Travel from Seoul to Sokcho and Seoraksan

10 November 2014

 
The best way to get Seoraksan from Seoul is by bus. There are express buses running from Gangnam Express Bus Terminal (in Seoul) to Sokcho City roughly every 30 minutes. The trip takes about 2 and a half hours.  Upon arrival at Sokcho, we need to get off the bus at ‘Sokcho’ express bus terminal and take the local bus No 7 or 7-1. The last stop for these buses is the entrance of Seoraksan, about 60 minutes from Sokcho. The best place to stay when visiting Seoraksan National Park would be the Seorak Kensington Stars Hotel, ideally located just a few minutes walk from the entrance of Seoraksan National Park.

We checked out of the Seoul Palace Hotel and took a taxi to the Gangnam Express Bus located nearby. We could have walked. But with our luggage, 3000 KRW for the taxi fare was well worth the expense.

There are 2 sub-terminals within the Gangnam Express Bus terminal, depending on which bus line, operator or destination. Earlier (in Day 1) in our trip, we had recce and found out which terminal to go to. Tickets were sold at many booths, with the names of the destination flashing above.

We booked our tickets for the next bus leaving for Sokcho at 9:00 AM. Each ticket costs 18,100 KRW for the deluxe express bus. We had time for a quick breakfast at a small cafe next to Platform 17 while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Ticket for Express Bus from Seoul to Sokcho. 


The deluxe bus has only 3 seats per row, like the KAL Limousine bus and plenty of legroom. This made the 3 hours journey from downtown Seoul to Sokcho very comfortable. After travelling for about 2 hours, the bus stopped for a 15 minutes break at a rest area.

Our bus at the rest area with toilet facilities, shops selling souvenirs, food and snacks.

We bought 4 Snicker bars that we would need for the hikes at Seoraksan.


We arrived at the Express Bus Terminal in Sokcho slightly before noon. There are two bus terminals within Sokcho – Intercity Bus Terminal and Express Bus Terminal and they are located a distance apart. To make sure that our taxi driver would bring us back to the correct terminal on our day of departure, I took a photo of the Express Bus Terminal before leaving. Just in case there is a language barrier later.

Sokcho Express Bus Terminal. This is near to Sokcho Beach.

For those who find going to Seoraksan and/or Sokcho via public transport a hassle, check out various Day Tours to Seoraksan National Park and the Eastern Provinces from Seoul.

There is a Tourist Information Booth just outside the terminal. First thing to do was to get a map of Sokcho, which we would need in the next few days. The girl manning the booth looked disinterested and was not too helpful with answers to our questions. Language barrier or motivational issue? Not sure. We just took the map of Sokcho and left. Thankfully, I had already done my research on Sokcho before our trip.

Dragging our trolley bags, we walked towards the nearby Sokcho Beach in search of seafood restaurants for lunch. Along the way, we passed a few guest houses and got a few offers for accommodation. Vacancies a plenty. It was probably not the peak season. It was also a weekday, where there were less Korean visitors.

We found a row of seafood restaurants by the beach. Most seemed to be open but were empty of customers. Not much business at this time of year, or day. One had a Korean family taking lunch inside. We went into this restaurant since the elderly couple operating the restaurant seemed friendly and inviting.


Outside the seafood restaurant where we had our lunch near Sokcho Beach.


The speciality in Sokcho is the Ojingo-sundae or squid sundae (Korean sausage, not an ice cream).  Lots of photos of this dish were pasted in the restaurants on this row.  The squid sundae consists of whole squid, stuffed full of pig’s blood, barley, cellophane noodles and other goodies, boiled, then sliced up, covered in egg yolk and fried.  It seems that this dish is only available in this particular region of Korea. I guess this is true since you need fresh squid a plenty and Sokcho is a fishing town where fresh and live squid is in abundance.

Squid Sundae – speciality of Sokcho. The squid sundae had been sliced up and fried with egg yolk. 

Squid Sundae and side dishes that came with our main course.

Codfish Stew – our main course.


After our lunch, we walked back to the Express Bus Terminal.

 
I knew that we could take local Sokcho bus number 7 or 7-1 to get to Seoraksan National Park and our hotel. The bus ride would cost about 1200 KRW per trip per person and takes about 15 to 20 minutes. But with our luggage in tow, we decided to take a taxi instead. Why not enjoy a bit of luxury and contribute to the local economy. There was a taxi stand just outside the bus terminal and we were soon on our way to our hotel and Mount Seorak!

Where we stayed for 3 days while visiting Mount Seorak National Park:

Kensington Stars Hotel is the hotel closest to the entrance of Seoraksan National Park and a few minutes walk to the park entrance. The bus terminal just outside the park provides convenient access to the nearby Sokcho city.

Beatles fans would be thrilled by the hotel’s Abbey Road Sky Lounge featuring some original Beatles memorabilia.

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Seoraksan in November – Cable Car and Gwongeumseong walking course

10 November 2014

After checking into the Kensington Stars Hotel, we changed into our hiking clothes and got ready for our first hike in Seoraksan or Mount Sorak.  Kensington Stars Hotel is ideally located for visiting Seoraksan National Park. It was a 5 minutes walk to the park’s entrance from our hotel.

Entrance and ticket booth to Seoraksan National Park.

Visitors to the national park has to pay 3000 KRW each time they enter the park. Unfortunately, there is no multiple entry or multiple day tickets.  Seoraksan is a good place to view the beautiful autumn foliage in Korea. On the way, we were relieved to see some trees with nice autumn foliage still intact.

Since the weather was very good, we decided that we should take the Seoraksan Cable Car up to Gwongeumseong walking course first. I have read that visitors may have to wait in line for approximately 2 to 3 hours during the peak seasons (summer vacation and fall foliage seasons). Fortunately, being a Monday, the queue for the cable car was short and soon we were on our up, after paying 9000 KRW for a round trip ticket each.

Cable car coming down to fetch us.

The cabin of the car was fully packed for the trip. I managed to find a spot by the side so I could take some pictures on the way up. Here are the photos.

The Great Unification Buddha as viewed from the cable car.

Ulsanbawi Rock – there is a very arduous hiking trail that leads to the top and I was still pondering whether to go for it in the days ahead.


The Upper Cable Car Station is a two storey building housing a cafe and also an outdoor viewing platform. At the platform, we could see as far as Sokcho, the East Sea and Ulsanbawi Rock to the north. Faint Buddhist chanting could be heard.

View of Sokcho at the viewing platform at Mount Sorak.


From the Upper cable car station, there is a 300 metre trail that leads uphill to the site for the Gwongeumseong Fortress. 

Interpretive signage signboard at the plateau after the 300m trail. Quite a confusing signboard as a reader may think that the mountain in the picture is the “fortress” and is just a legend. Or it there a real fortress somewhere in the past. Maybe something lost in translation.

Nice views but have to be careful not to be too near the edge as there were no fencing.

The weather was very good and there was practically no wind. Even then, it was wise not to go too near the edge. A strong gust of wind could happen anytime to make one lose his balance.

Many Koreans, young and old, were making their way up to the peak, marked by a Korean National flag.

From the plateau, one can still climb up the rocks to the peak, marked by a Korean flag.

Negotiating the upper part of this peak requires the use of a knotted rope. Going up is probably easier but coming down is a challenge due to the steepness.

Many were on their butts, sliding down carefully.

Getting to the peak of the Gwongeumseong Fortress requires some work up  the steep rock face.

Young and old were doing it. With the aid of a rope and some guts.

The objective, marked by a flag.

Side view of the rock face, from the plateau.

I was enjoying myself watching them and taking the above shots when suddenly my wife said to me, “Let’s go up.”

Gulp!  

So, up we went. Stowing away my Nikon DSLR in my backpack, tightening all the straps, we went up the rock face like the rest. Going up was not too bad after all.

Mission accomplished. Korean flag at the peak at site for the Gwongeumseong Fortress.

There was a guy manning a stall that sold medals to those who succeeded in climbing to the top.

The flag was not actually at the peak, but on a small ledge. There was still a few meters to scamper up before we were actually sitting at the peak.

More climbing from the flag to get to the real peak.

Finally, sitting and resting at the peak.

View of Ulsanbawi in the distance.

A selfie before we went down. Sokcho town can be seen in the background.

Another couple on the peak.


Going down was harder than going up and we had to control our decent down the steep rock face on bent legs.

After our descent.

After our descent, we sat down for a short rest. When we next stood up, both of us burst out in spontaneous laughter as we both felt our legs turning to jelly at the same time.

We still had to make our down this slope on our rubbery legs.
The Koreans were so nicely dressed in their colourful hiking gear as they made their way up to the peak.

The sun was fast setting behind the mountain as we made our way back to the cable car station.
V for victory – target achieved.

Time for a nice break before our descent to  the lower station. We need to show our tickets to board the cable car again.  It is a good thing we did not misplaced our tickets.

Our reward is a nice cup of hot coffee at the Cable Car Station and the colourful beads – guess what that is.

Trip planning: A hike like the above at the Seoraksan National Park could be done as a day trip from Seoul too. Check out the Seoraksan National Park One Day Tour.  There are also other Seoraksan and Eastern Province Day Trip Packages from Seoul. All includes direct round trip transportation from Seoul, commentaries from English speaking guide.

 

Answer to the question above. The little colourful beads are Ice Cream.

More a gimmick than something nice tasting.

Where we stayed for 3 days while visiting Mount Seorak National Park:

Kensington Stars Hotel is the hotel closest to the entrance of Seoraksan National Park and a few minutes walk to the park entrance. The bus terminal just outside the park provides convenient access to the nearby Sokcho city.

Beatles fans would be thrilled by the hotel’s Abbey Road Sky Lounge featuring some original Beatles memorabilia.

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Evening at Seoraksan National Park

 

10 November 2014

By the time we took the cable car down from the Gwongeumseong Fortress, it was already approaching 5 PM. The sun sets early behind the mountain and the sky would soon be turning dark. But there was still time for us to pay respect to the Great Unification Buddha and make use of whatever daylight left to take some photos.

The Great Unification Buddha is a 14.6-meter, 108 ton gilt-bronze Buddha statue, called "Tongil Daebul" . The giant structure represents one important wish of Korean people -- the reunification of the country divided for over half a century.

Despite being close to sundown, tour groups of Thais had just arrived and being staunch Buddhists, many were making donations and praying to the Buddha.  There were many ways to make donations. 10,000 KRW would buy a packet of rice as an offering. Alternatively, one could donate by buying a “wishes” candle or “wishes” roof tile and write your wishes on the candle and tile.

 Visitors paying respect to the Buddha. This guy is flat out on the floor!

Wishes candles, once written with one’s wishes, are placed in boxes located on both sides of the Buddha.

Packets of rice offerings.

 Wishes written on the roof tiles that I guess will be used to maintain or build a temple.

Visiting Buddhist monks in the bright coloured robes. One is taking a photo of the Great Buddha.

Colourful plastic scoops contrast with the stone and clay barrel.

Autumn is a good time to visit Seoraksan. We were glad to see some beautiful, colourful fall foliage still on the trees. Many trees had already shed their leaves in the past week.

This building is actually a cafe.

It soon became too dark to take photos and it was also getting chilly.  Time to walk back to our hotel, just outside the park. It was a good thing our hotel was just outside the Seoraksan National Park.

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Seorak Kensington Stars Hotel and the Abbey Road Bistro

 

The Seorak Kensington Stars Hotel is located just 5 minutes walk from the entrance to the Seoraksan National Park. Its location cannot be beat.

The first thing I noticed when our taxi pulled up to the hotel driveway was a red double decker London bus parked outside. The Kensington Star Hotel is based on an English theme and spots a English-style interior that makes you feel that you are in England.

Red double decker London bus at the front of the Kensington Stars Hotel.

Lobby of the hotel makes me feel like I am in England.

Royal Mace at Lobby of the Seoraksan Kensington Stars hotel.

There are memorabilia of England and royal family and even a suit of armour outside a book room.

 

Each floor of the hotel has a theme too, based on stars. Hence the name of the hotel.  A floor for the Sports Star, a floor for the Singers, Movie Stars etc. We were assigned a room on the Movie Stars Floor.

Pictures of the stars in the lift lobby and walkway to our room. Quite interesting to browse through them while we are going to and from our room during the few days of our stay.

I did not know that this senior K-drama actor was a singer in his younger days. Now I know.

Unfortunately, most of the photos were from an era earlier. I could not recognise most of the stars. One of the more recent photo added – that of popular actress Ha Ji Won.

View from our room. Greenery, not bad.  The rooms on the other side, facing the road, would have views of the cable car and are supposedly the more expensive rooms.

 

Overall, the hotel fittings and decor were pretty worn and dated, like the photos of the stars on the wall. In a way, this added to its charm and and the overall classic feel of the place.

We had dinner at the hotel on our first day here. There are supposed to be a few restaurants in the hotel. We wanted to have Korean food while in Korea but the Korean restaurant was not open. On checking with the front desk, we were told to go to the Abbey Road Sky Lounge, located on the 9th floor.

 

Entrance to the Abbey Road Sky Lounge. This is a Beatles-themed restaurant which appeals to me, a Beatles music fan.

Interesting and creative way to present the menu. We were also presented with a Korean food menu as well.

 

The cafe looked new and bright. It served wine, western food as well as the Korean food. It seemed that the hotel had consolidated all the meals offering at this place during the off peak season.

While waiting for our food to be prepared and served, I went to look at the many Beatles memorabilia on displayed. Gosh, this place is like a mini Beatles museum.

Original handwritten manuscript of “I ME MINE” by George Harrison, 4th track of the “Let It Be” album released in 1970.

John Lennon’s original suit.

Limited edition of a guitar to commemorate John Lennon.

Guitar signed by all four Beatles, with us in the photo as well.

 

The Korean seafood stew that we ordered was not bad. Overall, a good dining experience and evening at the Abbey Road Sky Lounge on our first day here.

The special of the season – Korean seafood stew with abalone for 19,000 KRW. It came with side dishes.

The side dishes served were very good. The one at the Bottom Left is best – walnut, raisins, sliced ginseng and sliced almond in sweet plum sauce.

 

On the next day, we took a closer look at the Double Deck London Bus while walking to Seoraksan National Park.

That is me, checking out the bus on our second day at the hotel.

The inside of the bus is decorated such that one can use the venue to make marriage proposal.

Beatles love songs were piped in to add to the mood. It was a nice touch but really, I doubt anyone would do a marriage proposal here.

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