla about nothing. . .It's bed time.