Conquering Mt Seoraksan

In the week that my dad and bro were here, the first weekend was spent in Seoul and the second weekend was spent on a hiking trip.  Seoraksan is considered one of the best mountains to climb in South Korea and I have really wanted to do it.  My Dad loves hiking, I knew Izaak would down for the ride, and so I organized a two day one night trip for us to Seoraksan mountain through Adventure Korea (a group that organizes trips for foreigners living in Seoul).  The hiking trip really did live up to expectations, it was beautiful and we had perfect weather for it.

Upper right hand side of South Korea "Seoraksan National Park".

On Saturday morning, my dad, brother, Quinn, and I woke up extremely early to head to the Express Bus Terminal to meet up with the other 30 foreigners who were also going on this trip.  We all hopped on a bus and within about three hours we had reached our destination.  We had a hearty meal of bibimbop, mixed vegetables with rice, before we began the hike.  The first day we decided to do the big hike to Ulsan-bawi (to the peak) that takes most people about four hours round trip.  It was well worth it, but it was not definitely not a hike in the park getting to the peak of the mountain.  We climbed over 800 steps literally straight up to reach the peak.  The views were spectacular and the rocks on top were so cool.  As I was climbing, these older Korean men and women would zoom past me in their expert hiking clothes and boots.  Korean people really are in great shape.  The other interesting part is that along the hiking path there are probably about four rest stops.  These were not just one person selling some water, these rest areas were full on restaurants where Koreans were enjoying full meals and some drinks on the side.  It was great people watching.  Koreans love to hike and then eat apples and kimbop and drink makkoli (Korean rice wine). 

After the big hike, we headed back on the bus to the hotel.  We all settled in, cleaned up, and went out to dinner.  It is so nice being in the clear, refreshing mountain air.  I can really tell a difference from the city.  I also love that you can see the stars out there.  The hotel was located in a town called Osaek with a few restaurants, a PC bong (computer room), and a noraebong (karaoke room, obviously).  We ate a good dinner of pajeon (Korean seafood pancake) and some soups on the side.  After dinner, we walked around by the river next to the hotel and people offered us to drink some of the river water.  Apparently, it is fresh water that runs there and safe to drink.  I tried it, nothing too special.  We all were happy to go to bed early after the long day.

Sunday morning, we all woke up early as we were heading out on another hike that began right by the hotel.  We did about a two hour hike through a canyon ravine to a waterfall.  It was a pretty and relaxing hike compared the rigorous work out from the day before.  After the hike, we ate a delicious lunch of spiced tofu, quail eggs, kimchi soup, and spiced cucumber.  My dad was really into the Korean food, not so sure it won over Izaak though.  Finally, we all got back on the bus and headed back to Seoul.

Seoraksan was a great trip and I’m really glad I got to do it with my family.  Hiking is something that we all enjoy and don’t often get to do it together .