After a weekend of scuba diving, Mr. B surprised me with a night/day away taking in the beautiful sights of Seoraksan. This has been a destination on my list of places to see before we’d ever leave Korea. Seoraksan is the third highest mountain in South Korea, perhaps one of the most picturesque too. The highest peak of the mountain reaches 5,603 feet! We didn’t quite make it that far, almost! No way, just kidding. Unfortunately we bees don’t have the billy goat gene in us.
We took a chance on the Mt. Seoraksan Tourist Hotel. The location is right inside of the national park. You literately walk out the lobby door and straight onto any hike you’d like. It was perfect! We lucked out and were able to grab a room too. The cost was 50,000 Won a person. Ohh but the views, wait until you see what we got to lay in bed and admire in the morning. We recommend the hotel and plan on staying there again if we go back.
As the sun set over the park, I kept thinking how much this place reminded me of a Harry Potter movie. I don’t know if it was the darkness settling in for the night, with all of the large overhanging trees? Whatever the case the feeling of being at Hogwarts. I know I am being silly, but it was just so much fun!
The next morning we woke up grabbed a small bite to eat at the hotel’s coffee shop. Fresh homemade yogurt. YUM!
And we were off!
First stop was to take the cable car up the side of the mountain.
We all piled into this bright yellow car….
HAHA! No just kidding again..
You could hardly tell that you were in a cable car. The ride was smooth. I wasn’t sure what i’d think or how i’d take it going so high. But, I loved every minute of it. Even after Mr. B read the sign before getting onto the car that said, “If the weather changed while we were at the top we’d be responsible for ourselves to get back down”. Now that leaves one feeling confident about their decision to board the car, right?
Once we got to the top we were just in total awe. This mountain was a total refresher to the soul. Some of the tree tops were starting to turn vibrant reds and you could see the ocean and the city of Sokcho glisten out into the distance. I could have stayed up there for days daydreaming about the views.
After the observatory area at the cable car, we followed a path that took you up into the side of the mountain. Unsure of what we were to find but very eager for the adventure.
Once we got to the end of the path, we found ourselves on the side of a mountain peak. The only real place to go was up. So up is where we went. We straddled some serious rocks along the way up. My knees were shaking, Mr. B kept telling me, “three points of contact”. One, two, three, kept going over and over in my mind.
We made it! We survived the climb at Mt. Seorak!
Of course we expected to find this at the top of the steep climb!
Too funny! How about a personal engraved souvenir? You’ve got to appreciate the Korean way of life.
So how about those hiking outfits? This is serious business dressing the part. They even carry ski pole looking walking sticks. Just watch you don’t accidently get stabbed by one. Next time we hike Soyo mountain near our place I think we need a fun colorful outfit too. What do you say Mr. B?
I don’t think I can even put into words the view from that climb. I will continue to try..
Nope.. I still can’t. Just look at the photos and imagine endless blue sky.
Secretly I kept trying to postpone the climb back down. I knew it was going to involve a lot of butt sliding and rope gripping. Thankfully with a wish and a few prayers we made it safely back down.
After the hike back down, I said to Mr. B, the one thing I love so much about Korea is that you get to experience these amazingly awesome things like that trechorous climb. The cliffs and trails are not all fenced up, there are no forms or waivers that you must sign your life away on due to the unsafe risks involved. No, for the most part, there are no railings. Just remember three points of contact and you will be fine.
After the cable car ride down we strolled around a bit, ate lunch and got back on the road.
What an amazing place!
Until we meet again Mt. Seorak.
Sincerely,
Grab the map coordinates here
