Notice in hotel room - incase of invasion from the North! click to read larger image	 
	 

Mt Seoraksan National Park area

The drive from Seoul to Mt Seoraksan was about 3.5 hours. We stopped for a break at an expressway services station in which there was a huge shop of 'dick-stick’ art. Large wooden carvings of the male penis were also prominent in the shops in Seorak.

 

Seorak was named because the snow would not melt for a long periods and the rocks stayed white like snow. It was designated as a biosphere preservation district by UNESCO. You can see fantastic rock formations and superb forests.

 

Cable Car to Gwonkeumsansung Fortress

Due to the low cloud we could only imagine the views of the fascinating rock formations of the Gwongeumseong region and Sogongwon area. We didn’t risk the 20 minute hike to Gwongeumseong to get a birds-eye-view of Oe-Serok.

Shinheungsa Temple

At the base of the cable car you can enter the Sinheungsa, temple which used to be called Hyangseongsa. It was built by Jajangyulsa (590~658), who travelled to famous mountains all over the nation, in Queen Jindeok’s (?~654) 6th year of reign. It was destroyed and has been rebuilt many times since.

On the path to Sinheungsa, there is a great 10 metre high bronze statue called Bronze Jwabul Statue. Just beyond the statue, which is on a granite terrace, there is a bridge to the right called Hyeonsugyo, which was newly built for crossing the ravine. Past the bridge there is a long stone wall with a Cheongwang door, and you can enter the temple. At the entrance there are four Cheonwang (king) statues (Jiguk Cheonwang with a sword, Damun Cheonwang with a lute, Gwangmok Cheonwang with a tower, and Jeungjang Cheonwang with a dragon), placed on either side. The Buddhist statues at Sinheungsa were placed here during the founding days of Seongjeongsa, and include the statues Mireukbosal, Gwaneumbosal and Seji which were sculpted by Uisang Daesa. The buildings which were built during that time are still standing, like the sanctuary, main temple, Myeongbujeon, Bojaeru, and Chilseonggak, etc. There is also an important cultural three-story stone tower, called Hyangseongsaji.

Daepohang Fishing Port (Fish Market)

The port is filled with raw fish restaurants and a live fish market containing eel, flounder, yellowtail, squid, shrimps, crab and a plethora or high-end seafood. Local delights include ojingeo sundae and gamja songpyeon. For lunch, simply – choose your fish and it is chopped to eat raw or grilled or steamed. It was rather disturbing to see the large fish beaten to death with a baseball bat and the gutting of a live octopus.

Naksan Temple  (and Naksan Beach)

Naksansa or Naksan Temple is a Korean Buddhist temple complex in the Jogye order of Korean Buddhism that stands on the slopes of NaksanMountain (also called "Obongsan Mountain"). Founded in 671, it is one of the few temples in Korea to overlook the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Naksan temple grounds were ravaged by a wildfire in 2005, but the damaged or destroyed buildings were almost completely restored by July 2006 at a cost of $3m. The 16-meter/53 feet-tall statue known as Gwanseum-Bosal is a depiction of the Haesugwaneumsang (Bodhisattva of Mercy) and is the most prominent feature at the site.