[Part 2] 084. Seoraksan!

I slept for a grand total of 1.5 hours today; from 1.30am to 3am. I could have set my alarm for a later timing but I was afraid of going back to sleep and waking up at 10am like what I've been doing lately (like yesterday). Even Young Woong anticipated that and sent me a sms asking me if I was awake at around 4.30am.
For the whole of yesterday, I couldn't decide what to wear for hiking since Singapore only has a hill, I've no prior hiking experience on a mountain and I don't want to buy something that I'll only wear once or twice. But today, I decided that Kenneth's most probably right. It'll be hot, so I just wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt and a thin checkered shirt over it, shorts, stockings and my sport shoes. Just to be on the safe side, I packed a sweater and a pair of jeggings since Kenneth or Yuhong said that I shouldn't wear my stockings because they might get ripped. I even brought my paper fan along! But guess what? It was cold initially but when I started hiking, it was so hot that I started perspiring (my shirt was soaked...that's how hot it got!) so my fan came in handy! Great choice of outfit :)
I met Youngwoong at Anam Station at 5.30am and we took the subway down to City Hall Station, which was 1 of the 2 pickup points for the 1-day Hana Tour package we joined for 28,000KRW each to visit Mountain Seorak 설악산. The 2nd pickup point was in Jamsil where Emi and her boyfriend, J (or Jay?) joined us.
Surprisingly, the bus ride to 설악산 was faster than expected and we arrived 1 hour ahead of schedule which meant that our meeting time was pushed forward by an hour as well. We left Seoul around 7.30am and reached 설악산 at around 10am, with a 15-20minutes stopover in between at a rest area where I couldn't use the toilet because the queue for the ladies' was so freaking long :( So instead of spending our break time queuing up for the toilet, Young Woong and I sat at an outdoor dining area with an amazing view and ate 통감자 potatoes.

Checking our seat numbers

City Hall at 6am+

Good morning, Seoul!

View of Lotte World from the outside

설악산 Seoraksan, the 3rd highest mountain in South Korea, is really really really beautiful! But if we had gone one week earlier, we would have been able to see more maple leaves. Going to 설악산 in autumn to see the maple leaves 단풍 was something I've always wanted to do. Now that I've been there and done that, I am satisfied :) Being there and experiencing it all felt so surreal to me! Actually, I was expecting a ticket booth or something when the bus stopped and we were told that we had arrived at the mountain. But when I saw everyone heading towards a flight of stairs and there was no ticket booth or other tourists or cable car in sight, I realised that we weren't exploring the mountain the traditional touristy way. We were at the 흘림골 Heullingol (Valley) and not the National Park entrance. And that's the best part of my hiking experience on Seoraksan: I had a truly authentic Korean hiking experience :) 흘림골 Heullingol (Valley) was only recently opened, after being closed for 20 years and it was also Young Woong's first time hiking from there.

Not only does the map state the distance and duration of the different routes but also the amount of calories one can burn! 

It was quite tiring and I was overtaken by the many appropriately dressed and very fit ajummas and ajusshis with their hiking sticks poking all around me as I created a bottleneck effect every now and then when faced with steep rocks to climb. I held onto many things along the way...rocks, trees, branches, railings, and Youngwoong's hand. I was a first-timer afraid of falling :( When I was climbing up, I thought that climbing down was easier. But when I was climbing down, I wished I was climbing up instead. Until now, I don't know which is easier; up or down. Both are bad and at some areas, it was so steep and my fear of injuring my ligament again was a major obstacle I had to overcome mentally. Can you imagine injuring your ACL on a mountain? I think I would have just stayed on the mountain and not go down at all unless someone carried me all the way down because I can't walk down anything properly with an injured ACL.

Female spirit waterfall

Emi, Youngwoong and I

Before I got hot, flustered and sweaty, rolled up my sleeves and tied up my hair

During lunch time, we saw many Koreans sitting on rocks, portable chairs and mats in groups, eating and drinking together. We decided to stop and rest for awhile while having some snacks which Youngwoong brought along. We were standing in front of this group of 4 ajusshis who overheard us speaking in English and asked why we were doing so because they thought that all of us were Koreans. They gave us a roll of kimbab and offered us kimchi and soju to which it was rude to reject so Emi's bf and Youngwoong had no choice but to accept their offer. A woman from a neighbouring group (most probably together with the ajusshis) overheard that we were foreigners and came to us with 4 oranges. 

Later on, we met the Korean couple who sat in front of us in the bus. Earlier during our bus ride, they had turned around and given us rice cake even though we had never spoken to one another before. When we met them on the mountain, the wife gave us sweets to eat! I was really touched by their kindness. Koreans are so generous! 

Emi's bf eating the kimchi they offered

Youngwoong looking out for me :)

There was something wrong with my camera after the above photo was taken so I had to use my iphone to take the following shots. It was only later on, when I was in the bus on my way back to Seoul, that I realised the fault was with my SD card which prevented me from taking more shots :(

 Emi's bf trying to get us some spring water to drink while having to "fight" with the ajummas.

We completed the trail slightly after 2pm and headed to one of the many eateries near the car park for some food and makgoli.

We left Seoraksan at about 3.30pm but only reached Gabyeong Station in Seoul at nearly 9pm because of the heavy traffic :( I was quite tired and there wasn't much leg room on the bus for me to stretch my short legs. Youngwoong and I took the subway back to Anam while Emi and her bf alighted at Konguk University Station which is near Emi's place. By the time we reached Anam, it was nearly 10pm and most eateries had already closed so we headed to the 24 hours kimbab eatery for dinner. I was famished by then! All in all, it was a wonderful but tiring day spent soaking in nature :)