Yesterday, marking my four week anniversary in Korea, I ventured outside
of Seoul to Seoraksan. And wow. In
Korean, “san” means mountain and “ak” denotes a particularly rugged
mountain. The mountains of
Seoraksan National Park were completely gorgeous. My experience of Korea had thus far consisted of steel beams and concrete, so it was nice to get out of the city!
The expat community in Seoul is pretty amazing. There are many foreigners from all over the world. English teachers are quite common (after all, there are 43,000 of us in Korea) but there was a number of graduate students studying at
Korean universities as well. I’ve been to
a couple of online organized events, including a vegan potluck, and it really
seems as if only really cool people attend these meet-up events. Shout out to Bethany
for encouraging me to give them a shot so soon.
I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to join a hiking group for a trip to Seoraksan National Park, especially having heard it is on of the most picturesque places in Korea. Hiking is also a huge leisure activity with Koreans so I also felt it should be part of my assimilation process. Seoraksan is a few hours drive east of Seoul so the group conveniently arranged for a charter bus. On top of that, it took me nearly an hour by subway to reach the meeting place more toward the Gangnam side of town. At 6:15am you would be surprised by how many Koreans are already on their way to different mountains all around Seoul!
I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to join a hiking group for a trip to Seoraksan National Park, especially having heard it is on of the most picturesque places in Korea. Hiking is also a huge leisure activity with Koreans so I also felt it should be part of my assimilation process. Seoraksan is a few hours drive east of Seoul so the group conveniently arranged for a charter bus. On top of that, it took me nearly an hour by subway to reach the meeting place more toward the Gangnam side of town. At 6:15am you would be surprised by how many Koreans are already on their way to different mountains all around Seoul!
It felt like a perfect fall day, though the leaves were still
green. We completed the Heullimgol
and Jujeongol Valley courses, an “easy” course by Korean standards, though I
found the intensity perfectly suitable. (In America, I think “easy” could mean
an entirely downhill mountain, if that were even possible…) We hiked all day at
a leisurely pace, stopping every so often to fill up on trail snacks. The experienced Korean hikers even
brought a full-on Korean lunch, chopsticks, rice, makgeolli and all. Some parts of the trek were steep enough to require us to hold onto ropes that had been tied in at certain ascents and descents.
At some points there were quite a few stairs that had been built since I believe this is
supposed to be one of the most scenic and popular courses in the park. I didn’t see much in the way of
wildlife, apart from a few chipmunks with squirrel tails. As I hiked through one picture-perfect scene after another, I swapped stories with people from Colombia, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the UK, New Zealand, the US, and of course, Korea. The middle-aged Korean men on the trip were completely adorable and so much fun to chat with.
It was an exhausting day, but well worth it. Seoraksan offers many more trails, so who knows where the next 11 months will take me.
It was an exhausting day, but well worth it. Seoraksan offers many more trails, so who knows where the next 11 months will take me.
One of many incredible views
Accomplished
The camera can only show so much
Through the valleys
Post-hike foot spa
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