Lunar New Year in Seoraksan National Park

Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is a public holiday in Korea, meaning a lovely long weekend for Ric and I to explore somewhere new.

We went to Sokcho, a small coastal town on the north-east coast of Korea, and from there on to Seoraksan National Park.

Sokcho, view of the lake and the National Park in the background.

Undeterred by the forecast -25°C wind chill, or the fresh layer of snow that had been falling for two days, we set off early Saturday morning for the long ride to Sokcho. We arrived just before lunch and went straight to the beach (which is just a 5 minute walk from the bus terminal) to look out over what Koreans call the East Sea (the Sea of Japan). 

Sokcho beach.

For lunch Ric tried the local speciality dish, Ojingo-sundae (오징어 순대) - flavoured rice mixed with spices, vegetables and other mystery ingredients, all wrapped up in squid. I stuck to the safe option, stir fried beef and rice (불고기).

The bus ride to the National Park was nice, we followed the coast for a while and saw the harbour and the sea wall, then turned inland and followed a river into the valley. The further we went the more remote the scenery got, and the more imposing the mountains were.

Inside the park everything was snow covered and extremely slippery. We set off on our first hike of the weekend, to Biryong Falls. The walk follows a stream up a mountain, passing by three waterfalls. It was difficult to walk some parts of the trail and we slipped a lot! At one point I was sliding down the mountainside on my bum, luckily I had Ric to crash into at the bottom, saving me from an icy grave! It helps to have a sturdy boyfriend!

The stream and the waterfalls were frozen a bright blue colour. I'm sure they're very beautiful in summer, but in the winter they were fascinating; it looked as if they had been instantly frozen in time. Under the ice we could hear the water still gurgling and bubbling. I've never seen anything like that before.

This is what it looks like in the summer....

And this is what we saw!

As we headed back down the valley a Korean couple took pity on us (well, me, sliding around like Bambi on ice) and the man insisted that I take one of his crampons. It was very helpful but I felt terrible taking it, especially as he was quite old and I could see that he was struggling ahead of us, with only one remaining crampon. I eventually caught up with them and tried to give it back to the old man but he refused, and in the end I had to force him to take it. I think he was quite offended, as honour and pride are very important in Korean culture. Then I was tormented by what would have been the better thing to do; let an old man fall on the ice, or disrespect him and damage his pride. 

In the evening we went to see the Buddha statue and ate in the 'Tourist Restaurant', the food was neither good quality nor reasonably priced.

Buddha looks out over Seoraksan National Park.

The view from our hotel balcony!

The next day we woke up at 7 to see the sunrise, only to decide it was cloudy and we'd prefer another hour in bed! When we finally got moving we set off on another hike. The objective looked a little like this: 

Our destination was Ulsanbawi (above). According to the legend, a rock came to Seoraksan from Ulsan (south coast), fell in love with the mountain, and stayed there, which is why it is known as Ulsanbawi. 

We set off along a very nice, icy path, which gradually got steeper and steeper. Somewhere along the way we found a restaurant-come-shop where a lady very kindly rented us some crampons. They weren't glacier grade crampons, more like a belt that tied around our boots and had metal spikes on the bottom to provide some grip on the ice. A very wise move as at certain points during the hike they were the only things keeping me attached to the side of the mountain!

At the start of the hike.

2.1km into our hike we arrived at a temple built onto the mountainside. There was a rock (Heundeulbawi) that apparently can be rocked from side to side [by a small group of people]. From there we got a good view of the summit, another 1.5km up!

Heundeulbawi (Ric not quite able to get it moving)

To climb the sheer face of the rock someone had kindly built an enormous metal staircase. As the daughter of a welder I couldn't help but admire the structure, and ponder at how on earth they'd attached it to the rock face!

Killer stairs.

Needless to say, from the summit the views were breathtaking:

Dangling....

At the summit we did shots of soju with a Korean man. It made me want to puke and I worried that I might fall off the edge, but I'd already offended one bloke's honour that weekend so I feebly accepted.

Ric braving the -20 wind chill. The man in front gave us apples and oranges, the man in yellow gave us shots of soju. Korean people are so kind!

We made it down to the bottom in one piece, only for me to slip and fall flat on my back on the easiest stretch of path! Then we went to look at Sinheungsa temple.

Tranquil. You can do temple stays here.

After lunch we took the cable car to Gwongeumseong. It was the longest, steepest cable car I've ever been on. Worse still, it rocked from side to side due to the force of the wind!

From the cable car through the valley towards the sea.

LOOK HOW STEEP!

Gwongeumseong is a rock where once stood a fortress/castle. According to the legend, the fortress was built over night by two strong men. 

The wind on top of the rock was so strong that it knocked me over twice! There were no railings around the edge, and it would NEVER have been open in those conditions in England. It was thrilling (scary!).
Just look at how the trees grow, battered on one side by the wind:

We left the National Park on Sunday evening and gorged on pizza back in Sokcho, before getting the bus home the next morning.

Accommodation
When we arrived at the entrance to Seoraksan National Park we were surprised to find that we'd already passed all the motels, hotels and pensions further down the valley. The only options were the Edwardian Stars Hotel, a five star 'English style' hotel, and the Tourist Hotel. The Tourist Hotel is the only hotel within the actual park, so we decided the stay there, for convenience sake. The benefits of staying in the park are that you can be the first to set off on the hikes in the morning, beating the crowds of Korean tourists and the annoying smart phones. The hotel also has THE COMFIEST beds I have slept in since I left England, and balconies with an amazing view of the mountains. As we checked in at the end of the day, as the park was closing, and as it is low season, the owner agreed to give us discount on our room, so it wasn't even that expensive. On the downside everything in the park shuts by about 6pm, so make sure you eat your dinner early!

Seoraksan Tourist Hotel; cosy room, great view.

Back in Sokcho we stay in A PINK CASTLE!! The Rocustel is located right behind the express bus terminal, it's cheap (40,000w) and it has round beds! We fell out of bed in the morning and landed right on our bus! Perfect.

Rocustel, hard to miss!

Transport
Cheonan - Sokcho
~Express bus to Seoul Gangnam station  (1 hour)
~Bus from Seoul - Sokcho (3 hours depending on traffic)

Sokcho - Seoraksan National Park
~ Take the number 7 or 7-1 bus from opposite the express bus terminal, the last stop is the park entrance.

Gakwonsa to Deokjeon, Snow Hiking

After far too many weekends of staying in bed watching episodes of House, we decided to brave the cold and go hiking in the snow. I've never been hiking in the snow before, but unfortunately I neglected to put a memory card in the camera, so I'm going to have to rely on the power of description for the majority of this post.

We went to Taejosan, because it's really close the centre of town and started our hike at Gakwonsa. Walking up the mountain in the snow was no easy feat. There was a fresh layer of snow that provided some grip, but still some parts of the trail were entirely covered in ice. The steam that runs parallel to the path was frozen and there were some really cool ice formations where waterfalls had turned to ice, the water was still running under the ice too.

We eventually got to the ridge at the top of the mountain and our sweat from the hike started to freeze in the icy gale, so we promptly decided to go down the opposite side of the mountain to check out a small farming village called Yuwanggol (유왕골). It was creepy; there were lots of dogs and a couple of cows, there were houses and cars parked up, but we didn't see a single other person there.

Then we decided to wall along the valley, following a river and a dirt track that eventually turned into a road. It was very beautiful; mountains on either side, everything covered in snow, the frozen river, and the only sound was the wind in the trees.

We walked forever, until the sun was going down behind the mountain and our whole bodies ached from the cold. We kept passing clusters of houses, really big, elaborate houses with patios leading on to the river, and yet we still didn't see another person. Perhaps they were all hiding from the cold, like sensible people.

We kept walking towards our unknown destination, wondering whether we'd eventually have to turn back and return the same way we came, or whether at any minute there'd be a path leading up over the mountain and we'd have to endure another steep ascent in the snow. Luckily we emerged from the valley and found a main[ish] looking road with a bus stop!

Our relief was short lived however, when we realised the bus was only three times a day, and that the next one wasn't due for another two and a half hours.

We continued along the main[ish] road, in the direction we considered to be home. Along the way we played in the snow, which was like crystals because the weather had gotten warmer and then very cold again, turning the snow flakes into ice flakes.

We came to Yongyeon Reservoir (횽연저수지) in a place called Mokcheon, it was totally frozen. There we also found a map, which we were very grateful for as we were able to turn off in the right direction.

With only about an hour left before the sun completely set we began the long climb uphill towards Cheonan. We'd been walking for about three hours and had done about 10km, our legs ached and we were very very cold. So, once again, we resorted to hitching our way home.

The first car we saw stopped for us and the elderly driver motioned for us to get in. I was very grateful for the Korean I have learnt as he didn't speak a word of English and I was able to address him using the most formal level of the language, which I think he appreciated, even if what I said was far from grammatically correct. I asked him where he was going and he asked us where we were going, and just as we arrived at his village he turned off the road onto the highway to Cheonan; going well out of his way to get us safely home.

As soon as we passed a bus stop that had more than three buses a day we got out of the car, thanking the old man profusely for his incredible kindness. It was very touching that he was willing to drive us all the way home, even though we could barely communicate and it was miles out of his way.

Finally we got home and defrosted. It was a great walk.

I was so disappointed about not being able to take any pictures that I went back to Gakwonsa the next day and took some photos of the snowy path, the frozen stream and the temple. Here they are:

Frozen pond at the bottom of the mountain.

The beginning of the path that leads up Taejosan.

Frozen stream.

Buddha at sunset.

Gakwonsa temple.

Gakwonsa temple.

Gakwonsa temple.

Winter sunset over Cheonan.

Gakwonsa temple.

Sledging at Taejosan Park

What would you do with your weekend if it had snowed heavily for the past 5 days??

We decided to buy a sledge and go to an abandoned ski slope in the mountains!

We went to Taejosan Park as we knew there was an old artificial ski slope there that hasn't been used for years. With the 8 inches of snow we've had this week the slope was turned into a real ski slope!

Mt. Taejo in the background

At the top of the slope

The slope from the bottom

It was 'disused' for a reason... but no one ever said that obstacles aren't fun.

It was awesome for a while but then we got shouted at by a security guard and got turfed off the slope. It was OK though because there were plenty of other fun places to sledge in the park.

Deep snow!

We were expecting the park to be packed with sledging kids but luckily, Koreans are busy working and praying on Saturdays so there were only a couple of families there.

We had a snow ball fight with some Korean kids, made snow angels, failed to make a snowman and sledged until we ached. It was so much fun.

Snow angels, mine's the one without a beer belly!

SO much fun <3

Unfortunately the sledge could only handle so much fun, and after about 3 hours solid sledging it met its bitter end. We hit a ditch, flew clear off the ground and cracked the sledge all the way down the middle. It was home time.

Play time's over kids.

The park was very beautiful in the snow. The froze pond, the snow covered pagodas. We ever saw some grazing deer!

(deer)

The pagoda by the frozen lake.

 With our smashed up sledge, our frozen feet and our sun burnt faces we got a hot chocolate and set off home, only to find that the buses weren't running! Luckily a taxi just happened to be passing by, and we were soon on our way home.

Pulling Ric home on our broken sledge as the sun was setting.
No easy task!

I've never seen this much snow before, probably due to the absence of gritters over here! I'm LOVING it. It's still snowing, it's -9 outside, I'm in my apartment, eating hot pot, drinking mulled wine, the under floor heating is cranked up and I'm wearing fleecy pyjamas. This is what winter is all about!