Have I told you that I absolutely adore South Korea? Why? I can dress as if I'm going for Mount Everest basecamp trekking in the middle of a bustling city yet no one bothers to drag me to a psychiatric ward. Hiking gears are sort of standardized uniforms there especially among middle-aged to elderly people. The country has numerous charming hiking trails waiting to be explored. Seoraksan National Park happens to be one of my favorite places for a short hike. The peak of the Ulsanbawi rock is also the best location to cure acrophobia with a stunning view.
The oldest Zen Buddhism temple in the world known as the Sinheungsa temple is located within Seoraksan National Park. It was built around 635 to 637 by monk Jajang and burnt down twice. The temple was subsequently rebuilt in 710 and 1648.
Within the hollow statue of the Bronze Buddha or the Great Unification Buddha contains three pieces of the Buddha's relics. Relics mean the remains of Buddha after cremation. The statue weighs 108 tons. Construction of the bronze statue cost around $4.1 million. The Bronze Buddha represented South Koreans crucial wish for reunification of a divided country.
The classic South Korean temple architecture exuded understated beauty complementing its tranquil natural surroundings. I look forward to returning to this attractive temple for a short stay one day. I'm more than ready to complete the Ulsanbawi trail hike.
Seoraksan National Park was designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve back in 1982. This park was clothed prettily in autumn foliage during my first visit. Like a change of wardrobe, any season of the year enables this park to display its unique characteristics. Taking a cable car ride up to the Gwongeumseong Fortress had been an exciting and unforgettably vivid experience that left a huge imprint in my memory.
Despite the minimal obstacle in the eyes of certain people, I was very happy to challenge myself to climb up to the Gwongeumseong peak. The indescribable sense of satisfaction in addition to awesome scenery from above far exceeded the small effort put into getting there. We need to be comfortable celebrating small wins before receiving bigger blessings.
After gathering my strengths to deal with my late brother's suicide, I worked hard to overcome my fear of height along with other complexes. I have to constantly remind myself that my late father is only a human being far from the qualities of a Buddha to appease my internal anger as well as pent-up frustrations. Everyone collected a combination of desirable and less desirable traits within their lifetime. It's possible to be assertive, sympathetic, and effective while remaining level-headed at the same time. Some of the greatest lessons the magnanimous mountain taught us are to embrace flaws and to always remember to be forgiving towards all sentient beings.
Important Information
Transportation: Seoul Express Bus Terminal
Distance from Seoul: 4 hours
Bus Fare from Seoul: USD15 to USD30
Distance from Sokcho: 30 minutes
Bus Fare from Sokcho: USD1 to USD2.5
Entrance Fee: USD8.76 or 10,000 Won
Cable Car Fare: USD7.10 or 8,000 Won
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Wheat
wow such an amazing place !
i've added so much things on my list after visiting this community haahha
i do enjoy small hikes, and this one seems perfect and beautifull. i would visit it a lot to if i could !
Thank you for your kind comments!
Best wishes in fulfilling all your desires and dream destinations!😄
Thank you @ackhoo and @qurator!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Thank you @pinmapple!
Congratulations @wittywheat! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Your next target is to reach 4250 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPThank you @hivebuzz!
You're welcome @wittywheat, that's with a lot of pleasure! Have a nice day 😊🌹
I'm sorry to hear about you're brother's death, that must have been devasting for you and your family.
Thank you for your condolence! It took many years to heal. Now I sort of found a new purpose in life especially when I cross paths with orphans or adoptees. I can share with them that overindulgence or too much love can become dangerous too as it has a tendency to prevent a person from developing creative solutions towards self-help. After hearing my story, they usually gain new perspectives in regards to getting abandoned by their parents.
That's great you can use your own experience to help others, what's happened to yourself won't changed unfortunately, but if you can use the 'bad' and make some good out of it, that at least makes the suffering worthwile.
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1265.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
Thank you @lizanomadsoul!
Spectacular view, All the photographs are just stunning, everything looks so fantastic. Thanks for sharing. I also love photography and travel a lot, Capture and Explore the mighty Himalayas on my Mountain Bike.. do drop by when you are free.
Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments!
Sure, will check out your blog right away! 😄
F'ing gorgeous. I've only had the opportunity to spend time with a South Korean young woman once. It was for a couple hours and she was a sweetheart. 💖
Congrats on the reward here.
Thanks for swinging by @dandays!
There is a scene in the movie entitled Mamma Mia I wanna quote here
Donna (Dandays): "Stop growing up so fast! You seem like you're having fun already. I used to have lots of fun!"
Ashley and Rachel (Wheat): "Oh, we know!" 😉
Best wishes to fulfilling all your dream destinations!😄