Never in a million years did I think I would ride the Seoraksan cable car. What a cheat! My third time visiting the park came in late August, after a day of beach lounging and makgeolli drinking. With only a few hours to spare before hopping on a bus back to Seoul, we decided to go enjoy my favorite place in Korea, Seoraksan National Park.

From Sokcho, it’s an incredibly easy commute. You hop on city bus #7 or #7-1 and it’s a smooth, quick 30-minute ride directly to the entrance of the park. Once we arrived at the park, we walked around the beautiful Sinheungsa Temple, bought tickets for the cable car and enjoyed potato pancakes, corn makgeolli and bibimbap. It was a damp, foggy day and visibility was low, but Seoraksan never disappoints.

If you’re not interested in hiking Seoraksan, I would highly recommend riding the cable car. At W9,000 won, it’s definitely worth it. However, if you do plan on doing some lengthy hikes around Seoraksan, the cable car doesn’t do the park justice. The cable car is a 6-minute ride that takes you 1,200 meters up into the mountains. From the observatory, you can see Ulsanbawi, Sokcho city, the sea and even parts of inner-Seorak. There are two outdoor observatory decks at the top. Snacks and beverages are also available. I believe you can also hike from the observatory, however, we did not have the time to do so. Also, we knew we would be back for a 24k hike in just two weeks!

These are the final shots of my destroyed supersampler film.

Next up, tales of two wet, foggy days hiking Seoraksan and an overnight stay at the magical Bongjeongsam Temple.