I took the bus yesterday from Seoul to Sokcho, which is still in the north part of the country but on the opposite coast. Sokcho was part of North Korea until the border changed at the end of the Korean war, and supposedly one of the attractions to the city is its proximity to the DMZ and on the bus ride over and in town there are definitely a lot of young military men. The biggest reason for tourists to come to the city, however, is as a base to visit Seoraksan National Park which is famous for its mountains and rock formations. I'm staying in a little hostel basically in the woods between the park and city, but the bus back and forth goes by every half hour or so, and costs $1, so it's pretty convenient to get to either location. Since Sokcho is a fairly small place and a bit out of the way, barely anybody speaks any english here. Communicating with the hostel staff and at restaurants has presented some issues, but in the end you just do the best you can and make do.
Today was to be my one full day in the area, and I planned to hike in the park for much of the day then go check out town in the afternoon. Unfortunately it was overcast and often raining, but I took the bus to the park anyway and hit the trails. The rain was more of a drizzle, and while the mist and clouds looked nice from below, once I started climbing there was almost no visibility.
My main objective was to climb a rock known as Ulsanbawi. It's not the biggest thing around, but it's a solid hike and one of the most beautiful views around. Here is what it looks like from the top on a clear day (not my picture):
...and here's what it looked like for me:
Ah well, you can't win them all. It did clear up later in the afternoon, but by then it would have gotten dark before I could get back again. If it's looking clear in the morning I might try again before taking my bus back to Seoul (the round trip hiking to the top and back is only about 3 hours for me). After finishing my hiking I went into town to explore. It has a big harbor, a beach and a busy fish market, but in general there isn't anything terribly exceptional about it.
Tomrrow it's back to Seoul for my last day in South Korea, and then on to Hong Kong.
Today was to be my one full day in the area, and I planned to hike in the park for much of the day then go check out town in the afternoon. Unfortunately it was overcast and often raining, but I took the bus to the park anyway and hit the trails. The rain was more of a drizzle, and while the mist and clouds looked nice from below, once I started climbing there was almost no visibility.
My main objective was to climb a rock known as Ulsanbawi. It's not the biggest thing around, but it's a solid hike and one of the most beautiful views around. Here is what it looks like from the top on a clear day (not my picture):
...and here's what it looked like for me:
Ah well, you can't win them all. It did clear up later in the afternoon, but by then it would have gotten dark before I could get back again. If it's looking clear in the morning I might try again before taking my bus back to Seoul (the round trip hiking to the top and back is only about 3 hours for me). After finishing my hiking I went into town to explore. It has a big harbor, a beach and a busy fish market, but in general there isn't anything terribly exceptional about it.
Tomrrow it's back to Seoul for my last day in South Korea, and then on to Hong Kong.
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