Sokcho and Nami Island (May 2018)
There are so many churches in Korea!
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Went to Sokcho from Seoul in drizzle. There were few terminals, so I randomly approach the staff from one terminal, just to be told to go to another. The counter staff got me a seat for the 340pm bus, which will depart in 10 minutes time. I quickly went to board the bus. The bus was not full, but there were young national service men in the bus. The bus stopped once for toilet break.
Stopover by express bus, on the way to Sokcho:
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It took 2.5 hours to reach Sokcho, and the rain was at times. The rain stopped when the bus finally reached Sokcho Express Bus Terminal. I walked to the B&B I booked and checked in. It started raining again not long after, I carried my umbrella to go for dinner near the bus terminal.
The next morning I took bus 7 to go Seoraksan, in slight drizzle. No luck with the weather. After I bought the park entrance ticket, I slowly walked in, thinking how nice the park would be had the weather been nice. Saw some national service men ran out of the park entrance, probably part of their training. I was hesitating whether to take the cable car up or to walk up Seoraksan. I was naïve in thinking that the cable car station is also where the walking trail will end, I was so so wrong.
Seoraksan main entrance:
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Cable car to the temple:
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River overflow:
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After walking up for 2 hours, I realized I was further and further away from the cable car station, the cable car was nowhere in sight. Just nice at this time I saw a young hiker walking towards the same sign board that I am staring at. He was kind to explain to me that the cable car only heads up to the temple, and we will not bump into the cable car along this hiking trail that we are on. He was also from Singapore (how coincident?!) and I thought he is a local. He had reserved a bunk at a shelter near the peak (Jungcheong Shelter), and invited me to join him. I was hesitant for few reasons. Firstly I have no idea how a shelter look like, I thought it was a simple shelter that for hikers to escape rain. Little did I know It is actually complete with simple food for selling and sleeping bunks, and blankets for hire. Secondly it was still wet weather, though the drizzle stopped. I didn’t bring any rain coat, only an umbrella. I really don’t know how the weather will pans out higher up. Thirdly, I have no reservations for bunks, unlike the gentleman. What if I got turned away at the shelter?? It will be freezing cold in the mountain higher up. Fourthly, I have no water or food with me, no spare change of clothes, so I will have to wear whatever I am wearing now until tomorrow. Fifth, I have no idea how difficult the hike will be going on from here. We studied the map together and realized that there were some sections considered moderate/difficult, about 500m of the section ahead. Also time. Given that I only started hiking quite late in the day, around 12pm, will we be able to reach the Jungcheong Shelter (the one he has reserved a bed, near the peak) before the sun set? I felt bad if I become burden to him, especially when coming down the next day.
The gentleman C assured me that my fear will be taken care of.
1. He had extra set of clothes and food, plus water, enough for both of us.
2. He was pretty confident that the shelter will have heated floor and will be warm.
3. He was sure that food will be sold in the shelter.
4. He was very sure that we will be able to reach the shelter around 5pm, based on our pace.
5. He also told me that we need not hike down the same way. We will hike down a much shorter way tomorrow to another town Osaek, and we will be able to return to Sokcho from there.
6. He assured me that the sunrise tomorrow at the peak, will be worth it. I am seriously doubting this, as the weather at that point was still gloomy and misty, though no rain, still wet.
7. He assured me that I will not be a burden to him, and he will hike at my pace.
By the time we talk it through, I have only two choices. Retreat to the park entrance now before the park close, or continue up to Jungcheong Shelter, which may or may not have a spare bunk for me. I have no idea how cold it was going to be and the weather from here on. C put on his charm and urged me to go with him, as it was close to impossible that I bump into another fellow Singaporean and can hike to the top together.
After hesitating for another 5 minutes, I reluctantly walk up with him, not knowing what lies ahead. I hadn’t even had my lunch at that point in time. C and I reached the first shelter, and I ordered plain rice (the only other option was chocolate). The park serviceman microwaved the rice for me and I gobbled it down. It turned out to be the right decision as my next meal was not about to come until few hours later.
First shelter:
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We continue to hike up and took photos at the many waterfalls that we crossed. Finally we reach the second shelter, Huiunguk Shelter. I happened to chat with a rather unhelpful park serviceman there. He asked me if I had reservation up in Jungcheong Shelter and I said I don’t have. He laughed and asked me don’t waste my time going up, as the shelter was full. Then I asked if the shelter here is also full, he said yes, and forbade me to even go in and take a look. He was totally unsympathetic. C asked me to ignore him and we will just continue on.
2nd Shelter:
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The section after the shelter was pretty steep, and slippery after the rain. I need to hold on to the rope to haul myself up at some sections. At certain sections, fallen logs blocked the way and I have to use hands to help get over them. Luckily this section was not that long. I wonder how hikers going down this part, as it is quite easy to slip and fall during wet weather, due to the slippery rock face. C at this time was quite behind, because he was carrying heavier load than I do. I waited for him but the moment I stopped, I felt cold.
Finally we reached the first smaller peak, and we are only 600m away from Jungcheong Shelter. We could see the sun faintly amidst the clouds. We fumbled at the last 600 meters, not knowing the way as the signboard for the shelter suddenly disappeared. Wasted at least 20 minutes to and fro there. Luckily a couple that we bumped into along the way guided us to the shelter. We should have followed the direction to the peak all along, without detouring and doubting ourselves. We reached Jung Cheong Shelter at 620pm. A friendly staff told me that there was a bunk for me, I was overjoyed. We rented 2 blankets each, bought some postcards and bought microwaved heated instant rice for dinner. C was constantly drawn to the Koreans who were busy barbequeing their food, and created such an aroma. Meanwhile we can only smell the nice aroma and ate our plain rice. The staff refused to help C microwave his instant noodles, so he had to eat it cold.
Last 600m to Jungcheong shelter:
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The whole shelter was reek of pungent urine smell, as the wind constantly carry the urine smell from toilet into the bunk. The toilet has no water. We were assigned bunks the 3rd level, so we have to climb the stairs carefully to our bunks. I bumped my head a few times. I used one blanket to line the wooden bunk, and another to keep warm. It was not that cold cos many people were sleeping together inside the room. It was hard to sleep as people were snoring and the urine smell was bad. In the midnight, when I finally couldn’t resist the urge and went to the toilet, the howling wind and rain outside reminded me that who was the master at the top of the mountain. I had by them squashed all hope of seeing sunrise the next morning. I even used the rain water to wash my hands before heading back to the bunk, shivering.
Bunk bed smelled of urine:
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Guess my surprise when C woke me up and said the sky was beautiful outside. Suddenly there was no more rain. The sun was about to come up any time. C asked me to put on another layer in case it got too cold. He also lent me his balaclava.
We quickly folded our blankets and return them to the reception table, then walked out to the peak nearby. C was ahead this time. I took my time to take picture of the town seen below. Then I slowly walked up to the peak and enjoyed the pre-sunrise moment. It was cold. The wind was strong. The plants have icicles on them. C was doing time lapse on the rising sun and the flowing clouds. Finally the sun broke through the clouds and shone on us. Many hikers came up from the other side of the trail, we guessed they started hiking in the middle of the night from Osaek.
Sunrise at Daecheongbong Peak:
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Jungcheong Shelter from Daecheongbong Peak (3rd highest in Korea, 1708m)
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We started our journey down. The mountain was totally different in good weather. We can see greenery instead of mist. The path was still slippery and I fell a few times, thanks to the slippery rocks.
Down to Osaek:
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We took 3 hours to reach the park entrance of Osaek. Everything looks so different now that the sun was out. We still have to walk another km to get the bus to Yangyang, before transferring to bus number 9 back to Sokcho. There were some mineral hot springs in Osaek, but C needs to go to Busan later so we quickly took the buses back to Sokcho. We parted ways after we had lunch together. I finally got to see another bus terminal in Sokcho – The Intercity Bus Terminal. This bus terminal was where I will take my bus tomorrow, and it was quite a distance from the bus terminal that I got down the other day. It was by luck that I landed at a bus terminal nearer to where I stay. Sokcho looked totally different in the sun, I almost couldn’t recognize the way back to hotel.
I had a good afternoon nap and did a seafood dinner at Sokcho. Seafood in Sokcho was fresh. Very satisfying seafood meal.
The next day, I took a bus to Chuncheon and deposited my luggage there. Then I took another bus to Gapyoung. I didnt know what bus will take me from Gapyoung to Nami Island and chanced upon a local couple who spoke good English. They told me that we were all waiting for the same bus: 33-5 that will head to the jetty to Nami Island. We waited for awhile before the bus appeared. The bus was empty initially but picked up many passengers at the train station. Apparently you can take a train to here and transfer to bus 33-5 to the jetty.
So many people at the jetty cos it was Sunday, but the ferry was frequent, so no need to wait. The whole island was full of people. It was a challenge taking pictures without human inside.
Nami Island:
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After Nami Island, I took a bus back to Gapyeong, then Chuncheon, and then wait for the express bus bound for Incheon Airport. There were many national service men waiting for buses at the terminal too. The bus appeared punctually at 530pm. On the way to Incheon Airport, there were congestions along the road, but the traffic was moving.
The sunset saw on the way to Incheon was really beautiful. The trip to Seoraksan was totally unexpected, and totally exceeded my expectation.
Sunset on the way to Incheon Airport:
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Incheon Airport
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Videos:
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Things to note:
1. When you buy bus tickets to Sokcho, do check which terninals the bus will be heading to. Most buses will head to Inetrcity Bus terminal. This will help you determine how far is the bus terminal from your hotel.
2. Do try the seafood in Sokcho. I like their seafood pot. Go earlier since it will quickly be filled by Korean dinner time.
3. If you want to hike up Mount Seoraksan, do book the shelter in advance and bring can food up. You can bring up a light stove for cooking or bbq. The only problem is, there will be no water to wash up in Jungcheong Shelter.
4. There is no water in Jung Cheong Shelter. The toilet stink. The pungent smell permeated to the bunk room.
5. The reception counter at Jungcheong shelter close at 8pm, do not arrive later than that.
6. Walk up from Osaek and go down to Seoraksan main entrance will give you less up hill and more downhill. We did the opposite, ended up with more uphill and less downhill, but we returned to civilization earlier.
7. Only bus 9-1, 7-1 will pass by Intercity Bus Terminal in Sokcho. Both bus 7 and 7-1 will go to Seoraksan. To go to Osaek, take 9 or 9-1 to Yangyang, then transfer by bus to National park entrance.
8. There is train to Gapyeong, not sure from where. There is bus from Incheon Airport to Chuncheon that pass by Gapyeong. You can deposit your luggage at Gapyeong or Chuncheon before taking the bus to Nami Island. The terminal at Chuncheon is bigger and has a big emart next to it, for your souvenir/food shopping.
9. There are lots of people in Nami Island. It is hard to take a picture without people inside it.
10. Get a tap and go card from 7-11 or subway station to take the bus or make payment, it is very convenient and acceptable at most places.
11. Weather forecasts are not 100% accurate, my friend was telling me it will be raining the 3 days I am in Sokcho. Turned out that the weather was blue sky from second day onwards. Nobody even remember how Sokcho looks like in the rain.
12. The DMZ is about 50km from Sokcho, you can take bus number 1 and get down at the end station, transfer to DMZ museum by taxi, which could be quite costly if you are going alone without anyone to share cost with.
13. The tourist information station outside the Intercity Bus Terminal in Sokcho was very helpful and can speak English. I got most of my information through the lady there, recommended by C.
14. You can tell them you don’t like spicy by using the Chinese character ?and cross the character out.
15. Instant noodles in Korea was delicious, I love to put them into pot cooked food (pork, seafood etc) and let the noodles soaked up the soap tastiness. Yummy.
16. Bring food into the mountain is a must. I was dead hungry when I got lost in the last 600m, and thank god C has chocolate bar to keep the energy going.
17. Totally grateful to the Korean couple who spoke English in Gapyeong and guided me to bus 33-5 that went to Nami Island from there.
18. When they say 1 dollar, most likely it means 1000 KRW.
19. The express bus in Korea are very comfortable, with leather seat, and only 3 seats per row.
20. I found the pronunciation of Korean words work similar to Hakka dialect. Try pronounce Incheon, Chuncheon, Gapyeong in Hakka and look at the names in Chinese.
21. Hotsprings in Sokcho are of mineral type. Some can be found in hotels, outside guests can enter by paying a fee. You can soak as long as you want after paying. C tried it.
22. We found that we hiked faster than the indicated time of the hiking map in Seoraksan. So those timings are to be trusted for planning purpose. We even stopped for photo ops from waterfall to waterfall.
23. In a Korean restaurant, there will be cushion below the tables, you are supposed to sit on only one of them and pass on one to a friend next to you. They stack the cushions together normally.
24. Express bus in Korea will only appear a few minutes before the departure time, do not panic if you still have not seen the bus 10 minutes before departure. They will appear and leave on time.
25. Watching TV in Korea was fun, so many channels, just that I couldn’t understand most of them.
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