"Backpacking" in Seoraksan National Park

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April 29th 2006

Published: May 11th 2006

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Bekah

Inside the Old Temple

Two ajumas (old Korean women) walking

Over the past weekend, Meredith and I decided to take a spontaneous backpacking tip to Seoraksan National Park, which is said to be Korea’s most prominent geographical region. Over dinner the Tuesday before, we both realized that neither of us had any more exams that week and thought it a great opportunity to take advantage of the long weekend. The weather was finally warming up, and we found ourselves tired and overwhelmed by the consistency of Seoul-life.

I borrowed a backpack and packed some heavy cloths anticipation the cold nights on the “Snow Peak Mountain” range (which is the English translation of Seoraksan), and after Meredith’s class on Thursday, we picked up several days worth of food provisions at the Grand Mart and were on our way. We took the subway to the bus terminal and then the 3-4 hour bus ride to Sokcho. When we arrived in Sokcho it was already dark. We found a hotel for the evening and would take the hour bus ride into the park the following morning.

The hotel was quite cozy, and our arriving to it in particular was an interesting adventure all on its own. Once our two feet met

Bus ride

Meredith enjoying the veiw

the ground at the bus stop in Sokcho, several women crowded around us speaking in Korean. Meredith had taken the intensive Korean Language course last semester, so I watched as she listened and decided what we were going to do. It turned out that we followed one of the women to a hotel where she took us directly to a room. She was not dressed in any kind of uniform and it was odd that she already had the key on her. It was exceptional nice with a western bed, heated floor, and fold out table. We decided to take it for 20,000 won (about $20) in which she assured us was the lowest price in all the area. She also said didn’t want to see us get ripped off.

When she left, she took the 20,000 won. She did not ask us for any information, nor were we informed of a check out time. Upon her leaving, she took some things off the nightstand, a visor off the fridge, and a sweater off of the chair, all of which were in the room when we arrived. When the door closed, Meredith just looked at each other in

Temple Gaurdians

Another one carries a Lute

silent curiosity and bewilderment.

The night was still young, so we went out for a beer and some coffee. We decided to go to this little retro place that we passed on the way to the hotel. Here we saw wild lights and old men drinking; it was the only life that seemed to be present in this dead, tourist town that sat in idle waiting of the hot summer days that brought travelers and life to the city.

The next day when the sun flooded our room through the large tin-framed window, we were greeted by a view of the ocean. We gathered our things, gave the key to a man at the desk downstairs, and walked towards the beach area. The weather was cool and refreshing as we sat on a bench and had lunch. To our left was a large empty dock, to the right was a collection of life size iron Dolphins “jumping” in and out of the sand, and straight ahead, a small island and several buoys. Occasionally small fishing boats would go by which was not surprising considering that Sokcho is known for its fishing industry.

We took

Daimond Buddha

the public bus to the park after lunch. The park itself is extremely touristy with gift shops every 10 meters, hotels and vendors. After walking down through the main area of the park, we were met by a towering, iron, diamond Buddha that stood over 50 feet high. This Buddha was a part of the Sinheung temple, which is the oldest Zen Buddhist temple in the world. It was originally built in 652 A.D. but was burned down several times in forest fires. The final time it was rebuilt was in 1648 where it stands now. It is common to walk into a temple in Seoul and feel like you are in a theme park’s recreation of something sacred with fresh vibrant colors and shimmering gold Buddhas. In this temple the bright colors were still preserved though they stood faded against the lush green of the mountains towering over the temple. The paintings were faded beyond distinction; the wind chime fish on the corners of the buildings rang a little duller; the temple interiors held the dank, musky smell of age and use; and the floorboards creaked with every step. It was the most beautiful temple I have seen in

View from our Room

Hotel View

Korea.

Here we ran into a monk who spoke a little English and told us random facts about the temple. He would disappear as quickly as he arrived at the most random times, without saying a word of greeting or departure. In an odd way, his composure reminded me of Golem from the Lord of the Rings. Once we left the temple he showed up on the trail with us and walked ahead and behind us looking at bushes and squirrels. He asked us questions briefly about our schooling and trip to the park and then would wander on again as in deep thought and curiosity. We told him that we were planning on camping out at one of the sites about 10 miles down the main trail.

At one point he said something like, “if I say something then you can’t take it the wrong way ok?” Use to this plea of understanding from someone who has not quite mastered the English language, we of course agreed and tried to be encouraging. He then asked, to our surprise:
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” It was quite a shock and we didn’t answer right off because

Soeraksan Bear

Standing proud.

we thought we should discuss it privately as we had brought 4 things of Soju and didn’t know were a small monk would fit in on the scene. Later we went off the path down into a riverbed where there was an endless sea of rocks and boulders. I hopped around for a while and the monk would randomly show up next to me and then 30 feet away in the same 10-second span. Sometimes I felt like Laura Croft during training as her butler would follow her around constantly; though it was irritation at times it really craked me up.

His name was Park-Sunim (a very unique Korean name if you know what I mean). He was 23 and had been a monk for 4 years. His home temple was in Busan and he was staying at this temple for a month to study. It was so strange for me to think that he was so close to my age and yet had already found the purpose of his life. I asked him what made him choose to dedicate his life to such a cause, to which he responded, “I wanted to find myself.”
Meredith and I decided

Sokcho Beach

A woman soaking in the eary morning sun.

to go on our separate ways. We told him it was nice to meet him and he seemed a little sad to have to part with us. When we asked if we could get a picture with him, he said it was “forbidden” for monks to take pictures with women. When we tried to get a picture of just him, he said that to was “illegal.” This surprised me because Meo-Kyung sunim (my friend from the temple in Seoul) was the one who insisted that we take a picture together on our meeting. When I told this to our new friend he was shocked. So, I thought later that it might have to do with the lack of age difference. The second thing that struck me as being odd was that he could “sleep” with two females, but pictures were out right “forbidden.”

After we hiked up one of the trails, we ran into someone who informed us that we were not heading in the direction that we though we were. So we backtracked about an hour and found what we thought was the main trail. It was nice because we finally met unpaved roads, well for about 10

Park Sunim

Talking to other visitors before we met him.

minutes that is, until we ran into a gift shop/restaurant/picnic area. We kept on going and found a really relaxing, small water fall where we sat on a large rock at the top to have lunch with our feet dangling in the 2 degree water (C).
We then walked for a few hours and came to a map just in time to realize that we had hiked into a dead end trail. It was by no means a loss because at the end we found a waterfall and about 100 Korean middle school boys on a field trip. On the way back down the trail, the boys were still marching in and we would get an occasional, timid “Hello.” As time went on and we passed the never-ending stream of giggling smiles, we were met also with “Welcome to Korea!” or “Where are you from?” Some brave kid even randomly said, “You’re welcome!”

We smiled and said hello as they passed. Halfway down we went off the path over the bridge and relaxed in the sun on some rocks. It was here where we found mating frogs, about 15 of them in a 6 Gallon area. After a

Mountain and Lanterns

Lanterns from the temple cover park walkways in preparation for Buddha's Birthday.

while the boys had started back down the trail. We waited for them all to pass as they continued with their hello-ing, which now was rising to more of a shout than a greeting. After they all passed (about 30 minutes), we went back down the trail. We met them once again at the little picnic area where they were buying ice cream. In the process, we got stuck in the middle of the pack. As we gradually made our way to the front, the boys tried to get more talkative, but when we would answer (after they asked us the same question 20 times) they became quite for a while. The further away we got, the braver they became. Towards the end, we even got a few, “can I have sex with you?”’s, I don’t think it gets much worse than being deemed a prostitute by that many 12 year old boys.

The rest of the day was relaxing as we hiked to the end of our first trail to find no campsites open and the Buddhist temple closed. On our way back we flirted with the idea of sleeping in the pavilion that overlooked one of

Faded Paintings

the bridges, but that too seemed a little risky. When it got dark we decided to give in and stay the night at the resort hotel—that was the extent of the “roughing it” experience we had hoped to gain. The room was nice with fluffy beds, heated floor, a balcony, astounding view of the mountains and even a BATH TUB. We ate dinner in the room and concluded the night on our balcony with four juice boxes of Soju (an amazing invention) and several bars of chocolate.

The next day we went up the cable car since we had already seen the two open trails (and one of them twice). We looked around the decks and then hiked down to another Buddhist temple. We also found another trail that led to a famous rock. Sitting on the edge of this gigantic, hard surface with no fencing or siding was quit awakening, especially when the large gusts of wind blew in and made us feel quite unstable.

After we took the cable car back down, we bought some souvenirs and went back to the stream where we had spent time with the monk. Here we laid around

Temple Gaurdians

There are four gaurds for the traditional Korean Temples. One carries a dragon, another Carries a pagoda

and collected pebbles. We also followed the stream around several bends, barefoot in the ice-cold water. When I went back to check on our stuff, I found a little, chubby Korean boy of about 9 jumping on the rocks near by. As I saw him with his feet spread and planted on a rock 2 1/2 feet from his hands with the stream running beneath him, I reached down and helped him over to my side, and he continued frolicking in the sun. His mother thanked me and then talked with Meredith and I for a while. She even invited us to stay the night at her house in Sokcho, but we told her we had to get back to Seoul that evening. She was quite young and was there with her other son and mother. The Grandmother found a cluster of fish eggs that were floating near by which may have been the highlight of the visit for the older son, as he found no fear in poking them and swishing his fingers amidst their jelly, delicate state.

After they left we decided that we should head back. The ride back was even more relaxing and peaceful

Temple Gaurdians

Another Gaurdian carries a Sword

than the one in. We even arrived home earlier than expected with no delays. Over all, the trip was exactly the break we needed to conclude my exam cram and give Meredith the peace of mind to help her prepare for the one she had coming up on Monday.

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