Guidebrooks: Seoraksan National Park

Robyn and I went on a trip to Seoraksan National Park with Korean Safari at the beginning of the month. We had to meet the bus at 6am on Saturday morning, so we booked into the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon on Friday night to save the hassle of trying to get a taxi from Bucheon that early. I don't go to Itaewon much as its a bit sleazy, full of Nigerians and American GIs. The US soldiers may be speaking the same language as me, but I honestly cannot understand a word they say! Anyway, it gave us the chance to have some proper (ie westernised) Chinese grub and it tasted soooo good!

We met the bus at 6am along with our fellow travellers - Ted (who runs the company), Kate (South African, so Robyn was happy!), Joy from the Phillipines, Ken from Nebraska, Bo Mi from Seoul, Josef from Spain. We got to Seoraksan about 10am and set off on our hike.The first thing you notice in the park is the giant Buddha standing against the hillside. Its obviously an important place for Buddhists as we passed two temples on the way up the mountain.

The second thing you notice is the autumn colours everywhere. It seemed like every tree was a different shade of red, green or brown - it was very beautiful.

The hike was definitely much tougher than we all had envisaged. Robyn and Kate were the first to drop out, but the rest of us kept going. Apparently, there are spectacular views along the way, but unfortunately, a heavy fog had rolled in, so we could hardly see a thing! The going was quite good until we actually reached the rock at the top of the mountain. People who were coming down the mountain kept telling us that there were clear views from the very top which motivated us to keep going. The summit can only be reached by climbing about 900 very steep iron steps. Bo Mi and I took a 10 minute breather while the others kept going, started climbing the steps, only to be told by a man coming down the steps that the fog had reached the summit now. It had also started raining, so we decided this was enough reason to head downhill! That was a good idea as the rain made the steps slick. I slid on one of the steep steps and could have hurt myself (only to be grabbed by the man who had just told us about the fog!)

After everyone made it back to the bus (Robyn and Kate had spent their time drinking coffee and eating pizza!) we went for food and to a jimjilbang, which is a Korean sauna. This one was a bit more than just a sauna as it had a swimming pool, slides, hot tubs, outdoor pool etc. I sat in the massage tubs for ages getting my calves and feet pounded. Of course, I couldn't resist the slides either! We then went back to the hotel and drank beer, perfect end to a perfect day! The next day, we took a stroll down to the wet and windy beach (I'm sure its glorious in summer) and then headed back to Seoul.