Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tobias]

Going to Seoraksan either this weekend or early next week, and need advice.

Starting point: Gimcheon
Plan: Take the train from Gimcheon to Donghae or Gangneung (at least the KORAIL guidebook claims it has a line to Gangnueng). Take a bus from rail terminus to Sokcho.

Where should I go from the bus station? And how should I get there? I'd like to do some serious hiking in Seoraksan for a day or two. Any advice?

Also, after Seoraksan, I plan to head to Odaesan and hike around there for a day or two. Advice?

Thanks for any and all info.

[Bibbitybop]

Call the Seoul foreigner help line for pretty decent help with this one.

[Harpeau]

[Tobias]

Aight. Thanks a bunch for the help.

[5600]

PM me and I'll give you all the dirt you need on Sorak or any other mountain for that matter. When you going anyways? I'm going to Jirisan Monday I think, you can go with me if youve never been there. Be advised Soraksan will be crowded starting this weekend. Minibanks, motels, buses, packed because of the summer break. Thats why I'm headed to
Jiri. A little less of the headache.

[Tobias]

Hmmm. That's tempting, making a trip to Jiri Mountain next week. After all, I'm on vacation right now. Going there this week coming up would be a good move. However, Jiri is close to me. I can do that trip some weekend during the upcoming semester if I don't get it in. I could also do it during Chusak. It's no big deal if I don't get there next week.

Unfortunately, Seoraksan is much farther away. I want to do Seoraksan and Odaesan, plus make a run to Dokdo Island, while on break. The northeast is the only area I've not been to yet, and I want to get that trip in before I go back to work in 10 days. I don't know how much longer I'll be in Korea, so the northeast trip is 'now or never'. I'd better get it in while the getting is good. I'll take a tent with me and camp out if it's so busy I can't find a reasonable motel room rate.

If I get back to my home digs from this northeast trip by next Wednesday night, I'll head to Hamyang and Jiri Mountain next Thursday.

[schwa]

There will be lots of (mostly) Korean tourists in the Sokcho area next week which means you might encounter slowdowns on some highways & rooms are at peak price.

But you'll find decent rooms quite easily & its actually a nice time to visit Seoraksan. The tourists are mostly focused on the beaches this time of year.

[Tobias]

I wanna thank all you guys who offered advice. It's good to see some sort of unity like this on a site that's known for it's obnoxiousness and plain nastiness at times.

[smitchlovesfunk]

i went to seorksan a few weekends ago - it rained all weekend!! but was still fun.

we arrived at the bus terminal in sokcho on saturday lunch time then got a bus to the park entrance (tourist info at bus station will tell you where to get the bus).
in sokcho there are two bus terminals, not sure the name of the one we went to but to get a bus to seoraksan park entrance we came out of the terminal and walked two blocks towards the sea, then turned right. it was along this road we caught the bus to the park entrance, either bus no. 7-1 or no. 7000 i think.

we started hiking up the mountain at about 2pm. its 12 km to the sumit i think and we got to a shelter that was 2.5km from the top at about 6pm. we stayed there for the night, was 5000 to stay there for the night. there was room for about 30 people in the shelter, but there were only about 15 the night we stayed there - i guess it would be alot busier if the weather was better. in the morning we continued to the top, took about 2 hours, it gets alot steeper the rest of the way! then we went down the other side and got a taxi back to sokcho, there is a bus that goes there if you want to walk another km to the stop, but there were 5 of us so a taxi was only 6000 each. was about a 25 min trip back to sokcho.

hope this is of some help to you. maybe at the park entrance you could enquire about the shelters and if they will be full up or not, or just get there early and do the whole thing in one day.

[Tobias]

Did the Seoraksan trip. Seorak is a beautiful park; the most beautiful of those I've seen so far in Korea. You're right about the bus--there are two bus numbers one takes: 7 and 7-1. These run 1000 won from downtown Sokcho all the way to the park entrance. The entrance fee was 1600 won. Water at the shelters is 1500 for a small bottle.

I hiked the "leftmost trail" (there are three choices just beyond the big sitting Buddha) to the summit and went back down in one day, so I was obliterated. I think I walked probably 16-18 miles total the day I went up.
Most of the way the trail parallels a large rushing stream. So many water holes, yet swimming and snorkeling are prohibited.

This park even has a cool TRAM, which runs 8,000 won for an adult to the top of a peak near the entrance. I didn't take it, as I was too bushed. I barely made it back to the bus stop without crawling. I went back to my hotel, which ran 20K, soaked in a hot tub, slept for 12 hours, and went to GeoJin and the DMZ the next day. One rides bus 1 on this trip from Sokcho to the small village that's in sight of the checkpoint.

It was a great trip up to the northeast. I know I'll never forget that place.

[alice123]

I am thinking about going to Soraksan this weekend. I live in Bucheon and plan on taking the bus from the Gangnam Express Bus Terminal which will take four hours. Or is there a better or faster way? Is there a way to book a motel something about 30,000 won range ahead of time. Any websites or phone numbers to call for a list of motels? Is it near Naksan Beach? I would like to see the beach, mountain and the Naksana Buddhist Temple in a period of 2 days.

[Tobias]

Do you plan to do some heavy hiking or just take it easy? Two days is not enough time to do a serious hike in Seoraksan. Well, it would be, but it may not be enough time to see the temple to boot. I hoofed the left trail at the three-trail fork, and that took me about 6 hours to go from the Buddha to the peak and back to the Buddha.

What kind of hotel would you want to stay in while in Sokcho? Hotels are plentiful, but the prices are variable. I got a room in the little brick hotel behind the bus station for twenty thousand won. It had a tub, but no sink. I'm used to these types of rooms, though. I lived in Thailand for 2 1/2 years, so I was right at home. You may prefer something a bit more fancy. Even then, I don't think you need to worry about reservations. You will have to worry about mulla, but only a little.

[alice123]

Thanks so much for your reply. I plan on taking the TRAM from reading your post. Does it stop at all the important parts of the mountain or just go straight up to the top of the mountain? I plan on taking that all the way to the top, and maybe walking my way down. How long would that take?

I plan on getting on the bus at Dong Seoul Station around 8am at the latest. So, hopefully I can finish viewing the mountain by dinner time, swim at the beach the next day, and head back Monday evening. My bf is from way north by Camp Casey, so would it be better for him to take another bus on his way back, rather than going back to Dong Seoul Station with me? Anyways, thanks again for replying. Oh, but what is a mulla? Is it important?

[blackjack]

mulla = money