Ulsanbawi Rock 873m

Today I ventured to Seorak-san National Park, just 30 minutes from Sokcho. I left later than I wanted to but I didn't have any specific plans! It was a good thing too! Everything always works out perfectly if you let it.

I jumped on a local bus and headed to the national park at 10:30am. I arrived at the Welcome Gate a little after 11am. My entrance ticket and map in hand I navigated through 100's of Korean High School students on a school trip and visited a huge new bronze Buddha statue. It looks a lot like the Buddha in Kamakura, Japan! Just a few steps from the statue is a beautiful old temple that dates back to 652, but of course was rebuilt and then later destroyed by the Japanese and rebuilt again in the 1800's.

I didn't feel like reading the guide book. So I just followed the signs to a "rock" a few kilometers up the path. I had no idea what I was going to find. But when I arrived at Gyejo-am, I heard buddhist chanting over the loud speakers and saw a soft cream machine! This sight has been used for the last 1,300 years by meditating monks. I think the speakers and soft cream machine are a relatively new addition to their hillside hermitage. I hope they they had that machine helicoptered in, because I'm not sure how anyone would carry it! The "rock" was actually kind of cool. It is a boulder sitting on top of another large boulder. It is situated so that even one person can rock it! Just push on it a few times and it starts rocking! But apparently, even dozens of people can't budge it from it's perch!

From this point, I could see the trail kept going up. And I could see the red ladders bolted into the side of a craggy outcrop of rocks! Yikes! I really wanted to tempt it, but wasn't sure I should go alone. Just as I was pondering the ascent, a married couple approached me, motioned up toward the rock and motioned that I should follow them! Perfect! If they can do it, I can do it! And we did!

The next two hours were amusing. The couple didn't speak a word of English and I can't speak a word of Korean. So we stuck to hand gestures. The husband liked to stop and point out interesting rock formations or show me how bad the erosion is around the cedar trees. We made it to the top of Ulsan-bawi with lots of short breaks, lots of quiet silences and lots of hand motioning! It was really very cute! At the top they bought me a cup of ginseng tea. It tasted a bit like medicine, but my water was almost out, so I happily downed it! I followed them all the way back down and we parted with "thank yous" outside the bathroom.

Even though I had been warned that the cable car was nothing special, I decided to take it up the other side of the valley anyway! It was a nice view of the rock outcrock I had just climbed and another view of Sokcho and the ocean. I sat and drank green tea in a cute little coffee shop. And talked with a Korean boy who goes to school in Manila and speaks excellent English! He said he rather be playing video games, but he didn't seem to be complaining either! I know I wasn't! I didn't have a single complaint all day!

I'm fed, showered and enjoying some quiet time back at my sister's apartment! Not sure what adventure is in store for tomorrow....lighthouse, fish markets, the lake! Who knows!

I love being on vacation!