Sogeumgang Valley 소금강

Hello. 

I had the pleasure of visiting 소금강 last weekend. According to the "internet" it was around the best time to go visit due to the colour changes in the leaves. Sogeumgang was pretty easy to get to from Gangneung's bus terminal. However, it isn't a bus that leaves from the bus terminal itself. You have to get the 303 bus from outside the terminal, and it's a city bus. The bus should take around 40 minutes to an hour. 

Seogeumgang is located on the East side of Mount. Odaesan. It starts with Mureung Valley in the centre then it is divided into the lower half called Oesogeumgang and the upper half called Naesogeumgang. There are various waterfalls and so much wildlife. 

Once you get off the bus, you'll see a range of stalls and shops. They sell various things from dried vegetables to alcohol. There are restaurants which sell a range of food and there is also a bathroom directly opposite the bus stop. 

David and I stopped to eat first. We ordered bibimbap. De-constructed! They give you the rice and sauce separately. It was pretty good. The vegetables they gave weren't the usual ones you'd get back home. I prefer the vegetables here. 

As you walk through the many stalls and restaurants, you'll start seeing the beautiful river. 

The leaves were in the middle of turning red! I've never seen trees go this red before! I mean sure, I've seen brown/orange leaves, but these maple leaves are so pretty! 

When you're hiking, walking anywhere near a mountain you will come across a gang of people, head to toe in hiking gear. They barge past you too! Some even run down the steep slopes. They take their hiking seriously over here. 

The scenery was so beautiful. The different colours, the warm, breezy weather. It was awesome. 

The place is so picturesque. It was around 10km to the summit. We didn't go that far. I can only go so high, then I start to freak out. We didn't even make it to any waterfalls! We saw baby waterfalls but no huge ones. 

On the way to Sogeumgang, we had an adventure around Gangneung. We caught the bus 303-1, the driver said he will end up going there, but he has a couple of stops first. Little did we know, he did a HUGE tour around Gangneung, then back to the bus station before he even went in the direction of Sogeumgang! We would have been better off waiting the 30 minutes at the bus stop. What made it all worse was that I needed to pee! I needed to pee before we even reached the bus terminal the second time. From the bus terminal it was a 40 minute bus ride >_<!

Then on the way back, the bus was PACKED. There were hairpin bends, and bumps all the way back. It was that cramped, an ajumma decided to sit on the floor in front of me, right on my feet. 

I have never been so travel sick in my life. It was the worst journey ever. It was worth it though in the end! 

'till next time,

Kelly