We continue our trip through South Korea. A change of scenery for one night.
August 14th
Remember that we left Seoul at 15.40 by bus. At around 18.30 we arrived at the Express Station in the city of Sokcho, on the north-east coast of South Korea.
Sokcho is a major Korean beach destination, with beautiful beaches of fine blonde sand. So we were going to meet a lot of tourists, but almost all of them Korean. The reason for our visit was not the beach, but a trip to Mount Seoraksan.
The first thing we did was to go to the hotel to leave our things and get some rest. We chose the Pampas Resort, just 100 metres from the station. A 3-star hotel with the classic beach destination cut.
It is by far the most expensive hotel we booked, 114€ a night. But it was difficult to find decent accommodation.
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We arrived at reception and the guy told us that they had a special offer and gave us a superior room. That was not a room, it was a huge flat.
It consisted of a large living room, a huge bedroom, a kitchen and two bathrooms. The furniture was simple and the kitchen looked a bit old, but apart from that, it was great.
After a short rest we went in search of something to eat. As we didn’t feel like walking around much, we decided to have dinner at Lotteria.
This is a Japanese burger chain that we had already tried there in 2016. Not bad, although the burgers are a bit small. Two medium menus and some chicken pops cost us 20.700₩ (14.50€).
As it was quite late for Korean dinner time, it was just us and two western girls. It turned out that the girls were Spanish. They told us where we could take the bus to Seoraksan as they had been there that morning.
After dinner, we went for a short walk along the beach. At the entrance there was a Ferris wheel and a lot of people around enjoying the nice evening.
We were surprised to find that the shore of the beach was cordoned off, preventing access to the water. We assumed it was because of the big swell and the typhoon that had just passed through South Korea the day before. The next day we would find out why the beach was closed.
Now it was time to go and rest.
August 15th
We are up early again. We have to make the most of the day. We have some breakfast at the hotel and head for the bus stop. But first we went to the station to buy our tickets back to Seoul.
The lady at the ticket office seemed to be very angry and didn’t speak English. We were having a hard time understanding each other until the girl next to us noticed and helped us. Eternally grateful.
We got tickets by the skin of our teeth, at 16.10, the rest were full and there were only tickets at night. Change of fortnight and end of holidays for the Koreans.
We took line 7 to Seoraksan National Park for 1.250₩ (0.88€). In about 40 minutes we arrived at the stop at the entrance to Seoraksan Park.
Seoraksan National Park is one of the most important attractions for Coeean nature lovers. It covers more than 163 km² and was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1982.
For the time being, the rain is holding off, so we walk through the entrance to the park. Here we find some monuments, the information office and a few restaurants.
We go straight to the Seoraksan Sinheungsa temple. It is believed to have been built in 653 by the monk Jajang under the name Hyangseongsa. It was totally destroyed in 699 and rebuilt in 710.
It burned to the ground in 1645 and was rebuilt on its present site in 1648. It is believed to be the oldest Zen Buddhist temple in the world.
The first thing we come across is the Iljumun Gate, the main gate of the complex. We pass through it to rid ourselves of worldly worries, sort out the mind and head towards the world of truth and enlightenment.
Past the gate we come across the Great Buddha of Unification. It was built between 1987 and 1997 in bronze and is 14 metres high and weighs 108 tons. It was created to pray for the unification of the families of South and North Korea.
Below the Great Unification Buddha is the Naewon Buddhist Temple. In the centre are the Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the left Yeoui-ryun and the right Bodhisattva Junje Avalokitesvara. In addition, three Buddha relics donated by the Myanmar government in 1992, the Dharani Sutra and cloisonné relics are enshrined.
Across one of the bridges is Sacheonwangmun Gate, built in 1881. The present gate was rebuilt in 1972 after the original gate was destroyed in a fire. This gate provides access to the main temple complex.
After visiting the temple we set off for the Biseondae rock. The route is about 3 km long and is linear, i.e. 6 km round trip. It takes about 1 hour each way.
The route is fairly easy and along the way there are information panels about the park, fauna and flora.
As we climbed higher and higher, the fog became thicker and thicker until, when we reached the rock, we could see nothing.
The name ‘Biseondae’ comes from a legend that tells of a fairy who flew up into the sky while admiring the beauty of the landscape. The scenery is breathtaking.
On the way down, we passed the Seoraksan cable car, but the screens showed us that the fog was very thick and there was no visibility at all. We decided not to spend the money to see nothing. The price is 15.000₩ (10.50€).
We decided to go straight to the Biryong waterfall, which was another 3 km each way. After a while, it started to rain lightly. Although it was gradually getting heavier.
Between the rain and the very hard path, once we reached the previous waterfall, Yukdam, we decided to turn back. The beautiful thing is the path, as the waterfalls were not impressive either, especially after having visited Iceland.
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Soaked with rain and sweat from the humid heat and exertion, we sat down to wait for the bus to the city. Once there, we went to eat at a place next to the station. It’s called 아바이명가 (abaimyeong-ga) and they serve local cuisine.
It was a lottery. We pointed to a photo, and prayed to luck. Mine was a kind of soup of some kind of pork-flavoured gristle and a kind of rice blood sausage, garnished with salted shrimps. It wasn’t bad…
Sara’s was cold noodles with an unrecognisable flavoured broth. So cold that the broth had ice in it. Hers was better.
The meal cost us a total of 22,300₩ (15.70€).
After lunch, we took a stroll along the beach. It was quite lively. When we got to the sand, we learned the reason why the shore is acrodoned… the presence of the BIG WHITE SHARK! As if to get close to it.
After the walk, we pick up our luggage at the hotel. We change into our damp clothes and head for the station.
The bus leaves on time. About 15 km into the journey, we start to see a lot of traffic. So much that we come to a standstill. The traffic jam at the entrance to Seoul… 150 KM FROM THE CITY!
From a 2.20h trip it took us 4.30. We were supposed to arrive at 18.30 and we got there at 20.36. Thank goodness we had all kinds of junk to eat.
The bad thing doesn’t end there. We grab our bags and get on the metro. As soon as we get on, Sara notices that her mobile phone is missing. How marvellous. More than half of the journey incommunicado.
We arrived at the hotel, which was the same Ibis as the previous nights. They knew us so well that they didn’t even ask for our passports.
The receptionist gave us a voucher for drinks while they checked that the room was in order. It was. By the way, we told her about the telephone and, very kindly, she called the station. It wasn’t there, but they agreed to try again in the morning.
With all the stress, we decided to go down to the hot bath they had in the basement to relax. We had some dinner from the combini and went to sleep.
August 16th
In order not to lose our habits, we got up early. Last morning in Seoul (so far) before moving to Busan.
We had breakfast and went down to reception to ask for the phone. He hasn’t turned up. We check out, drop our bags and leave.
First stop: Chongmyo Shrine, very close to the hotel. We arrive and… closed. We don’t know the reason. But little by little locals were arriving who were also surprised to see it closed.
With the disappointment we went to Mount Namsan. We got off the underground at Myeongdong station and took some pictures at the Seoul sign.
To climb Mount Namsan we went in search of the cable car. We started by following the signs and got lost, but after a huge detour through some pretty amazing terrain, we got there. We arrived.
Tip: The best way to get to the cable car is to take Sogong-ro Avenue and then take the free lift to the cable car. You’ll avoid the steep slopes.
The cable car costs 11,000₩ one way (7.70€) and 14,000₩ return (9.80€). Logically, we bought the return ticket.
At the top of the mountain there are several remarkable features. Starting with the incredible views of Seoul. But for views, the N Seoul Tower.
This is a 236-metre high telecommunications tower built in 1969. It was opened to the public in 1980 and has wonderful 360º views of Seoul.
The price for the 5th floor observatory is 21,000₩ (€14.70).
There is also the Namsan Beacon Mound, a Joseon-era guard post. From time to time, a military re-enactment of the era is staged there.
There is also the Namsan Pavilion. It was built in 1959 to commemorate the former Korean president Rhee Syngman. It was originally called Unamjeong Pavilion.
It was destroyed during the April Revolution of 1960 against President Syngman, which led to his resignation. It was rebuilt in 1968.
It is especially famous during the New Year when crowds of Koreans go up to watch the first sunrise of the year.
There are also a million of those padlocks that are so fashionable, destroying the heritage of the world’s cities. Although here they are actually sold on purpose to do so. I still think it’s a stupid thing to do.
We continue admiring the views for a while longer. We are not in a hurry.
While we were there we discovered that there were those ball machines with the Korean horoscope. There we ventured. We got a piece of paper with a lot of text on it. Text that we couldn’t understand even with the translator. 1.000₩ per head thrown away.
We took the cable car back up. When we came out of the building, we noticed that there was a lift that took you down to the lower part of the city, where the metro station is.
We head for the bus station to see if we can find a lost property office. As we couldn’t find one, we asked at the information desk. As the lady at the counter barely spoke a few words of English, we managed to understand each other with the translator on the phone.
She told us that there was no lost property but gave us the telephone number of the bus company. As we didn’t want to spend a lot of money and we didn’t know if they would speak English, we decided to wait until we got to the hotel to pick up our luggage. As they were looking down their noses at us for all the complaints, we asked them to call them so that we could understand them in Korean.
The Express Bus Terminal is also a big shopping centre. Here we decided to have something to eat before we went to pick up our stuff. We did so at a burger joint called No Brand Burger. They were not bad and not too expensive.
The meal cost us 22,700₩ (16€).
I also took the opportunity to buy a memory card for the camera as I had just run out of 32gb and the other one is 16gb. A 32gb card in a chain called Artbox cost us 15,900₩ (11.15€).
Now we go to the hotel. There we give a guy called Paul the phone number of the bus company to see if he will do us the favour of calling. The guy calls but is told that he has not turned up. He takes our email and says he will try again.
We sit down to rest for a bit while we drink the drinks we were given. We pack up our things and leave the hotel. Just then Paul comes out and says that the bus company has called to say that he has turned up and that we can pick him up the next day. They keep it for us until we get back from Busan.
He was going to show up in Spain…
We happily set off for the train station. There we take the 17.22 train to Busan… let’s hope there are no zombies (note for geeks).
The ticket price is 59.800₩ (€42) per person. I left on time and we arrived at Busan station at 20.11. We took the metro and went straight to the hotel.
We chose another hotel of the Ibis chain. It is the Ibis Ambassador Busan City Centre. Similar to the rest of Ibis. The room was flawless… in principle. The price was 60€ per night.
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The hotel’s reception was on the top floor, on the 14th floor.
As we were quite tired, we decided to buy some dinner (and breakfast) in a combini next to the entrance of the hotel and went to bed.
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