Seoraksan National Park

A couple weeks ago, Blair and I ventured the 6 hour bus ride from Daegu to Sokcho for some fall foliage. Sokcho is a city located on the northeastern coast of Korea, not far from the North Korean border.  The city is known as a gateway to nearby Seoraksan National Park, where we spent most of our weekend.

Seoraksan is one of Korea’s most popular national parks and is listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is known for its stunning natural beauty, rare flora and fauna, and Buddhist temples. From the park’s main entrance there are many trails, with some peaks measuring over 1,200 meters above sea level, as well as access to a cable car.  We decided to hike the Biryong Falls and Ulsanbawi courses.

The Biryong Falls course is a short hike from the main entrance. “Biryong” literally means a flying dragon. It is believed that “long ago, the villagers suffered from a dire drought. The villagers found that a dragon had stopped the flow of the stream from the fall. They offered a maid as a sacrifice and the dragon disappeared into the sky, thus letting the stream flow once again."

The Biryong Falls Course.

The Ulsanbawi course is a longer hike and known as one of the park’s more difficult hikes. The top is 876m high, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Daecheongbong (the highest peak), Sokcho, and the East Sea. According to legend, Ulsanbawi comes from the city of Ulsan in southeastern Korea. It is said that on its way to the making of Kumgangsan, the rock fell in love with Seorak and decided to stay there for good.

The Ulsanbawi Course.

Seoraksan is a beautiful national park, the fall foliage made it even more enjoyable. The park has amazing scenery and plenty of great hiking opportunities.

The view of the East Sea in Sokcho.

Somaemuldo

After spending Friday night in Jinju for the Lantern Festival, we decided to head to Somaemuldo for the day.

Somaemuldo is an island off Korea’s southern coast in Hallyeo Haesang National Park. It takes about an hour to get there by boat from Tongyeong (a small port city on the southern coast). Tongyeong was only an hour bus ride from Jinju. Once we arrived, we headed to the port, explored a small fish market, and purchased our boat tickets.

The boat ride to Somaemuldo was beautiful as we passed many small islands. Somaemuldo itself was even more impressive. The island is small, has beautiful scenery, a small village, and a lighthouse that was built by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.

We decided to take the longer trail toward the lighthouse, along the ocean. The views from the trail were amazing. The lighthouse is actually on a separate, smaller island. You can only walk to the smaller island twice a day, during low tide (when the path isn't covered with water).

The island reminded me a lot of Hongdo, but it definitely had its own character and appeal, both deserve a visit.

The boat ride to Somaemuldo.

Around Somaemuldo.

The sunset during the boat ride back to Tongyeong. 

Chuseok (Hongdo & Heuksando)

Last weekend, Blair and I explored the far reaches of southwestern Korea during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). We left Daegu Friday night and made our way to Mokpo, a rather large port city on the west coast. We arrived in Mokpo just after 1:00 am and quickly checked into a love motel to get a few hours of sleep before our 7:50 am ferry departure. The ferry terminal in Mokpo services Jeju and most islands to the west.

Our first destination of the weekend was Hongdo (Red Island). Hongdo is a tiny island located southwest of Mokpo in the Yellow Sea. The island is a part of Dadohaehaesang National Park, Korea’s largest national park. The entire island itself is declared a National Monument. Thus people are not allowed to enter areas other than the villages. Since its protected land, visitors are forbidden to bring out even one stone from the island.

The only way to the island is by boat. You won’t see any cars on the island, just a scooter or two. There are two tiny villages on the island with only a few hundred residents combined.

After two and half hours aboard the ferry we arrived at Hongdo before noon. I was instantly taken aback by the island’s stunning scenery and simple charm. The pace of life was far removed from the hustle and bustle of the mainland. There was no sound of traffic, only the sound of a gentle sea breeze and rolling waves in the distance. The air was the freshest I have breathed in months. The salty air was welcoming and very refreshing. Since I grew up most of my life along the ocean I felt right at home.

Approaching Hongdo.

As we made our way past the dock and through the narrow alleys of the village, I knew it was a place I was going to enjoy. We found a quaint minbak (homestay/bed) with a balcony that had amazing views of the harbor. After settling in and eating some ramen, we walked back to the dock and purchased tickets for a boat tour around the island. 

Our minbak.

The boat tour was a two hour journey along the island’s stunning coastline. Most of the coastline is made of rocky vertical cliffs reaching hundreds of feet high. The deep turquoise sea seemed to beautifully contrast the red rock while evergreen trees blanketed many of the rocks and peaks. The views around the island were amazing. It didn’t look like anything you’d expect to see in Korea. 

The boat tour around the island.

After the boat tour we spent the evening enjoying the island’s relaxed atmosphere and trying some it’s unique seafood (including 소라 which is similar to a conch, or an edible sea snail, Blair thinks...).

Trying some 소라.

The next morning, we explored some of the island’s trails and pebble beach. That afternoon, we slowly packed up our belongings in preparation for our next destination. We really enjoyed our stay on Hongdo, it’s a great place to relax and take in beautiful scenery. It’s easily one of my favorite places in Korea thus far.

The views of Hangdo from our hike.

 The pebble beach.

View of the harbor.

Our next destination was Heuksando, an island about an hour from Hongdo. Heuksando is a larger, more developed island, but still just as peaceful as Hongdo. We stayed in the island’s main fishing village. The small fishing village is much like the ones you’d see in New England. The village was well stocked with plenty of fresh seafood.

Heuksando's fishing village.

The next morning, we took a bus tour around the island with a group of friendly Koreans. The weather wasn’t ideal, but we were able to see some of the coast as the weather eventually cleared.

Around Heuksando.

Late that afternoon, we got back on the ferry to Mokpo. Once in Mokpo we made our way back to Daegu and ate an amazing dinner along the way. In all, it was an amazing trip and one of my favorites so far. It was well worth the journey and money spent.

China, Part 2 (Xi'an)

The next day, Andy and I ended up flying to Xi’an. Our original plan was to take an overnight sleeper train, but we learned that all the sleepers were sold out days in advance. The train had only hard seats available and Andy wasn’t very eager to travel that for 12 hours overnight. I was a little more willing because I’m all about traveling on the cheap and wouldn't have minded being uncomfortable for awhile if in the process I saved myself $100. However, I decided to “bite the bullet” and spent a little more than I wanted, giving us an extra night in Beijing. Not to mention, the flight was only an hour and 40 minutes long.

We arrived early in the morning.  After checking into our hostel, we spent the day exploring the city. We got to see the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the City Wall, and  the Wild Goose Pagoda. Xi’an is one of China’s oldest cities and most of its historical sites are well over a thousand years old. There was a very different feel in Xi'an than there was in Beijing. The pace of life there seemed a bit slower, yet it had much more charm.

 The Drum Tower.

 The Bell Tower in the distance.

Biking on the City Wall.

The Wild Goose Pagoda.

The next morning, we headed to Mount Hua Shan for a hike.  I learned about this hike while reading an article in Travel and Leisure magazine, “World’s Scariest Hikes.” Their website had a video link of the hike (Mount Hua Hike Video). After watching the video, I knew it was something that I had to do one day. The hike became the inspiration for my trip to China!

Mount Hua Shan is known as 'The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven'. It’s one of the five sacred mountains in China and has a long history of religious significance. Various Taoist temples dot the mountain’s five peaks. We boarded a bus near the Xi’an train station and two hours later arrived near the base of the mountain. Since we were limited on time, the cable car took us halfway up, but we were able to hike the rest of the way. The views near the top were amazing.

  The mountain’s cliff path was our ultimate destination. After hiking for about three hours through the clouds and in the rain, we finally arrived. It was an incredible sight to see. The path appeared even more intimating in person, to the point where I was doubting my ability and talking myself out of attempting it. It looked scarier than I imagined; a straight descent along small metal bars that were built into the mountain. The fact that it was raining and everything was wet, thus slippery, made the situation seem even more precarious. For a very lengthy moment, the thought crossed my mind to back out of the whole thing. Meanwhile, Andy had strapped right in to his harness and started on his way.After about 15 minutes, I gave the cliff path one final look and thought to myself, "I came all the way to China for this moment; I can’t back out now".  I put my stuff down, strapped myself in, and made my way down to the path. I would have truly regretted it had I not. I was surprised how safe and at ease I felt once I started making my way down. It looked much scarier than it actually was.

 The experience was amazing. It was quite the rush, almost spiritual like. Every thought and worry I ever had seemed to disappear for a moment as I took in all the beautiful scenery around me. There’s just something indescribable about nature when you see it on such a massive scale.  It makes me feel so small, yet, on top of the world. I’ve always been drawn to nature, and this was the most amazing sight I have seen yet! 

 Approaching the cliff path.

 Heading down to the path.

 After the cliff path, we made our way back down the mountain. We arrived back at our hostel around 8:00 pm. Then we treated ourselves to some typical Chinese food, KFC (our greatest export), they’re everywhere in China.

The next day, I had a few hours to visit the Terra-Cotta Warriors before my train departure. By the time we actually made it there, I had less than an hour to explore. Nonetheless, I got to see the main building, which was very impressive. The sculptures date back to 210-209 BC.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors.

At noon, I had to catch the train. I ended up taking the train to Tianjin (an 18 hour train ride), then the high-speed to Beijing (the only option available at the time). Once I arrived in Beijing, I got into a taxi and made my way to the airport. I made my plane just in time. After an hour and 45 minute flight I landed in Seoul, then it was a 4 hour bus ride back to Daegu. It was nice to be home after nearly 30 hours straight on some form of transportation.

 The hard sleepers on train.

China was amazing experience. I saw a lot in a short amount of time and got to experience some the country's unique culture. I also met a lot of friendly and interesting travelers along the way.