Surf and Turf, Part I

We had an excellent opportunity to visit a very well-known national park in Korea, known as Seorak National Park.  Pronounce: Sor-ahk.  We were gone for a long weekend, and it was quite honestly one of the best times I've had in Korea yet.  Seoraksan is located near the East Sea (or Sea of Japan, depending on your nationality--Korea or Japan), so we were extremely fortunate to be able to stay with some friends of friends who lived about a 10-minute's walk from the ocean.

Seorak Nat'l Park is about as popular as Yosemite, and the crowds reminded me of Yosemite (and here I am only imagining) in high season, perhaps on the 4th of July.  It was crawling with people, but the natural beauty helped me to filter them out.  As you see our pictures, I'll explain along the way!

View from the top.  I was told that this peak is about one kilometer tall.  A kid told me that, so it is open for interpretation.

This is the biggest Buddha I've ever seen.  He was several storied high.  There was a large temple area at the base of the mountain, and many people were there to worship, especially because this was the weekend that Buddha's birthday is celebrated.

A dry riverbed.

This is a view from about 3/4 of the way up the mountain.  At this point, we were hiking up a metal staircase/ladder, which had 2-way human traffic on it.  If you fell, you would suffer a serious injury.  In fact, they built this staircase up the rock face that you can see a few pictures down.

Me and our friend Jimmy, relaxing on the top.

This is Seorak Mountain.  We went to the top of this thing.  In fact, if you look closely, in the middle of the rock face is a shadow, and it was through that crevice that the staircase went.

Worshippers in front of the Buddha.  We have learned that if you want to find natural beauty, look for a temple, and you'll find a nice place to hike.

Well, that's it for now, but there is more coming, so stay tuned!