The Travelling Coeliac Environmentalist: September 2025

21 April to 20 May 2023

After Japan we took our first trip to South Korea. We expected to only be here about a week but were surprised at how much there was to see and do. In the end we were here a month. First up is the mandatory tour to the DMZ. Korea was chopped in half with the communist side (North) and the democracy side (South). Lots of symbolism to see with monuments hoping for peace and the putting the 2 halves back together again as well as remnants from the war when the North tried to reunite them by force, and nearly succeeded. At Dora station they had powerful binoculars for spying on the other half and several tunnels you could explore where the North tried to tunnel through to invade secretly. They always get found out. The tour guide tried to give us a snapshot of how the other half live, long story short, not very well.

Next day activity was Namsan Mountain and N Seoul Tower. We walked from our hotel all the way to the tower. It was a steep path with many steps but glorious city views from many stops and viewpoints along the way. Nice greenery and plants on the mountain as well. We got to the top and enjoyed the views and had lunch. Afterwards we set off down the other side of the mountain to a botanical garden and had a long wander checking out the many plants, ponds and even saw a couple of chipmunks playing. After dinner at a gluten free restaurant we walked around the mountain and home.

The next day was a visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace. It had extensive grounds with lots of trees and buildings but along simple and similar lines. Afterwards we headed to Jongmyo Shrine, a nice enclosed garden area where previous royalty are entombed and revered with spirit houses.

After Seoul and needing some nature we headed east to Seoraksan National Park, staying in a hotel nearby with views from the window of magnificent mountains. After visiting the National Park office for maps and advice we decided to hike to Biseondae Rock. Beautiful views and mostly good trails we finished at the sign to Geumganggul Cave, rated éxpert' on the map. We decided to give it a go. The trail was hard, really steep and finished with a large amount of steps. We almost missed it as the steps stop off at views and we thought that was it. Then Elizabeth saw the cave so we headed up. Well worth the effort, amazing place and amazing views. The cave was done up like a temple with spiritual artefacts inside. Does this make us experts now?

We followed that with another big mountain hiking day. We decided to do the waterfalls trail. Three waterfalls here, Yukdam Falls, Biryong Falls and then to a lookout spot where you can see Towangseong Falls. The first two were fairly easy but then the steps kicked in, and steps and steps. Ouch. Finally when we got to the top the waterfall was more a trickle than a gusher. The views though were magnificent and while we were resting and eating a couple of. rascal squirrels came out to play. They were really funny and not scared of us, running around and playing with each other. We went to Sokcho that night for dinner and to buy follow on bus tickets. The following day was wet and wild so we had a lovely rest day regaining our hiking legs.

With fresh legs we decided to tackle the big one, Ulsanbawi Rock, A huge single granite rock of 6 peaks. Half way up you get to Heundeulbawi Rock. There were brilliant views from here and also had some ancient Buddhist temples with recorded meditation voice ringing out among the rock, plenty of colour, little buddhas and other interesting artefacts. After a punishing amount of stairs we finally reached the top that had multiple stairs to 3 different viewpoints. Of course we had to try them all. The far side you could see all the way to the ocean, the city and other little villages and fancy golfing resorts.

Next stop was the city of Gyeongju-si, home of the Silla dynasty (57BCE to 676). It had Buddhist leanings and would bury their nobility in wooden chamber tombs, covered by stone mounds. They then got covered by soil, and grass grown over them. Therefore in reality this whole city is one giant cemetery which is celebrated. Weird but true. We wandered around the free mounds, lakes, hills and viewpoints and also saw Cheomseongdae, an ancient tower that is thought to be an early observatory. The afternoon we spent at the Daereungwon Tomb Complex, a closed park that cost to see fancier mounds within a nice park complex, that allowed entry into one of the tombs to see the relics.

The next morning was a visit to Golgulsa Temple. The temple was a 40 minute bus ride away plus a half hour walk. Not so much a single temple but an ancient Buddhist grotto with a rocky outcrop consisting of many small natural caves each with little buddhas and carvings in them leading up through a system of steep stairs to the ancient Buddha at the top, over 1,000 years old. Very well preserved considering and has a quality about it that makes it feel very special. Finally that night we wandered out to see the lights on all the little tomb mounds littered around the city that we looked at the other day.

The following day was a travel day to Busan, but as weather was going bad we decided to head straight out when we arrived. We went to do the Songdo Cable car ride with a glass bottom. Was a lovely long trip over the ocean and looking down was interesting. The park on the other side had a wealth of activities, sculptures and hikes to choose from. You could walk across to a tiny island over a suspension bridge for an extra fee. The park had artworks, playgrounds and dinosaur animatronics called Amnam Park.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple was our first stop the next day as it was still fine. Constructed in the 14th century on the side of a cliff it is a fairly impressive set of structures. We had a fairly extensive wander around checking out the various Buddhas and temples and people praying etc. They had a sign making the bold claim that it was the most beautiful temple in Korea. After that and after dinner we headed off to the Gamcheon Culture Village. This is a labyrinth like maze of streets and stairs built on the side of a steep mountain slope filled with brightly coloured houses and numerous murals and artwork on the sides and front of the houses. Nice for an afternoon and evening walk to enjoy the colourful views of the layered houses and cute little nooks and crannies of photo stops and sculptures.

As the weather turned bad we headed west to tackle the second highest mountain in Sth Korea, Jirisan, and its highest point Cheonwangbong Peak. After spending a day researching the peak we woke up early to get to the trail so as to complete it in one day. Our host had made us these rice and vegetable patties covered by tofu for lunch and 6 eggs. We left 2 eggs in the room for next days brekkie.

It was a punishing trail, mostly uneven rocks over steep trails. Punishing on the knees and concentration. We got to the top just before 2, having stopped for lunch at the rotary shelter like everybody else. I also spent too much time at Ssanggyesa temple because I took the wrong track, not realising it was to the temple only. About 20 minutes. Just after 2 we did the cross, getting to the Jangteomok shelter just before 4, the cutoff time before you are not supposed to go down anymore but stay at the shelter. We left a bit late, about 4:15 due to toilet and water breaks. We still thought we had plenty of time because at 3 hours down would be 7:15, just before dark. The trail down was fairly treacherous, with the trail teetering out at parts and climbing down required etc. We passed and then they passed us a group of 3 guys with one having similar knee problems to myself and taking things carefully. Water from the recent rains was crossing the path making some stretches slippery and wet. Nevertheless we kept up a persistent pace with few stops. It started getting later and later with signs and all trails revealing we still had awhile to go, which did not make sense if it was 3 hours long. It passed 7 and then 7:30 with lots still to go and then getting dark. I eventually used the torch on my phone to light the way and we caught up to 2 of the previous group having difficulty in the dark. I used my torch to try to help him and to shine enough light backwards to help Elizabeth. I stumbled a few times. At around 8:15 the other guy came back with a torch and a phone light and at about that time Elizabeth took a tumble with me and my stick breaking her fall. The guy gave her his phone so she had a light of her own and we all continued down, making it to the bottom at about 8:30. Our host who was going to pick us up was worried about us because I could not contact him due to internet issues. He eventually picked us up. Checking the map later we realised they had given us the wrong time for the last leg, with the map saying 4 hours and not 3. It would have been much faster to go straight down from Cheonwangbong but the longer path followed a stream down and with the recent rains it was gushing with plentiful waterfalls and lovely scenery.

After recovering from back in Busan we caught a plane down to Jeju Island. The plan for the first day was to check out all the sights South of the Island. This encompassed 2 waterfalls and a big rock. So we hopped on a bus to the first waterfall, Jeongbang Waterfall. This waterfall drains into the ocean and has quite a unique view. At the bottom of a flight of stairs with several lookout spots, you arrive at a rocky beach, from where you can view the waterfall in all its glory. Lots of people bravely balancing on the rocks trying to find a better vantage point. We did our own fair share of balancing while I looked for the perfect photo. We then checked the map and decided that the next waterfall was walking distance. The Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was located at the end of a long path through a luscious garden/forest area along a winding river. Quite a beautiful waterfall in a lovely setting, about the same height as the first one but wider. As we exited the park we could see a unique looking pedestrian bridge so we decided to go and have a look. It ended up being a bridge called the Saeseom Island Saeyeongyo Bridge, a cable bridge with a sail shaped tower that took you across to Saeseom Island. The island was a park and garden but we did not have enough time to explore because we had one more stop on out list of attractions and we were running out of day. We again decided to walk. Our last stop was Oedolgae rock. This was a large rock sticking up out of the ocean like James Bond rock in Phuket, Thailand. If anything, this rock was probably more impressive, if not at least as impressive. Lovely area around it. Time to catch a bus finally because the hour trip to the other side of the island is not really walkable.

16 May 2023, Elizabeth’s birthday, and our original plan was to hike up the big one, Mt Hallasan. But we missed the 10am bus to the national park by 3 minutes. We caught a bus east, which then proceeded to break down on us. We then waited for another bus and caught that to where we needed to change buses to the Manjanggul Cave. Got off and then realised due to the breakdown we missed the connecting bus. With an hour and a half until the next one we revised our plans again. We then caught a bus to Seongsan Ilchulbong. This is a peak on the coast with a cone formed by volcanic eruptions. There was a long trail of stairs to the peak where you got views of the town and ocean below and the crater within. We then high tailed it down because we still wanted to make it to the cave. We caught a bus getting there with an hour to spare before it closed. Manjanggul Cave is a lava tube 9km long, making it the 12th largest in the world, created by flowing lava and having the biggest lava column in the world. This cave was really cool, literally and figuratively, walking along a floor created by flowing lava.

Finally we made our way to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Birthday 62, done and dusted.

Finally the day for the big day hike on Mt Hallasan, Sth Korea's biggest mountain. After 2 days of hiking around the sights south and east, I was not sure I had the legs for this hike. The Yeongsil trail was rated as a moderate to hard trail of around 5 to 7 hours long depending on where you start. We had a false start taking a trail we thought was going to the trailhead but instead took us to a temple. Aarrggh the bane of my existence is all of these friggin temples. Retracing our steps back to the car park we realised we were going to run out of time if we lost another 45 minutes getting to the trailhead. So we took a taxi for $10, not bothering to bargain because we were in a hurry. This was very lucky because by the time we started it was only 20 minutes until the official cut off time for starting the trail.

Finally we were off and hiking. The trail starts challenging with lots of stairs through lush forest opening up as we got higher to impressive views. The sky started closing in and looked threatening as we got higher, though the path got easier. It opened to vast plains and vistas, then closed in again, then became rocky and very, very windy. I assume this is a natural wind tunnel as the track was well serviced here with ropes and handrails. Elizabeth was regretting a decision to not bring her jacket but persevering with the hike like the trooper she is. We finally reached the end of the trail at a shelter that had a medical bay, toilets and rest area. We stopped to eat our lunch of nuts, chips and banana and discussed which way to go down, as there was an alternative track. We chose the alternative Eorimok trail as we like variety. This trail was longer but we were hoping more sheltered. The trail was more sheltered but harder as it was mostly a rock track. Most of the track was in fairly dense forest and so was green, calm and relaxing, until vehicles started coming down along a monorail that ran down beside the track bringing down items from the shelter. We ended the day breaking a record by walking 20.1 km and 30,480 steps.

The next two days were wet so we stayed mostly in, just going out for a wander and gluten free cake supplies. On the second day we went to a show called "Cookin Nanta". This was essentially a comedy done in mime about some very accident prone chefs preparing for a banquet.

Our last day in Sth Korea ended up being fine so we checked the map for anything we had not seen and found the Cheonjaeyeon Waterfall. This turned out to be much more than expected. It was a total of 3 waterfalls and a bridge with nymphs adorned on it over to a simple temple/pagoda with lovely markings and large garden areas. The first waterfall was fairly dry with a blue pool in front of it but had rock formations in long geometric structures that looked quite unique. The second waterfall was broad and bouncing off rocks near the top before tumbling to the bottom. The third waterfall was narrow and secluded but gushing out the top. Afterwards we wandered over the bridge to the temple and different views and enjoyed the lovely colours and paintings adorning the temple’s roof and sides.