Last weekend, we went to Seoraksan with our friends Jared and Katie. Seoraksan is one of the highest mountains in Korea, and it is a very popular place to visit. We stayed in a cute little town called Osaek.
On Saturday, we donned our many layers and ventured out into the cold. We were so bundled up that we felt somewhat like human marshmallows, but we were thankful for the layers once the wind began blowing sideways. We drove a while to the Seoraksan National Park. Once there, we began the climb up one of the more popular peaks. We trekked over frozen ponds and past slow climbing (but well dressed) Koreans. We stopped to take photos at the balancing rock, where the tradition is to try to push it over the edge.
Finally, we got to the last few hundred meters of the climb, which also happened to be the steepest part. Because it wouldn’t be hiking in Korea without stairs, this mountain was fully equipped with probably the steepest set of metal stairs I have ever seen. With the wind practically knocking us over as it gusted through the mountains, we began to climb… all the while asking whose brilliant idea this was in the first place. Once we made it to the top, however, it was all worth it.
The view was beautiful. We could even see North Korea off in the distance. While we enjoyed it, we didn’t stop to eat a picnic on this particular trip, as the wind was so cold we could barely hold our cameras. So, after a few quick snapshots, we climbed back down and made our way to the local restaurants for some much needed lunch.
The view on the way back down the mountain.
Raar!
On the way back to Osaek, we drove past a frozen pond where children and their families were sledding. Because this is Korea, and parents don’t seem to care if you take photos of their children, we decided to pull over and play paparazzi. The kids were really adorable and we had fun taking photos of them and playing on the ice.
These little guys had different agendas.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed off for a sight seeing trip home. The plan was to visit the Peace Dam, eat some Dakgalbi in Chuncheon and go to an Ice Fishing Festival. The trip turned out to be a very interesting ordeal. That morning it snowed all over Korea, including Seoul and the mountains through which we were to drive. After a few slow crawls up steep hills, and a few skids and slides, we made it safely out of the mountains and to the Peace Dam.
The Peace Dam or Pyeonghwa Dam is on the Bukhan river in NE South Korea. Construction on it first began in the 80s when there was concern over a dam upriver in North Korea. The Bukhan river is connected to the Han which flows through the center of Seoul. The concern was that if the North Korean dam collapsed whether on purpose or by accident, the waters would cause a major flood, taking out most of Seoul. Construction was stopped partway though, because people thought that the threat had been exaggerated. But in 2005, a crack in the North Korean dam caused a lot of flooding in Seoul, so construction on the Peace Dam began again. The place was eerily quiet and empty. It was strange to see a dam built where there is no water to dam. It just sits there, waiting for an attack that has not yet come.
The site of the dam was one of the major battle zones during the Korean War. This monument was found after the fighting stopped, and has remained here as a memorial for the soldiers who fought.
Throughout the weekend, we enjoyed a healthy amount of banter and exchange with each other, mostly due to our various locations of origin. Being Oregonians, were surprised when Katie, who is from Minnesota, divulged that this was her second time to climb a mountain. Meanwhile, she rolled her eyes slightly at our intense excitement over the concept of ice fishing, or simply being able to walk on an iced over river or lake.
You can imagine our immense disappointment when we discovered that the ice fishing festival was closed due to the hoof and mouth disease that is spreading rapidly throughout Korea. I am pretty sure fish don’t have hooves… but I suppose they were just being sure. At any rate, we drove through the town and saw a few ice sculptures, and then headed to Chuncheon for some lunch.
You can imagine our immense disappointment when we discovered that the ice fishing festival was closed due to the hoof and mouth disease that is spreading rapidly throughout Korea. I am pretty sure fish don’t have hooves… but I suppose they were just being sure. At any rate, we drove through the town and saw a few ice sculptures, and then headed to Chuncheon for some lunch.
After some delicious Dakgalbi, we began the final drive home. By this time, the traffic was pretty terrible due to the snow, and cars were stopped at these stations every five minutes to be sprayed down with a mysterious hoof and mouth cleansing substance. We had only 60km left in our drive home, which should have taken around an hour to an hour and a half. Five hours later, arrived home. It was a long trek, but we had a great time anyway. Seoraksan is beautiful, and we were happy to spend a little time out of the city in the weeks before we leave Korea.
