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2D1N Trip to Mount Seorak from Seoul.

9:06:00 PM


Seoraksan, also referred to as Seolsan or Seolbongsan, the mountain was named Seorak with the meaning of 'Seol' meaning 'snow' and 'Ak' meaning 'big mountain'. The snow would not melt for a long time keeping the rocks in a permanent state of white.

Many travelers make a day trip to Seoraksan from Seoul as it is quite near with a bus ride of approximately 2hr 30min, however we plan for a 2 days trip with 1 night stay at Sokcho, the nearest town to Seoraksan.

Transportation :
From Seoul, get to Dong Seoul Bus Terminal and take a bus to Sokcho, ticket can be purchase at the ticket counter. Bus frequency is roughly about 30 mins in between, check for bus schedule at http://www.kobus.co.kr/ Price KRW 17,300 One Way.

From Sokcho Express / Intercity Bus Terminal, take Bus No. 7 or 7-1 and get off at Sogongwon Bus Stop for Seoraksan. (Travel time: approx. 45 min)

At Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal, there is a small tourist information counter located outside just beside the entrance.

Accommodation :
Egg House Sokcho Guesthouse, location was pretty easy from the Bus Terminal, just a 200 meters walk.



In Sokcho, its famous not only for Seoraksan, but many cross over here on the way to DMZ as the city belonged to North Korea from 1945 until the end of the Korean War, when the dividing line between the two Korean states was officially altered.

We were lucky enough to catch a snowfall on the day we arrived in Sokcho, and it wasn't even during winter, we were there mid of March. I call it lucky as this was my first time seeing snowfall. However, the unfortunate part was the difficulty of walking with snow, but yet I enjoyed it a lot :)

Sokcho has a few attractions, but due to the snowfall, we couldn't really walk far, hence we walk towards harbour for Abai Village and Fishery Market (Jungang Market).

Abai Village was originally set up as an area to house North Korean refugees in Sokcho due to the separation of the two Koreas. Consequently, many of the population have relatives in North Korea. 

Abai Ferry is a special way to get across the Sokcho harbour, separating downtown Sokcho from Abai Village. The distance is short with only about 50m, but is much quicker than going around by land. Moreover, the ferry is manually pulled across by rope, this unique experience can only be found in Sokcho. The fees for one way is KRW 200.




Abai Village is a filming site for Korean Drama "Autumn in My Heart."




And its famous among tourists for the Abai Sundae, which is a squid stuffed with a mixture of clear noodles, tofu, vegetables, and squid. Other popular dishes include the North Korean cold noodle dish Naengmyeon.
 

Nearby to the ferry port, across the road to Sokcho is Jungang Market, which has now changed its name to Tourist & Fishery Market.





Day 2, we took bus No. 7 or 7-1 to Seoraksan National Park in the morning.

Admission Fees [Sogongwon Park] :
- Adults 3,500 won
- Middle to high school students (ages 14-19) 1,000 won
- Elementary school students (ages 8-13) 500 won

Seoraksan National Park listed by the South Korean government with UNESCO as a tentative World Heritage site. You might not want to missed out taking picture with the stone tablet after the entrance.

Seoraksan National Park is huge, it is quite impossible to finish all in one day. I suggest you to choose which part to visit first before you ending up going no where.





We managed to only walk up to Heundeulbawi Rock and Ulsanbawi Rock as its the nearest from the entrance, wasn't easy to walk on the slippery road covered with snow!



There is a cable car connect up to Gwongeumseong Fortress, the site of a castle ruins located on Seoraksan Mountain, and it is also known as Mt. Onggeumsan Castle, or Toto Castle.

Admission Fees :
Round trip: Adults 10,000 won / Children 6,000 won
* Adults: age of 14 and older (middle school students and up)
* Children: ages of 3-13 / Children under 36 months old can enter free
* Note: in order to use the cable car, visitors must pay admission to Seoraksan National Park as the property is located inside the park.



Up on the Gwongeumseong Fortress, you will see many aunties and uncles bringing Soju to had their drinking session :)

We went back to Sokcho from Seoraksan at 3pm, and took 5.30pm bus from Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal back to Seoul, reaching Seoul at about 8pm.


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7 comments

  1. I enjoyed all of the detailed info about admissions and prices and would love to use this to plan a trip. My only drawback was that it took a long time to load all of the images, maybe cut down slightly on the # or make them slightly lower resolution....

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  2. very nice place, wish to visit too

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  3. Really enjoy your post. Would love to visit this place

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  4. love the view and the pics on this blog.
    haven't been there but I feel so cold now :D

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  5. Somehow I would prefer this kind of travel than common shopping and makan LOL

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  6. Love the pictures taken here dear and the experience must have been amazing. A definite must visit venue to have a look at in Seoul.

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