On the weekend, The Yeti and I finally put aside our Seoraksan loyalty, and ventured South, to Jirisan (via. Junsang-ni.)

The weekend was pretty damn great; bokbunja, beer, fantastic mildly drunk conversation, a wee hike, temples, a little light flagellation (we were spectators, not participants), a cheap minbak, bibimbap, and bad Korean TV.

We didn’t get to the peak (Cheonwanbong) this time. Instead, we did a fairly short (but embarrassingly taxing!) hike to a temple. To be honest, the hike was a little underwhelming (the fact that I chose to illustrate the trip with a picture of me semi-seducing a bear statue rather than the scenery probably says something about the views…), but I guess it’s a little hard to compare with Daecheongbong in the height of fall… And to compete with the bokbunja, bibimbap, and general laziness that we knew came after the hike.

All in all, a smashing trip, a nice mountain… But I’m looking forward to seeing me old buddy Seoraksan next weekend!

Boring getting there stuff:

-Bus from Nambu Terminal to Wonji (it runs pretty frequently, starting at 6am and ending at around 10pm) 17, 400W. 3hrs 15mins.

-At Wonji, bus to Jungsan-ni (they only seem to come once or twice an hour) 3,500W. 45mins (ish!)

-In Jungsan-ni, there’s a bunch of minbaks, a couple of marts, and shiktangs up the wazoo. We lusted over some gorgeous wood cabins for 90,000… And eventually found a decent room (with a bed) for 40,000. From Jungsan-ni, the park entrance is a 20min walk up. And up. And up.