The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

Thanks to the advice of my co-worker (Ben), I took a trip to Sobaeksan National Park today.  Ben visited this place soon after he arrived in Korea, and I remember him telling me about how beautiful it was.  Riding the train through mountains that remind him of the Alps, he got off the train at a stop called Huibangsa, and spoke so highly of it that I knew I had to check it out some day.  Ben has traveled everywhere it seems, so if he tells you a certain place is amazing, you don’t do much questioning.

What better time to visit these mountains than fall, right?  Well thanks to a couple articles in the Korean Times newspaper, I was prepared and knew exactly which dates the autumn foliage would be at its peak and where.  I had to go at it alone this time, since everyone was busy this weekend or trying to save money.  Actually I enjoy traveling by myself a lot, so I was glad to get away and have some “me time”.

The bus ride took about two and a half hours from Seoul (not bad at all, especially considering I’ve taken 16-hour bus rides in the past), and I arrived around 10am.  I decided only to spend the day here and not overnight it, because I have lots of stuff going on tomorrow in Seoul and I needed to be back.  I immediately headed for the Gosu Cave.  Lonely Planet Korea had a rave review of this cave (noted as the best in Korea), so I decided to check it out first.

It wasn’t until I was descending into the darkness of Gosu, that I realized I hadn’t really been to a cave since I was a little boy.  I remember going with my family to some cave around Tennessee or Virginia, but I think that had been my only legit “cave experience”.  This only added to my excitement of course.  At first it was a long series of tubes with tiny and unimpressive stalactites and stalagmites around each corner.  But after about a 5-minute walk I heard the group of Koreans ahead of me gasping and saying “Waaa!”  (Their version of ‘wow’)

I looked up to see what all the fuss was about, and there was an enormous crevasse with mist of water shooting down.  It seemed to go up forever, and looking below the stairwell beneath me….I couldn’t see it end!  So as I continued to climb the stairs and squeeze through tiny pathways, I quickly realized what an amazing natural feature these things are.  Just how many millions of years old are these formations, who else has seen them before me?  I had a deep moment there in that cave I must tell you….but soon I was exhausted from hiking around it in the humid air, and it was a relief to break out into the cold daylight again.

Alright, it was time to check out the hailed Huibangsa.  I will admit it, I was a little tired, and only having the day there made me a little less patient than I normally would be.  I was waiting on the bus to come, and after about 10 minutes I decided to just take a taxi instead.  The ride was fantastic, swerving around the mountains…and after about 20 minutes (and 15,000 won!) I had arrived.

A huge sigh of relief struck me as we drove past the parking lot and I noticed it was practically empty.  That’s another reason I was so excited about coming here, because Ben had said that it wasn’t too touristy and you would really be able to enjoy the nature.  Well…he was right!  I’m not sure why this place isn’t packed with tourists, it certainly has all the attributes you could hope for in a peaceful and serene valley in the mountains.

I payed the $3 entrance fee and started making my way up the small mountain.  I just have to say, that I really love this time of year.  It may very well be because I never got to experience it much growing up in Florida, but it just seems electric with all of the bright colors surrounding you, the sound of crunching leaves underneath your feet, a slight bit of cold.  It’s all so temporary that you are really forced to be in the moment.

In any case, I eventually reached the temple near the top.  There were speakers softly playing Buddhist chants, which of course added to the effect.  I had one of those “Wow, holy crap I’m in Asia!” moments, haha.  It’s strange because just looking around I felt like this could easily be North Carolina, or somewhere in the Smokies.  Then listening to the ceremonial chants I realized I was in fact on the other side of the world….in a completely different culture.  It’s weird how those occasions just sneak up on you, but it does put things into perspective.

The temple area was pretty cool, but if you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know I’m kind of over the whole ‘temple’ thing.  Much like the cathedrals in Europe, they begin to look the same after a while.  The setting of this one was what made me stop and pause though.  It had so much more character sitting on the top of this mountain surrounded by yellow, orange, and red trees.

As much as I enjoyed just sitting there, soon I started to get hungry, and so I headed back into the city of Danyang…..by none other than taxi again (I don’t know why I was so lazy today, maybe it was all the walking).  This cab driver tried to speak to me…usually they just resign to the fact that neither you nor they can speak the other’s language, but every now and then you’ll get a cab driver who is determined to carry on a conversation with you.  Such was my case on the way back to Danyang.

From what I was able to gather, he had been given nine speeding tickets from the city police, he enjoys traveling behind big trucks because he likes watching them blow the leaves up as they whiz by, and he gave me two giant chestnuts, which when I proceeded to thank him for and attempt to crack open, he raised his voice a little and showed me they were only for swirling around in your hand.  All kidding aside, the guy was very nice, we each ate a banana (his treat) as we were curving down the mountain.

I didn’t do anything else too exciting other than walking along the river and stumbling across a park.  I was famished by this point because I hadn’t eaten since early morning, so I stopped inside a kimbap restaurant (a very casual Korean food chain) and ordered Sundubu Jigae, boiling spicy stew of tofu and clams, with the usual side dishes of course.  I only recently started eating Sundubu Jigae, but I really like it.  I never thought I would actually crave tofu, until I started eating more of it here….now I love it!

Before I knew it I was back on the bus returning to Seoul.  A short trip this Saturday, but it was well-spent for sure.  I wish fall lasted longer….it always seems to come and go too soon, before you can really enjoy it.  This year I made sure that did not happen.