One of the prettiest places in South Korea is Seoraksan National Park. It is one of the highest points in all of Korea with stunning views and difficult climbs. Since I came to Korea, I have wanted to visit the park and a few weekends ago I finally did.
Jared and I left Friday night after work and headed east. The drive out was not bad at all and only took about 3 hours, which is good for Korea! We got to our hotel around 11:30 and crashed as soon as we hit the pillow. Saturday morning we got up bright and early so we could start hiking before it got too hot. The day brought clear and sunny skies, which is good because we knew we would have a clear view when we got to the top of the mountain but we also knew it would be a long hot hike. After a quick breakfast and a double check to make sure we had all the food and water we needed, we headed to the start. The hike we did was 5 kilometers and it was pretty much straight up. The recommended time to climb to the top and to get back down was 8 hours, now I am not a hiker but I knew we could do it much faster than that.
We headed off into the woods and stared our journey. The first part was pretty tough because my legs were just not used to using hiking muscles. After about 30-45 mins, my legs were getting used to the motion and didn't feel as tired. We hiked for about an hour or so before we took a break. We found a nice creek with lots of rocks to sit on to have a few snacks and rest for a bit. Since neither Jared or I are big on "taking things easy" we only rested for about 10mins and then we were on our way again. The path was a combination of stone, stairs, and dirt. The stairs were probably the most difficult thing to climb, and let me tell you there were plenty of them!! We would stop periodically to get some water or just take in the views but we didn't take another break until we got to the top.
We made it to the top in about 2 hours, half the recommended time and the views were absolutely breathtaking! We were on the highest point of Seoraksan, the skies were clear, and we could see for miles! It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I could have stood on top of that mountain for hours and not gotten sick of the sights.
We had our lunch and just relaxed for about a half hour before starting our descend. As hard as going up was, the down was actually more difficult. Once again, my legs were just not used to using those muscles for such a long period of time. Going down didn't take as long as going up but my legs were jello by the time we hit the bottom. Round trip took us less than 5 hours, 3 hours shorter than the recommended time, I felt pretty good about that seeing as though that was the first mountain I had ever climbed!
After we got back to the room and changed clothes, we headed off to the beach. We spent about 2 hours napping in the sand and swimming in the nice cool water, it was an exhausting day and it felt nice to not be moving for a while. After we got our fill of sand, sun, and water, we headed back to the hotel to clean up. By this time I was so pooped and hungry all I wanted was some dinner and to go to bed early! Jared knew a great restaurant in Sokcho, the town we were in, that was walking distance from our hotel. We made our way there, had some great Korean food and some much deserved wine. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and got ready for bed. It was only 7pm but we were both so tired we really didn't care we were going to bed so early. We tried to watch a movie but fell asleep about 20mins in. It was okay we passed out early because the next day was once again filled with physically taxing things.
We were up early, once again, but this time we weren't hiking to the top of the mountain, we were biking to the top! Yep, after a day of hiking and exhausting ourselves we decided to bike straight up the mountain. Now, I haven't spent much time on a bike so I was a bit worried about the 8K climb I was about to embark on. Thankfully Sunday brought some clouds so it was not as hot but it was still muggy and humid and the biking was not easy. It took us about an hour to climb all the way up, well it wasn't all the way up but it was a 3,000ft or 920 meter climb on a bike, it was tiring! But it was so satisfying to get to the top and be able to look down on what I had just biked!
The great thing about biking up something is knowing you get to go down!!! The downhill took much less time but man was it fun!! The first time I went down something steep on a bike I was terrified, but the more and more you do it, it gets less terrifying and more and more fun! After we got down, we got some water and snacks and headed out to do some trail running, because that sounded like a great idea! There was a small waterfall about 4ks from our hotel so we headed off after the bike ride. It was a very pretty run and definitely worth the jog. After we took in the views for a bit, we headed back to the hotel clean up, check out and head home.
It had been a great weekend but the adventures weren't over yet. Since Jared has been in Korea on and off for the past 6 years, he know his way around and knows where to find beautiful scenery. Instead of heading home on the normal highway we took a bit of a detour. He took me to a beautiful mountain lake with gorgeous views. It was so calm and peaceful I was grateful for the chance to see it. The rest of the drive wasn't too bad, meaning we didn't get stuck in too much traffic. We got back to Migeum around 4 o'clock or so and spent the rest of the night just relaxing and getting ready for another work week.
With so little time off it is so important to us to take full advantage of our weekends. That weekend was exactly what an overworked Foreign Kiddy teacher needs!
No comments:
Post a Comment