Clearly, Greg and I have been playing catch-up on these blog posts so as promised, here is one on our recent trip to Seoraksan. Greg’s birthday was a few weekends ago and it happily coincided with another national holiday ( something like Memorial day, I think). We had been to Seoul and a few few places around Gyeonggi-do, but we decided to take our last few dollars and the opportunity of a long weekend and to venture a little further in to South Korea.

We got a rather late start on Friday morning (Oct 3rd), but we were expecting to reach our hotel before dark. Unfortunately, whether it was because of the holiday or because South Korea is just a perpetual traffic jam  it took about five hours to go roughly 170 miles. For those without a calculator handy, that would be an average of 34 miles an hour.  So yeah, it took a long time to get there, but the ride did not disappoint. The route from the eastern part of Gyeonggi-do through Gangwon-do took us through mountains and rural villages where rice paddies and red pepper vines seemed to spread out forever across the valleys– broken up only occasionally by an outcropping of squat houses  or military outpost. Every once in a while we would pass a  vegetable stand alongside the road where cats prowled for mice and an elderly man or woman waited patiently for who-knows-what. It was amazing to catch a glimpse of this part of South Korea set apart from the density and modernity of where we live.

Seoraksan Nature Reserve is the largest national park in South Korea and is situated near its northernmost city, Sokcho. While the city was like any other seaside town (aside from the barbed wire and and cement blockades lining the beaches), the park was what drew the crowds. But first we had to find a place to sleep for the night.

Although we had low expectations for the hotel we had booked online, you could say we were still less than satisfied with our accommodations. The location was walkably close to the park entrance, and we the price was reasonable, but that’s where the good things end. It was only after accepting our cash that they informed us they didn’t have any rooms with beds; we would be sleeping Korean-style on the floor with a couple blankets. “Okay, when in Rome,” we said. Although it was still quite warm outside, the air conditioning had been disabled, and the heated floor (upon which we slept) had been activated. “Alright, we can deal with this.” For a moment, we caught a brief flash of wireless internet connectivity, and in that moment of celebration we noticed a huge wasp buzzing around our fluorescent light. Without exaggerating, I can say this thing was inch-and-a-half big, and ten-foot-radius terrifying.  At the front desk, they gave Greg a can Raid and wished him good luck. He used up half the can fumigating the room while I cowered in the hallway.

Needless to say, we canceled our second night.

Despite our back-wrenching night on the floor, we got up early the next morning and were met with a mob of North-Face-clad, walking-stick-weilding adventure seekers, equipped with packs and a full array of top-quality hiking gear. We were beginning to think either we were vastly underprepared, or they were desperately trying to look the part. It turned out the latter was closer to the truth as we saw the long line to take a gondola up the side of the mountain.

We could immediately see why this was such a popular destination: Seoraksan and the nature reserve surrounding it are truly spectacular. I won’t go into detail because I am sure the pictures will do a much better job at conveying the beauty and atmosphere of the mountains, but I will  say that we feel like the trip was well worth all the trouble of the crowds, traffic jams and even our harrowing hotel experience.