To beat the hot weather this time of year in Korea, a great place to go is to Soraksan National Park which is quite possibly the most scenic national park in all of South Korea. I hiked to the top of the mountain a few years back and had a memorable time not because of the awesome scenery but also because of the people I met along the way:
Anyway I did meet a really nice ajushi who was about 60 years old. He offered me some tomatoes and we talked for a little while. He gave me the usual interogation and then told me that he was from Pocheon which is a city here in the 2ID area I know well, he was also retired from a semiconductor company, and was taking his grandson who was the over weight teenager with him on a hike of Soraksan. This was the first time he had met a GI before even though he lives in the 2ID area. He always just saw us driving by in our tanks and trucks all the time. He then asked me if I liked Bush or Clinton better.
You can read the rest here as well as view the pictures I took of the extremely scenic part of Korea.
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1:28 pm on September 2nd, 2008 1
As someone who would rather spend time way out in the mountains, than around cities/towns, your post was greatly appreciated.
Soraksan National Park is now on my family’s schedule.
One thing I noticed that is endemic of almost every park that you visit in Asia is “Trash.” Japan is probably the closest to the exception and Singapore really cannot be classified as wilderness,since it is surrounded by city.
It is as if we, the visitor are the only ones who obey the rules/laws and keep it green. A special note to all smokers…what is most commonly seen anywhere I have visited is cigarette butts…nasty as Hell. Field strip it and take it home with you.
8:10 pm on September 2nd, 2008 2
I am glad I persuaded you to visit the park. Keep in mind that if you just hang out around the park’s entrance you may sour on the park because that is where everyone is at. You have to hike into the mountains to really appreciate the park.
If you stay at Osaek it will not be as busy as staying at one of the hotels near the park’s entrance and you still have a number of great hiking trails to check out. Also the park is really quite clean from my experiences there compared to other parks in Korea.
You will have a great time there if the weather cooperates of course.
3:27 am on September 4th, 2008 3
Geez, has it been twenty years since I first visited Sorak-san? But like GI says, you get kind of turned off with the tourist gaggle… But we have family up in Tonghae and I really love that area.
Get a cheap tourist map and you’ll see there are a lot of other areas other than Sorak-san to visit. There are hiking and scenic spots galore — and what I like about the area, is that it is also a first-class tourist trap. You can get the best of outdoors — and the best of the tourist hotel/restaurants/tourist spots to kill the time. Of course, split the time between the hills and the beach.
BUT DON’T GO ON THE HOLIDAYS OR SUMMER VACATION!!!