Tim wakes us up at 8:30: breakfast is ready. We slept for 10 hours, and feel re-energized after yesterday’s travel day.
Today, we will explore Seoraksan National Park. It’s sunny and warm, and only a 20 minute drive to the parking which is already busy. There are several hikes to choose from, the one to the Dinosaur Ridge is by far the coolest, but as it has a 750 meter climb, we choose the 3km hike to the Biryeong and Towangseong waterfall for today.
There are many different trees and flowers to be seen. Unfortunately, most pink flowers of the cherry trees are lying on the ground, but on the hills we see some are still blooming. When planning our trip we had to choose between Sakura season in Korea/Japan or cool temperatures in Uzbekistan. We decided to go for the cool temperatures in Uzbekistan instead of melting in the middle of May. Seeing how warm it already was on some days, we think we made the right choice. And this also gives us a great reason to come back to Korea or Japan 😉
The hike starts horizontal, but soon becomes a climb. Cleo collects many compliments by climbing up (because we promised an ice cream), but ends up in de Deuter half way. We’re happy we brought it after all, it’s the first time of our trip that we really need it. We’ve been cursing it getting it into and out of trains and planes while also carrying two children and two suitcases. But now it’s in the back of our car, so all good for the coming weeks.
It’s not too busy and a nice walk along the waterfall/river, with many bridges crossing the water, and views to the impressive mountain ridge above us. The 16m high waterfall is not the highlight of our hike, but there is a quiet pool next to it where the children can play. Tim decides to take the bonus climb to the Towangseon waterfall, but as it includes a 400M climb consisting of only steep stairs, Olga and the children stay near the pool to enjoy themselves.
Olga gets a bit worried when Tim is not back after an hour. Many people who went up after Tim are back, and even people who went up after the people that already went up and are back, are also back. What takes Tim so long?
She is at the point of carrying Cleo and Zeno to the Towangseon waterfall herself when she finally sees Tim coming down the stairs. He does not walk comfortable, what has happened?
Well it was a 400m stair challenge, which was ok, but since Tim took his drone he had to wait until the viewing platform on the top was empty enough to launch the drone for some up and close views of the stunning glacier waterfalls. He also met a fellow drone enthusiast, so they chatted for a while when Tim decided to descend, 400m of steps down is terrible on the knees, so that’s why Tim was a bit wobbly.
Olga carries Cleo down to save Tims legs, and Zeno falls a sleep in the baby carrier that Tim carries. We’re back in 45 minutes and enjoy a bimbimbab for lunch at the parking lot. It tastes very well.
To add some culture to the nature, we go for a second hike. Within the park there are also some Buddhist temples. Sinheunga is believed to be the oldest Seon temple in the world, and is now a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. There are many colorful lanterns along the way.
Our knees are tired now, so we head back to our aparthotel. But as we promised Cleo to build sand castles on the beach, we cannot relax long.
We want to end this perfect day with a perfect dinner, but it’s a challenge at the sea side town, most restaurants are specialised in crab. But the dozens poor crabs jammed together in small aquariums don’t work well on our appetite.
So, we end up at the robot restaurant of yesterday. We make the same order, except for the octopus pancakes as we try to avoid animals. However, a waiter asks us to order an extra dish, so we stare at the Korean menu and order a nice looking red noodle soup. It turned out to be a huge mistake. When the robot arrives to deliver the dishes, we notice the soup is one big crab cooked and cut in pieces. Sorry crab. A not so perfect end, but still, it was a wonderful day.
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