Wandering Fel

Anyeong! We are back in our exploration of Seoraksan National Park. 10 minutes away from the entrance to Sogongwon (which is a section of the park), you will see Sinheungsa Temple. The temple is famous because of its close proximity to Sogongwon. No wonder, a guide map of Singheungsa Temple is provided at the entrance of Sogongwon.

7D Korea Golden Rama Tour: Sinheungsa Temple, Seoraksan

The temple is located further in, after a row of cafe and restaurant which is situated next to this amazing mountain view of Seoraksan. Sometimes I kinda wish there is a mountain in Singapore where we can walk every morning to. Not that I will have the time to do that once I am back to my 9 - dunno when desk job.

Beautiful scenery at Seoraksan National Park South Korea

At Seoraksan, you can also see the famous tree in South Korea, pinus densifora. Pinus densifora is a red pine which is highly valued for its medicinal benefit in the modern day. If you join any tour in South Korea, most likely the tour will bring you to visit red pine store (endorsed by government) in Seoul to introduce and sell their medicinal products.

Korean red pinus at Seoraksan National Park

In Korean dynasty, the red pine is used for timber and resin products and hence, the kingdom usually ban people from logging them. Ancient Korean people regard the tree representing Korean spirit. I suppose the tree has been regarded as previous commodity since long time ago.

Red pine tree at Sinheungsa Temple Seoraksan National Park

Just beyond this small gate, you will be able to see a great bronze statue called Bronze Jwabul Statue, which is well over 10 meters high.

Gate to Sinheungsa Temple at Seoraksan National Park

Turns out we are not going to go all the way to the temple because of the time limit. But we are allowed some time to check out the Bronze Jwabul Statue. Our fellow tour participants who are Buddhist can also pray here for a moment.

Buddha statue at Sinheungsa Temple at Seoraksan National Park

While waiting for the rest to take picture and pray to Buddha, I was kinda curious of the temple store and began to check out what do they sell. They seem to sell rice which I wonder how is the rice is used in the praying ritual or ceremony hmm.

Rice for prayer at Sinheungsa Temple at Seoraksan National Park

Closer view of Bronze Jwabul Statue. After everyone is done, we walked back to the entrance and boarded our bus to continue our journey to the next destination at Gangwondo province, Nami Island.

Close up view of Buddha statue at Sinheungsa Temple

However, since we reached Gangwondo area about noon, it's time to fill in our tummy again with Dak-Galbi (Korean spicy chicken stir fry). Woohoo. I was seriously so excited to see the chicken because I quite like dak-galbi. Side dishes are available as usual.

Grill and side dish for dak galbi for lunch

It's time to grill the dak-galbi and the ddeokbokki (rice cake). The spicy chicken has been cooked and marinated beforehand so it did not take long to grill/ re-heat them again. Taste so freaking good. Yumz!

Sinheungsa Temple's admission fees:

Adults: Individuals 3,500 KRW/ Group 3,200 KRW

Teenagers: Individuals 1,000 KRW

Children: 500 KRW

Adults: ages 20 - 65

Teenagers: ages 14 - 19

Children: ages 8 - 13

Anyeong! It is another clear blue sky kind of day here at South Korea. Time flies so fast when you are holidaying and before we know it, we are already on day 4 of the 7D Korea Golden Rama Tour. The itinerary for today is to visit Seoraksan National Park since Seorak Mountain is the main attraction to visit in Pyeongchang region.

7D Korea Golden Rama Tour: Seoraksan National Park

The name "Seorak" originated from the word 'Seol' which means snow and 'Ak' which means big mountain. This is because the snow would not melt for a long time keeping the rocks in a permanent state of white. Oh wow, it must have been freezing in this region in winter time.

Mountain region of Gangwondo South Korea

Seoraksan National Park was designated as Biosphere Preservation District by UNESCO in August 1982. It is now a very popular site amongst local and international tourists. During winter, the whole area is covered by thick snow but since we came during summer, the park is full of lust greens. We are supposed to take cable car ride to see the view from the top but unfortunately, the cable car was not in operation that day. There are some power faults which the operator needs to investigate further which is due to strong wind current at night. Bummer but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Entrance of Seoraksan National Park South Korea

Since we are out of cable car ride quest today, we are just going to explore the park slowly. Jenny (in red) has walked off ahead to wait for us at the gathering spot where she's going to share with us some history lesson on South Korea. So far her stories have been so interesting, I can't wait to hear what she has in store today. I suppose that's one of the benefit of having a tour guide.

Exploring Seoraksan National Park at Gangwondo Korea

In the gathering spot, we saw the statue of black bear on top of the sign Seoraksan National Park. Jenny mentioned that this black bear is different from the bears that we may have seen at NatGeo's channel somewhere in Canada. This is Asian black bear and this fauna is often spotted in the region. The Korean (especially the elder generation) believes that their ancestors come from the Asian black bears. The bears can be quite aggressive toward human though so be careful of them if you are meeting them upon hiking or exploring the region.

The symbol of Seoraksan National Park Korea

It does look kinda scary actually. It kinda remind me of a gory news where a bear mauling and eating a father and daughter in the wilderness of Russia. Yikes. But they do have reason to be aggressive towards human I suppose since people often hunt them for their fur or meats for medicine.

Black bear and the blue sky of Seoraksan National Park South Korea

If you come to the park in the autumn, the green leaves that you see now will turn color into yellow or red. I bet it's gonna be so fantastic in autumn but it's very difficult for me to go in autumn because of deadliest deadline of tax world. Hmm, maybe I should seriously change my field of work, really.

There are a number of hiking trails in Seoraksan National Park but we are so not gonna explore that when you are travelling in a tour. If you are interested in hiking, the more popular hiking courses are Biseoundae - Madeungnyeong course and Biseoundae - Cheonbuldong - Daecheongbong Peak course. Talking about hiking, I kinda wonder why is there a kind of weight tool here. Is it used to weigh hiking bags?

Weight scale for hiking bag at Seoraksan National Park

Some health tips for hikers. Stretching is important prior to hiking I think. If Singapore has a lot of mountains, I wonder if the people here will love hiking as well. Hmm, maybe they will.

Hiking exercise tips at Seoraksan National Park

If you are more of those people who likes relaxing activity, you can relax and chill and one of the many cafes/ restaurants here at Seoraksan National Park. Drinking americano while enjoying the scenery does not sound bad after all. By the way, other than for hiking, Seoraksan National Park is also a popular spot for camping. A certain admission fees is applicable for the camping site though.

Cafe and restaurant at Seoraksan National Park Korea

Seoraksan National Park's admission fees:

Adults - 3,500 KRW

Middle to high school students (14 - 19 y.o.) - 1,000 KRW

Elementary school students (8 - 13 y.o.) - 500 KRW

Camping sites admission fees:

Low season: Adults 1,600 KRW/ Teenagers 1,200 KRW/ Children 800 KRW

Peak season: Adults 2,000 KRW/ Teenagers 1,500 KRW/ Chilrend 1,000 KRW

Peak season: 1 May - 30 November

Low season: All period except peak season

Wandering Fel

7D Korea Golden Rama Tour: Sinheungsa Temple, Seoraksan

7D Korea Golden Rama Tour: Seoraksan National Park