Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Glorf]

I've been intending to go there for months, but couldn't plan anything because my boss hadn't decided the dates for our vacation. I just found out that I have just over a month left ( gotta love Korea ). I know that I can still swing the trip, but since I'm assuming I'll need to take a tour, I'm wondering if anybody has been there or might be able to steer me in the right direction of some reliable tours or agencies that frequently run trips up that way.

[buster brown]

With the Lonely Planet China guidebook, you can direct yourself to Baek Du San (the Chinese name is Chang Bai Shan -- Ever-White Mountain) from Beijing. Take one of Korean Air's cheap flights to Beijing. Buy a ticket on the night train to Tonghua and then the next day on to Baihe. I think you arrive in the afternoon or evening. I stayed in a simple hotel near the train station, but there are also hotels at the mountain that are probably more convenient. The next morning I hiked up to the top of the mountain and took a boat load of pics. After lunch I hiked along the remaining few hiking trails. One day was enough to see the mountain and the lake at the top. If you have a telephoto lens, take it to the top and shoot surveilance photos of the NK side. There was a hut over there, but I couldn't really tell what was going on around it.

The trip is do-able without going on a guided tour. However, once you leave Beijing you might not meet another English-speaker. If your Korean is passable, you should be able to communicate when you get up to Baihe. I was there in 2003, way before I came to Korea, but many of the businesses had Hangul signs out front. The one real disappointment of my trip was that there were only 2 hiking paths to the top, and a couple of lesser trails further down the mountain.

Hopefully someone who's been there more recently will post to give you more updated info. Otherwise, PM me and I'll tell you what I know.