Seoraksan National Park - Part III

Day2: Cable car and Ulsan Bawi rock

The next day, we took our time and had coffee and cup noodles in the hotel room before setting out. 

It was about 9:30 when we reached the park entrance. The park was quite busy now as several tour groups arrived. There were several groups of Indonesians as well as some from China.

The cable car was in operation and we decided to do the cable car first in case it shutdown again in the afternoon. There was a crowd and a long queue. It took a while before we got into the cable car. It was a short ride up (about 5-10 min). BTW, this is not like the Maokong cable car in Taipei where you get your own cabin. This is a relatively big one and you get lots of people squeezed inside. It was kind of stuffy in there and many people were trying to squeeze in and occupy the space next to the windows for photos and selfies...

The cable car at Seoraksan

There are viewing decks and a cafe at the cable car station.

Hotel Sorak Park seen from the cable car station

The Sinheungsa Big Buddha from the cable car station

You can see Sokcho city and the sea from the cable car station. It's not that far away.

But if you take the cable car, you should really take the trek to Gwongeumseong Fortress, which was basically where everybody was heading. It’s just a short flight of stairs away. From the name, I was expecting some sort of structure or ruins, but there were nothing like that. It was just a bare stone peak at the end of the trail. However, it’s a pretty peak and makes for good photo moments. Everybody was trying to take photos for his instagram or facebook…

I got really irritated by one group of tourists who were trying to shoo everyone away so that they can take photos with only themselves in the picture.

And there were many crazy people who were climbing real close to the edge to take photos… It was scary enough just looking at them…

There were no railings. And it’s really a sharp drop beyond the edge. I wonder if there had been any accidents…

My stomach was feeling queasy as I watched this woman get real close to the edge.

Another couple perching close to the edge for photos...

Anyway, I wasn’t going to take any foolish risk. I stayed far enough from the edge. The place was really big enough for nice pictures without taking unnecessary risks.

You really don't have to stand close to the edge for a nice photo...

Back at the cable car station, there was some chanting sound coming from below and a sign that pointed to a temple. We went down to check out the temple. The chanting actually comes from a recording. It’s a real small temple and nothing special about it. You can really skip it. However, the way down went through a pine forest and there was a nice pine scent was in the air.

A small temple just below the cable car station.

After we took the cable car down, we just drop into one of the several restaurants for lunch. I tried to ask for vegetarian options. Besides bibimbap, I was told the acorn jelly with rice is also vegetarian. I was game for something new and beside it is a hot day and the acorn jelly can be served cold. The acorn jelly came in a big bowl of a clear soup with ice and some seaweed and sliced kimchi. The jelly itself was bland. The soup taste like a soyu (soy sauce) base soup. I have a suspicious that bonito used to flavour it -- but if they did, it wasn’t obvious enough to me. But I didn’t really enjoy it. It was like eating bland agar agar with rice…

We started the trek towards Ulsanbawi Rock after lunch, about 1:30pm. The first part of the trek was easy, just like a walk in the park. There was a very well maintained trail and the climb was gentle. There were 2 small temples along the way.

A Buddha statue seen along the way up to Ulsanbawi rock (it's slightly off the trail, you won't see it if you don't turn into the temple).

I was starting to wonder if we will reach the top of the rock since we do not seem to be any closer...

Finally we reach the Heundeulbawi rock, which is a rock in front of a small hermitage nestled in a stone grotto. There is a fountain in front of the grotto. You can refill your water bottle here if you are out of water. I believe it is ground or spring water. We drank from the fountain and did not experience any problem.

The hermitage just below Ulsanbawi rock. There is a grotto that functions as a temple hall here.

The Buddha statue is quite similar in style to that in Seokguram Grotto.

I found the Buddha statue inside the grotto quite similar in style to the famous one in Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju.

The Heundeulbawi rock. It looked like it may fall off if you push hard enough...

The trek got tough after Heundeulbawi as the ascend got steep. Soon it was just stairs going up and up, until you reach the base of the bare rocks. Then it was just a series of stairs on the vertical rock surface. But it really close once you reach here. It's just tough going up the stairs so take it slow. My friend almost gave up half way. In the end he managed to reach to top.

Stairs, stairs, and more stairs to the top...

In the map, the estimated time to get to the peak is 2 hours from the Information Center. We took about 3 hours. It was about 4pm when we reached the peak. The good thing about coming late during low season is that we practically have the peak to ourselves!

The view and experience from the peak of Ulsanbawi rock is really fantastic. You are really at the knife edge of the ridge and the rocks fall off steeply from both sides. On one side you see the National Park mountains. On the other side, you can see the express way going towards Sokcho as well as the various resorts found along the express way.

The peak of Ulsanbawi Rock

Selfie moment

Got someone to take a photo for us just below the peak

There were squirrels at the peak. This one is eating an almond nut we fed it!

In my opinion, if you come to Seoraksan, you really need to go up Ulsanbawi rock. Otherwise, it is like going to Beijing without going to the Great Wall of China!

It is probably doable as a day trip from Seoul if you set out early and be prepared to get back to Seoul late at night. It's just 4-5 hours round trip from the park entrance.

The descend was easy and fast and we got to the park entrance around 6pm. From there we took the bus to Sokcho Express Bus Terminal and ate in one of the restaurants.

After that we went down to Sokcho beach for a while. It's just down the road from the Express Bus Terminal. It was dark and we couldn't see much. It looked like a place where the local couples like to hang out.

We caught the bus from opposite Express Bus Terminal at about 9:10pm. It was probably one of the last few buses.