Mount Seorak: One Day Trip

It was a ridiculous attempt I should say and a wasted effort.

This was my first time visiting Mount Seorak and the idea was to go with my brother; Am, my distant uncle; Adi and Ayu; no more introduction needed...hehe.

Not to hike but just to check out the possibility of one day trip to Mount Seorak.

I should say that; Am, Adi and Ayu were my guinea pigs to experiment this crazy attempt.
They are my Charlie "A"ngels = triple A..ahahaha..

Breakfast at DongSeoul Bus Terminal.

My regrets were:
1) I chose a bad day - Saturday (Don't ever come during weekend!)
2) I chose a bad season - autumn (the prettiest but jam-packed with people coming from all over Korea)
3) I should have stayed 2D1N instead of one day stay

It would be best if I spend a day or night at Sokcho area and then hike my way up to Mount Seorak instead of going up with cable car during peak autumn.

*sigh* fruitless attempt.

If you are a mountain hiking lover; Mount Seorak would be a great choice.

Why?

The idea of taking a cable car to appreciate the awesomeness of Mount Seorak is unthinkable.
I mean..when the express bus that we rode passed by parts of Mount Seorak; OMG..look at the view!!
It was superbly awesome, what more if you hike her!

You should DEFINITELY hike Mount Seorak. No question asked.

How to go to Mount Seorak?

First, go to Dong Seoul bus terminal which is located near Gangbyeon Subway Station, Line 2, Green.
You won't miss the terminal cause it's just next to the subway station.

Go to any counter and asked for Sokcho. (속초).
I paid 16,100won per pax. (rate is as Nov, 2012)

The ticket and the bus platforms - number 4 or 5.

I took the earliest subway train to Gangbyeon Station and got a 9.06am bus to Sokcho.
The bus company promised a journey of 2 hours and 10 minutes..nope..it took us 3 hours to reach Sokcho.

We had so much time to kill about 1 hour and a half actually and had our breakfast at the terminal courtesy of Ayu. 고마워!

4 people in black..^^ in front of the restaurant in Sokcho.

We had lunch of seafood stew 매운탕 which was not spicy at all!! Great for Adi but not for me..T_T
Ahh..we met Khairul, another Malaysian who travelled on his own!! Superb!!

After lunch, we just walked around the pier looking at the fishermen working their as* off ..huhu. The Abai village; where Autumn In My Heart Korean drama was shot was just around the corner but we had limited time as we had to rush for Mount Seorak.

The local bus stop.

We walked back to the Sokcho bus terminal and waited for local bus 7-1 (1,100 won per ride) at the bus stop located about 2-3 metres away from the terminal.

The 7-1 bus schedule to Mount Seorak.

The local bus ride was around 30 minutes and Mount Seorak was the last destination.

But....... we couldn't get to our last stop.

See the signboard??

Because...they were so many people coming to watch the autumn foliage so we had to walk about 1.3km to the main gate!!

Cable car ticket was sold out!!

The highlight of our trip was...the ticket for cable car was sold out by the time we reached the ticket counter. That really made my day...^____________^

Anyway, because the day time is shorter in autumn, we just had a small picnic near the river and then took a taxi back to Sokcho bus terminal for about 13,000 won. The time was 6.18pm and we reached DongSeoul bus terminal at about 9.00pm.

My verdict: If I ever go again to Mount Seorak..I would definitely stay a night there or around Sokcho.

Budget: 
Sinchon to Gangbyeon by subway (return) - 2,500 won
Gangbyeon to Sokcho by bus (return) - 32,200 won
Breakfast, lunch - 10,000 won
Local bus Sockho to Mount Seorak - 1,100 won
Admission to Mount Seorak - 2,500 won
Taxi from Mount Seorak to Sokcho - 13,000 won/4 pax =3,250 won

Total: 51,500 won

Note: If you manage to ride the cable car at Mount Seorak, add another 9,000 won.

More information from KNTO: Cable car and Mount Seorak.