Korean mountain : Seoraksan, Ulsanbawi and Sokcho
Korean mountain : Seoraksan, Ulsanbawi and Sokcho
Seoraksan Mountains (san stands for mountain in korean and “Seorak” is the moutains name) is about 2 and a half to 3 hours from Seoul (something around 200Km). The mountain range there has the highest peak between the Taebaek Hills, in the Gangwon Province of South Korea.
South Korea is sorrounded by many incredible mountains and maybe for that reason so many people enjoy hiking at the weekends or as an actual hobby.
The route I made in Seoraksan was the Ulsanbawi Rock Course, about 8 Km round trip in 4 hours. There were just too many stairs – made of stone or steel. But of course reaching the peak gives you some kind of piece slash breathlessness slash pride and also “thank god I got here” and “help! Can’t even think of going back down!”. All those thoughts crossed my mind, I must say. Maybe because that was my very first hiking and had no idea what to wait for.
This, I found later, is definitely not the easiest hike nor the most difficult one. The view is just spectacular and if you go on your own pace, you end up enjoying a lot of the process despite the difficulty you might feel.
The typical food in this area is the Bibimbap made with green roots grown in the mountains. It is very delicious!
The entrance to the National Seoraksan Park costs about 3.000 WON (about 3 dollars) and it is trough the Park that you can go to the different kinds of routes. The Park itself is very nice to walk around and the whole experience will probably vary a lot from season to season. Due to many rare species found there, UNESCO designated this National Park a Biosphere Preservation District in 1982.
My pictures are from end of winter/begining of spring, which was a lovely time to go, with few people and great weather. Flowers starting to blossom and still that refreshing wind that works great when you are tired moving up and down.
Close to the area of the National Seoraksan Park is Sokcho, where you can find beaches, ski resorts, hot springs and historic treasures. Most people combine the two places during a visit.
It is very much worth the experience!
More detailed information:
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=309426
