130427 Seokcho - Seoraksan

so on the first day of xm's trip she decided to start it off with a bang... by conquering mt seorak.

bad choice.

well at least we started with a rather good breakfast from yesterday's pancake leftovers.

left us aching for many days to come. here's the view of the entrance before we start the climb.

i had thought that it would be pretty chilly - and it was, just before you start the climb. so i was sort of wearing winter stuff. lol. but the more we climbed, the hotter it got, so we started stripping along the way.

stopped a lot to take all the pictures along the way.

and then when we finally reached the steps that says... 10mins to the top - which was a complete lie!!! we took about an hour to reach the top from there T_T

and then we finally reached the top!!! we conquered ulsan-bahwi~~

there was a drinks and photo stall at the top (i wonder if they have to climb the mountain everyday to work there...) and we got this free tea from there because of our connection with the pancake uncle the day before. the herbal tea is awesome!!! (or was it because we climbed like 4hours just to have the drink, that's why??)

settled down and began to have our packed gimbabs and relax on the rock...

and some memorial photos before we head back down T_T

the climb back down was pretty scary because of the rocky path and also cos the steps were so steep. almost tripped on a few occasions.

we then headed to the other mountain, which you could reach easily via cable car. damn, we should have just came here.

the view was great, but somehow the one from ulsan-bahwi was better. but i think it was a  psychological effect - we climbed so hard for that one that we had to insist it's much better.

you see the peak int he picture? we actually wanted to go there, but the steps were a bit crazy - it was steep and rocky and people were sitting to get down. it seems that if you're not careful enough you could lose your life. so we just got up halfway.

then we climbed all the other random rocks strewn around.

some how it's quite impossible to capture the breathtaking view from the top with my s3. you have to really see it for yourself.

then it was time to cable back down. we had pancake at the restaurant just at the mountain before we headed over to our onsen. actually wanted to go to the waterpark but it was pretty late and not worth the money so we went over to the onsen instead.

after all the hot bath... we had hard boiled eggs, just like the people in k dramas. hoho.

and that's enough mountain for me... for the rest of my life. or so i say. before i'm dragged to another mountain again by my almighty bestie. T_T and our legs ached like no tomorrow the next day.