Information Booths For Fall Foliage

Don't where to find the autumn leaves in Korea? Never fear - some temporary info booths have been set up to guide visitors to the most beautiful instances of fall foliage in at least one national park. ( see below). It's not clear, though, if any or how much information will be available to English-speaking tourists.

I really don't know if there's such a need for these booths. Why can't the info ( if there's anything new in the first place) be made available in the current Tourist Information offices or the National Parks offices and even better still, the websites? The staff in such places didn't seem terribly overwhelmed with visitors even when I visited them during the peak periods. It would save Korean taxpayers a lot of money if the KNTO and NPA pooled resources to answer these basic questions which most tourists want to know:via already established channels:

1. How reliable is the fall foliage schedule issued by the KMA?
2. How will the daily changes in the weather affect the colours of the autumn leaves?
3. Which spots in the various national parks are particularly well-known for maple colours, for gingko colours or for a mixture of reds, golds, browns and greens?

Taken from the KNTO Website:
"A temporary ‘Foliage Information Center’ has opened near the entrance of Naejangsan National Park (and a few other locations around Jeongeup City) to assist seasonal visitors who’ve come to see the fall leaves. The autumn changing of the leaves is a much celebrated seasonal event in Korea and with the leaves of Naejangsan expected to reach their peak around the first weekend of November, preparations are in full swing.


In an effort to provide visitors with information on when and where to enjoy the brilliant colors, Jeongeup Municipal Office will be operating three fall information centers until November 15th. Visitors to the information centers can receive information about major tourist attractions and local delicacies (etc.) in addition to information on the leaves themselves.

‘Foliage Information Centers’ are located in the Sculpture Park near the Naejangsan entrance, near the Naejang IC, and near the Jeongeup IC of Honam Expressway. Each center operates daily from 9:00 to 18:00.

*Depending on the number of visitors and fall foliage conditions, centers may close as early as Nov 10th.


source: http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1123148

Around Korea By Bus In Two Weeks, Part 3

Here is the third and final part of my travel itinerary for my 2005 visit. For more information on buses, click here.

2 Nov – Wednesday
In Gwangju but it's all business - sent off emails and changed travellers’ cheques in bank; then walked to the Gwangju bus terminal to head towards Naejangsan. Would you believe it? Traffic jams in the provinces. Long stream of tour buses and cars all clogging up narrow countryside lane leading to entrance of Naejangsan Park. But non-drivers could get busy with their cameras even before reaching the park as the maple trees flanking the lane were already looking very photogenic in their autumn finery.

Very noisy though with all the honking of tour buses and excited chatter of groups of walkers who were about to start their walks or who had just finished their walks and were celebrating in the various restaurants. Found a place to stay in the Happy Days minbak near the main tourist village here, far from the hustle and bustle.

3 Nov – Thursday
Full day of walking in the Naejangsan National Park. Mountains, a cable car ride, trees, temples, streams, waterfalls, pavilions - what more could I ask for? There's even a "bridge of love"! For more on Naejangsan,  click here.

4 Nov – Friday
Boarded a bus to Jongeup and then changed buses for Seonunsan; lucky to be allowed an informal temple stay at Dosolam, about an hour's walk away from Seonunsan's main temple. Stunning autumn foliage here. Though there aren't as many maple trees as in Naejangsan, the colours are really rich and the fallen leaves have created a Persian carpet of sorts on the ground.

5 Nov – Saturday
Explored area around Dosolam at Seonunsan Provincial Park; surprised to stumble upon two spots used for the outdoor shooting of scenes for the popular MBC drama, Jewel in the Palace or Daejanggeum.

The first was a cave and the second,  a cliff - both related to death scenes in the drama series.
Also had the privilege of having tea with some seonims in a nearby hermitage.

6 Nov – Sunday
Seonim persuaded the driver of a private chartered bus of local tourists to let me join them as it was bound for Seoul. But there were a few unexpected stopovers.
First, the bus carrying Buddhist devotees stopped by the beautiful temple at Geumsansa. The three-tiered temple is particularly stunning in winter but I was glad to see Geumsan-sa in autumn anyway.

Next, surprise - I got to revisit Naejangsan but sadly the overnight rain had turned the maple trees into sodden dismal damsels in distress unlike the splendid show-offs from a few days earlier. What a difference a few days make - timing is everything.

On the way back to Seoul, we were entertained with karaoke on board. Even the driver took part.
Spent my last night in a Silloam Sauna, a jjimjilbang or public bathhouse with sauna and other facilities near Seoul Station.

7 Nov – Monday
Boarded bus near Seoul Station to get to the Incheon International Airport and spend a fair bit of time shopping in the supermarket in the basement and checking out the Cultural Experience Corner before my flight home.

Earlier Postings:
Around Korea By Bus in Two Weeks, Part 1
Around Korea By Bus in Two Weeks, Part 2

sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=824869&nearBy=food&
http://saunasinkorea.blogspot.com/2010/03/seoul-ktx-station-silloam-sauna-jjimjil.html
http://www.silloamsauna.com/site_en/main/main.asp
http://www.silloamsauna.com/site_en/sub1/sub1_05.asp
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=626600

Naejangsan "Revisited" In Winter

Promised someone that I'd post a pic of Naejangsan in winter so am glad to have found one. Here' s a pic of the entrance to the famous national park. Looks like a pretty white bower to stroll beneath while the snow's fresh and crunchy to the feet.

Pic credit:
Yonhap News

Early Birds Get The Shots, Naejangsan Part 3

Shades of autumn in Naejangsan National Park ( November, 2005)

The National Parks staff at Naejangsan are probably the most hard-working bunch. They were already selling tickets at the entrance booth at 6 a.m. Not kidding. I could've taken the park shuttle to get to the cable car station but thought I'd do a bit of warming-up and walk instead. Besides I knew the ticket booth wouldn't open so early but I hadn't reckoned on there being a queue in front of it before it opened at 7 am. The 45 minute walk had, fortunately, done its job of warming me up and the excitement was building as we tried to wait patiently in the nippy air.

View of the cable car station amid summer foliage

It was a short ride to the top of one of the many peaks that surround the valley. Just in time for sunrise but I had to share standing space at a pavilion with some avid photographers who thought nothing of lugging their massive tripods and lenses up the ridge for some spectacular shots.

View of  cable car station in the valley far below from one of the seven main peaks

encircling Naejangsa. Dawn is breaking and the photographers are clicking away madly.

On my way back to the cable car station, I paused to gape at a man balancing at least six heavy boxes on his back with the help of a traditional bamboo carrier as he made his way along the narrow ridge path to goodness knows where.

source:

http://www.knto.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=658455&nearBy=site

Not So Easy Getting Away From It All - Naejangsan Part 1

Set off from Gwangju for Naejangsan around mid-day. BIG mistake. Found myself stuck in a traffic jam. What would’ve been a simple 1½ hour bus ride turned out to be an extra hour long crawl up to this provincial town which didn’t look unlike Seoul in terms of population, noise and traffic. Whoever told me that it would be less crowded on weekdays was mistaken. Or maybe, on second thought, that person was still right as the weekend jams would’ve been twice as long. ( Yes, they were.)

Still, the one kilometer leading up to the entrance of Naejangsan National Park is a pretty place to get stuck in a long queue of buses and cars all inching towards the parking area if one’s timing is right. I was lucky to be able to admire the bright scarlets of the dampong ( maple leaves) at leisure as the trees flanked the road leading up to the park entrance. Click here for the 2009 autumn foliage schedule.

   It's much quieter in the tourist village in other seasons.

 The noise and crowds at the village centre were quite overwhelming. It wasn’t just the excited chatter from local tourist groups but the loud music as well blaring from loudspeakers of the various eateries and vying for their attention. There were more restaurants ( sikdangs) and shops than expected in this small tourist village. Didn’t think I’d get any sleep if I spent the night amid the cacophony so I retreated towards what looked like a cluster of minbaks away from the centre.

Chose the “Happy Days” minbak, largely on account of its eye-catching orange facade and its relative proximity to the park entrance and bus stop. Given a really tiny room with no window and a temperamental TV but at least it was in the privileged position within the house and I could use the family bathroom. My friendly hosts, Mr Lee and his wife invited me into their kitchen which also looked like the main operations centre as a desktop sat in one corner of the crowded area. The missus kindly offered me coffee and slices of juicy pears and proudly showed me their webpage with photos sent by previous guests. Husband and son are fencers but a pity I didn’t get a chance to see them in action.

For this place I had to fork out 30,000 won per night. Realized soon enough that everything was expensive in Naejangsan. Elsewhere in the country, meals like sanchae bibimbap could cost between 4000 and 5000 won but here, every restaurant seemed to be charging no less than 7000 won for ordinary meals. Small wonder then that I became a frequent patron of the small Family Mart outlet here.

From Travel Journal dated 2 November 2005.

source:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=817924

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/399516/