Korean Mountains

Hello again, welcome back to this humble space where we collect our thoughts and experiences.

Perhaps by now you would have realised that the motif on our main page is rolling mountains, as with the tag on our Saero label. With 70% of South Korea covered by mountainous terrain, mountains are an integral part of Korea's landscape and beauty; it's also an integral part of Korea we enjoy, and therefore we are happy to translate this also through our brand image and stories.

Last summer, we climbed the highest mountain in Korea, on Jeju Island - Mount Hallasan standing at 1,950m. 

While there's plenty of trails to ascend Hallasan, there are only two trails that take you to the summit - Gwaneumsa Trail and Seongpanak Trail, both of which need a reservation. We took the Gwaneumsa Trail, the supposedly shorter and harder trail. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, not to mention extremely painful for non-seasoned hikers like us, taking us a grand total of 12 hours to complete a round-trip to the peak. 

People probably enjoy nature differently. While some enjoy a rigorous workout and climb surrounded by nature, staring at mountains is possibly a more preferred pastime for us.

Many know Hallasan as the highest mountain in South Korea, but the tallest and biggest on South Korean mainland is actually Jirisan, standing at 1,915m, just 35m shorter than Hallasan.

Coincidentally, just before summer ended, we also spent a few days in the warm embrace of Jirisan. Jirisan National Park actually spans three provinces (North, South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang); because the mountain range is so extensive, the nickname given to Jirisan by the locals living there is halmoni (할머니), which means grandmother in Korean, because Jirisan is so huge it engulfs the towns around like in a grandmother's warm embrace. We definitely felt so, standing above and within it all when we were in Hadong-gun. 

In Seoul, everyone knows Namsan because of Namsan Tower, but our personal favourites are Naksan and Ansan - for their views, and calm, quiet surrounding. 

Staring at mountains - a favourite pastime. Many people love the city, or the sea, because of its bustle and dynamism;

We love mountains precisely for the opposite, because they are always still - and in that moment of staring at mountains staring back at us, our heart and mind keeps still too.