Seoraksan National Park on A Perfect Sunny Day
After
the trip to Namiseom, we went straight to Sokcho, Gangwon Province and spent
the night there, because the day after we had visitation to Seoraksan National Park
to see Gwongeumseong Fortress and Grand Bronze Buddha at Sinheungsa
Temple. Excited! The Fortress is located
at the top of the Dolsan
Mountain, that means I
had to hike again :D Yaaassshhh! I love
everything that involves physical activity. Actually after visiting Seoraksan,
I had Everland Theme
Park and Dongdaemun Market on the list, but I think I’ll break
the 4th day trip in Korea
into to parts. They’re located in
another cities anyways.
First
of all, I want to tell you about the hotel. Right? I almost never talk about the
accommodation, but I should tell you about this one, briefly. So, I spent the night at Sol Beach Hotel & Resort,
which is a 5 stars hotel, which was such a rare service of my travel agent for
giving us a 5 star for this package! My tour leader told me, that they had to
upgrade because the other 3-4 stars hotel is fully booked. The hotel is located
at the side of the beach, the lobby was grandiose, the breakfast was complete
of western and asian breakfast.
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| Sweet! |
Oh!
There was one downside though, the triple room is not in western style room,
meaning we had to sleep on the floor! Just kidding :p No, it’s called Ondol
Room, it’s Korean traditional bedroom style, like Tatami in Japan. The difference was the mat in Tatami Style is
thicker (around 5.5-6 cm) than mat used in Ondol Room, I’m not sure about the
thickness. Though, I felt like sleeping
on the floor. However, Ondol Room is known for using heater
under the floor, and it’s really good in Winter, but it felt really hot that
night. That’s it about the hotel, I
recommend western style bedroom with actual bed and mattress still.
Soooo,
the only one on the menu…
- Seoraksan National Park (설악산국립공원)
Advertised as one of the most well-known destination for foreign tourists in South Korea - alhough when I was there I saw mostly Korean or Chinese tourists, Seoraksan has rocky landscape and fantastic cliffs and the view from the top is quite rewarding.
It’s also known as Seolsan and Seolbongsan, the mountain was named Seorak (‘Seol’ meaning ‘snow’ and ‘Ak’ meaning ‘big mountain’) because the snow wouldn’t melt for a long time, keeping the rocks in a permanent state of white. The Park is spread across 4 cities and counties : Sokcho, Inje, Goseong, and Yangyang. The highest peak is Daecheongbong, to the east is OeSeorak, and to the west is NaeSeorak, which is divided again into North Naeseorak and South Naeseorak. Seoraksan is the third highest mountain in South Korea. The Daechongbong Peak of Seoraksan reaches 1,708 meters (5,603 feet). In August 1982, UNESCO designated Seoraksan Natinal Park as Biosphere Preservation District. - visitkorea.or.kr
Seoraksan
National Park is very
very large as the explaination above. So, I
feel lucky enough to have visited two of its sites: Gwongeumseong Fortress and
Grand Bronze Buddha at Sinheungsa
Temple.
I.
Gwongeumseong Fortress (설악산 권금성)
The
day before I went to Seorak
National Park, our tour
leader inform us to wear jacket as precaution, because we would hike the
mountain. So, I wore turtle neck
(although it’s thin fabric), leather pants and leather jacket. But you know whaaaattt, the weather that day
was wow; it’s sunny, clear blue sky, so pretty, no jacket needed, no turtle
neck needed, should’ve wear sleeveless top instead.
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| So sunny! But a bit warm :p |
Anyways, we didn’t hike 1,708 meters obviously, I mean, not enough time for that, so we used cable car instead then we hiked for 30-40 meters to the top.
Gwongeumseong Fortress is the site of castle ruins and it is also known as Mt. Onggeumsan Castle or Toto Castle. It’s located on the steep Dolsan Mountain of Seoraksan Sogongwon area. It is believed to have been built, by the 23rd King of Goryeo Period (918-1392), Gojong (r.1213-1259). It is also called Gwon-Kim Castle, as there is a legend that two generals named Gwon and Kim, built the castle to avoid war.
At the left side of Sogongwon, past the Biryonggyo Bridge over the ravine, there is a path which leads to Gwongeumseong Castle, but it takes over an hour of travel through a steep, rocky path (2.5 km). - visitkorea.or.kr
When
I was at the top, I was like “Ruins? What ruins??” No, Seriously, because it’s
very very ancient, it’s just…I couldn’t imagine what the castle was like. It’s all groups of giant rocks on top of each
other at the edge of cliffs. But don’t
get me wrong, I like rocks, especially on top of the mountain. There are absolutely no fences so, you better
don’t slip, because it’s 1,700 meters, if you fell, there’s high chance you
wouldn’t survive. What I love the most
about this place is absolutely the blue sky, it’s so clear, so bright that I
don’t need to retouch or filtered any pictures I shot there. And the view was spectacular too, just seeing
the picture can’t do justice, so you better go and see it yourself.
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| I was hoping someone didn't push me :p |
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It'd be KRW 8,500 for the cable car (round trip), although it depends on weather a lot, meaning they won't operate in super windy day or too foggy. So, visitors better call in advance :)
II.
Grand Bronze Buddha at Sinheungsa Temple (신흥사)
This
great bronze statue is also called Bronze Jwabul Statue, which is over 10
meters high. It’s also known as ‘Tongil
Daebul’; the hands of Tongil Daebul are
positioned in the mudra symbolizing the “enlightened one”. Inside the Buddha Statue, there is a small
temple and people can get in. It is
located on the path to Shinheungsa
Temple.
I
was a little bit tired not because of the hiking, but mostly the heat, although
it was 21-23 degrees C, it felt hotter than that. Resulting in my reluctance to go inside the
Statue and explore around, I just took some pictures and hide in the
shades. Just after we left the park, I
regretted my decision :/ I mean, I could've explored more and found something interesting.
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| The Grand Bronze Buddha |
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