Would I meet Buddha while summiting some of the 2000mt peaks of Seorak Mountain Range? Maybe he would be on the way down. They say 'when you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing!'. Good advice. In one interpretation this is why we climb, you reach the summit but there are always more, higher, harder. So we keep going! Climbing Seoraksan is an experience. Seoraksan means
Snow Rock Mountain and is covered with snow from mid autumn until late spring. Head east of Seoul and you'll find the mountains rise as you go, the roads cutting through the rock and breaking out on the beautiful east coast. From Sockho on the sandy coast there's a short bus ride to the base of Seoraksan National Park. The Mountain has the look of something thrown together by a giant's hand on a bad day. Broken peaks joined and fused together create Daechingbong (1708mt). It is the highest peak in the Taebaeksan Range, and the third largest mountain in South Korea. Most say the most beautiful.
Seas of clouds abound, and more often than not a swirling mist coils around the peaks. This gives it a truly magical feeling, like something from another world.At the top trees push straight out of solid rock and when I was there all was obscured in fog so thick it was as if the peaks were islands in a grey-white ocean. The trees up there grow at weird angles too, often showing the prevailing winds by facing the same way.Cheonbuldong means 1000 buddhas, it is a valley where naturally formed Buddha-like statues hide in the dense forest valley. There is even an 88-meter waterfall which would be frozen solid in winter. As I climbed Ulsanbawi -a huge cliff (873mt) I came across a very cool rock! Its called Heundeulbawi (the tottering rock) which moves if you apply the right amount of pressure even though it is over 5 meters high and weighs a few tonnes! Some people were trying to move it without much success when the young monk who had been watching them came over and leaned into it with one hand. The huge rock moved. The power of the Buddha. We had great fun pushing the rock, it really looked as if it could roll down the cliff and bowl over a hundred hikers before it hit the bottom. Like Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was invited to have tea and pray in a temple built in a naturally formed crack in the cliff. Buddha can also be found at Shinheungsa Temple which is the oldest Zen temple in Korea (652).
Seoraksan is a place of temples and giant Buddhas serenly watching over the eternal mountains, the guardians of Korea. It is where you will be assulted by the friendliest brigades of chipmunks searching for snacks. It's a place you can lose yourself in the most impressive mountains in Korea. Sitting on the edge of a cliff, thinking about the world, being invited to pray in an ancient Buddhist cave temple, summiting the peaks with my girlfriend and kissing her at the top, with the whole world far below, dipping my feet in the icy river at the base while chatting to a group of Korean kids practicing their English, all these experiences make Seoraksan a special place for me. I love it man! Go get lost here. The world can stay far behind.
Seoraksan Rocks!! nuff said.
