As much climbing as we’ve done, nothing prepared us for the limitless amount of boulders that Hampi provided. The bus ride in from Hospet (the closest big town to Hampi) provided us with a view with the extent of boulder problems that sniffed out.
We get off the bus and tried to find our way to a pre-booked hostel called “Goan Corner”. The first few rickshaw drivers we met explained to us that “The Goan Corner is demolished” – Seriously? Demolished? It was hard to believe. In our Lonely Planet guide book, they explained that rickshaw drivers would say something like that and take you to a “better and cheaper hostel” for you and they get a commission for it.
We shrug it off and truck our way to the ferry to take us across the river where the Goan Corner supposedly was. We march around a huge rice paddy field to find at the end of the rainbow and found *drum roll* the Goan Corner.
Temples ruins and boulders
Our dear German friend Max (from our first stop, Mahabs) was already there. It was the first time we finally made a point to meet up during our travels, and was successful at it. All the other times, it has been bumping into him and moving on.
We settle in and work our way back over the river to see what we could see. And that we could see was – a lot of boulders and a massive temple sticking up from the middle of it. Hanuman, the monkey God, according to legend, sat on top of a hill and threw boulders all around the place.
We decided to meet up with a tour group that went around Hampi by bicycle. Not a bad idea, considering everything was bicycle distance apart. That and it was early enough in the morning that it was still cool enough to not sweat our asses off before the heat of the afternoon – reaching toward 36 degrees (dry heat luckily)
Tourism has used Hampi as a main income source. Every store is geared toward tourism in some way, wifi, guest house, restaurants, trinkets, clothing, etc. Infact, Hampi will get more touristic as it was recently recognized by the UN to become part of UNESCO. This incentive made the government destroy restaurants and hotels that were “illegally” ran (because they didn’t have a permit). And just 2 weeks before our arrival, they demolished a good part of the city.
Rice field outside our “Goan Corner”
So the rickshaw driver wasn’t exactly lying.
The government destroyed businesses. And it was very evident as we still saw the pile rubble of its former self. We’d imagine UNESCO to provide money to help support monuments and also the day to day life of the village locals. Instead the money is given and then used to demolish the businesses and leave the locals scrounging for jobs and food. The idea of preserving the monument has it’s downsides it would seem. The darker side of keeping UNESCO Heritage Sites alive apparently also means destroying livelihoods in this situation.
After spending some time in Hampi, we took a sleeper bus and headed to Goa. The epitome of South India.
We retreated back into Tamil-Nadu, the first province we entered in the beginning of our India chapter. We retreated to higher grounds, running from the hell fire that’s scorching the plains before the humidity comes to bake it into a sauna. At 3,000 meters, the night air drops to a very comfortable 19 degrees. An inviting change after suffocating 34 degree nights at the bottom of the mountain.
Ooty is the highest hill station in India and one of the most popular. Hill station started with the British trying to find a way to escape the killing heat of the South Indian summers and found that the high mountains provided ample relieve. As already a retreat for the rich, this area is re-known as a tourist area, however, surprisingly not completely destroyed by tourism yet. (thank goodness)
As a British safe haven, it also doubles as their tea plantations. And over the years, this area transformed into a tea plantation capital of South India, only next to Darjeeling in the North.
GETTING THERE
Miniature train from Coonor to Ooty
Getting here wasn’t exactly a walk in the park from Kochin. We took a 5 hour train to a bus to another bus to another train. Our first train departed at 11 am and we got into the major city of Coimbatore. From Coimbatore train station, we found the bus that took us to the “New Bus Stand” at the edge of the city. From there, we found another bus that takes you to Ooty, but we got as far as “Coonor” Here, it was about 10pm at night. We had no choice but to stay the night here, as we have to catch another train in the morning to finally finish the leg of the trip to Ooty. Be fore warned, the bus ride is not very pleasant. Going up or down the mountain.
This said train leaves at 7:45 in the morning. This is the small miniature train that trucks up the mountain, stopping along several other stations. This last part of the journey took 3 hours to get up finally to the tea plantations. No where online could we find an update schedule of the trains. So we took a picture of the schedule for anyone to use. This is recent as of March 2013 from Coonor:
Train times from Coonor
More tea plantations!
We stayed at the YWCA near the horse race track. It was a nice clean facility, but the service and kitchen was absolutely horrendous. At any point in time, they only have 2 items from the menu. And it’s dal – or lentils. That or mixed vegetable curry. It doesn’t make for a very satisfying dinner. We ended up usually doing the 20 minute walk into the city and finding a place to eat there.
There are plenty of things to see in Ooty if you decide stay for awhile longer. Trekking is always popular, but we wanted to see the tea plantations. And that’s exactly what we saw. Tea plantations covered the hills beyond the reaches of the eyes. It’s very similar to rice paddy fields, the way the system is set up.
There was also a wildlife sanctuary that wasn’t very worth it. One new friend we met came up from that side of the mountain and saw more wildlife taking a bus through than we did renting a jeep specifically to go see animals. We counted a smashing 3 elephants, 2 of which were chained up. A handful of peacocks and 2 handful of monkeys. We didn’t think it was worth our money either. But that was our experience. A black panther was spotted a few weeks before we arrive. They do hide pretty well.
The only elephant that wasn’t chained up
After all that’s said and done, we have to brave the heat oncea gain. Hampi, here we come!
So nothing from the previous post actually made it through. Dare I say, it all fell apart the moment we got off the bus. First and foremost, our time estimation was completely wrong. We entered, once again at 3 in the morning to some unknown city called Kanyakumari. We’re trying to wake up as were being ushered into a hotel that is ridiculously too expensive. A huge flag warning should’ve gone off when another tourist ran back shouting “No thank you, that’s too expensive for me!”
We took our chances slash we were zombie-fied following our guide. Originally it was going for 2000 rupees, at least. That’s about 40 usd a night. Nowhere in India charges that much for a mid range hotel. After much deliberation and Ian hesitating, the manager gave in for 600, about 12usd.
After much fuss, we took a short 45 minute nap and woke up to see the sunrise, the most famous sunrise in India, in Kanyakumari. The special site to see here is a huge statue of Thiruvalluvar in the ocean accompanied by a very poetic story. This is also a very special place in India, as its the meeting of 3 oceans; The bay of Bengal, Indian ocean and the Arabic sea. We headed down to the beach (the one we were hoping to sleep on) to take pictures of the sunrise. Thank god we opted for the hotel instead of our original plan of sleeping on the beach. The beach wasn’t exactly a beach, but more of a rocky shore with smashing waves. Surrounded by hundreds of pilgrims watching the sunrise followed by the market opening and the murmuring start of the day.
We spent the rest of the day trying to find a way to get out of this city. At the tourist info, we bumped into a friend we met 2 cities away in backpackistan, Max. We keep running into him as our trip runs very similarly. We thought he had moved on ahead bit instead he’s been lagging behind in his journey. We caught up of his amazing travels on Indian trains and riding in luggage stow-aways over a cup of immaculately sweet chai. At this point we pretty much haven’t slept in 24 hours. We headed to the bus station armed with multiple conflicting information about what bus goes where at what time. we hopped in a completely separate bus and ended up in a city that wasn’t marked in our Bible – or the lonely planet guide book to India. We figured our way to through the mess and continued our journey to the west coast beaches.
Half way through the bus ride, we met this incredible fellow named Shiva. (That’s his real name) we got off the bus with him after a 3 hour delayed journey into Trivandrum. He and his friends, now onwards dubbed “the 3 musketeer” put us in the right direction to our next destination, Varkla
However, backpacking is never without its problems. The 3 hour delay is because of traffic jam. The traffic jam is caused by a festival going on in Trivamdrum, the city which we needed to go to to get our bus to Varkala. this festival is filled with colourful aromas and fragrant lights flashing all around celebrating their gods.
As the 3 hour delayed turned out to be delayed to cancelled bus routes, we were practically stuck in Trivandrum. The 3 musketeers ended up squabbling for a tuk tuk to get us to a hotel 16 km away on one of the more famous beaches on the west coast, Kovallam beach. Those 3 musketeers were a few of the most friendly Indians we’ve met and first in Kerala state.
At this point, its about 10 at night and we haven’t slept soundly in over 36 hours (realistically 3 days if you don’t count sleeping I’m buses). Our tuk tuk driver navigated his way through the mess of celebrations, blaring music and lots of pots for boiling rice, all hugging the side of the road. We made it to a place called Kovallam. Supposedly one of the more posh places for beach goers in India.
We finally end up in Kovallam, our last minute backup go to place for a beach side stay. We descended into the night time abyss of sea side aromas and palm tree roads. The tuk tuk driver dropped us off at our poorly researched hotel which, not surprisingly was full. A touter from across the street emerged and gave us a much needed fair bargain for places to stay. Very refreshing to not have to barter for every single thing. We got ourselves a beautiful hotel for a modest priced and charged toward dinner.
Needless to say, sleep came quickly shortly afterward. Our first full night sleep since Pondicherry, (4 days ago)
So, we started by flying into Chennai and heading straight for Mallahapuram, or otherwise known as backpakistan. Malla is a small, slow paced port town that seems to run on tourism. The little town consists of a few streets notorious for budget hotels and restaurants serving delicious local and foreign cuisines, specializing in freshly caught seafood. When dining at any of the street or sea view restaurants, watching other travelers wondering by while you wait for your meal, it becomes inevitably clear why this town is known as “backpakistan.” The city itself used to be huge port that enabled trade with many parts of the world, including china, Persia, Rome, and other nations, but the main attraction in Mallahapuram is the Archaeological site that surrounds the outskirts of the little town. It consists of amazing monolithic carvings of temples and sculptures carved out of a single piece of rock (apparently the second biggest of its kind in the world with the first being in Cambodia). Here you also find Krishnas butter ball (a big circular boulder seemingly balancing on a slanted slab.) It is said that the British thought the positioning of the boulder was dangerous and tried to move it with 10 elephants, but still it didn’t budge.There is also a magnificent temple at the shore(aptly named the shore temple) that really is a spectacular site to behold at either sunrise or sunset. In summary, Malla is a quaint, dusty little town crawling with contemplative foreigners. The beach is strewn with fishing boats and bundles of fishing nets, but there seems to be a little corner of it where travelers congregate for a late afternoon swim and sunbath (we did however find a bigger cleaner beach on the otherwise of the shore temple where horseback riding on the beach at sunset is also an option). Seafood is completely to die for with prices that range to about 250 rupees (5 USD). Clothing and stone carving shops are abundant. Electricity availability is unpredictable and beggars (women and children alike) are very persistent. Mala is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities. At it’s slow pace and relaxed mood it is the perfect location to either start a trip and acclimatize and familiarize to the weather and new country. Or a great place to consolidate thoughts and do some shopping before leaving India. We stayed at Siva Guest house, a clean quite place situated very near the main road leading to the beach. The rooms are of varying prices, with or without A/C and the guy who works their is honest and helpful. At Siva’s Guest House, we also met a couchsurfer named Max. He’s a fun German guy with lots of enthusiasm! He has become our pseudo travel partner; only even if we bump into him by accident along the way… Siva Guest house, #2 Ottavadai Cross Street, Mamallapuram, Tamilnadu, South India 603 104,Phone 0091-4427443534, check in – 12:00 – check out . 900 INR a night without A/C.
Shiva’s Guesthouse – where we began our India trip
Started with Pamela from Spunkygirl Monologues, we’re supposed to tag 3 people in our blogs showing some great places to visit in Canada. I was tagged by Claudia from Travelling Moms. Guess Ian will be writing about Canada!
Here we go!
First, find a friend, and start checking off the list at the bottom. I took my best friend, Damian, and did a bicycle tour in the maritimes. We flew to St.Johns Newfoundland and pedaled our little legs all the way to Ville de Quebec. Just a little over 2,100 km covered in a month.
10) Experience Canada’s Day in St. John’s Newfoundland
There’s nothing like celebrating your country’s birthday than in the newest province. On George St, the festivities happen. Ironically we saw a band from Hamilton, Ontario that we saw perform live just days before we started our trip!
The whole street was closed off and you pay a small cover to enter. At this point, do a shot of screech in every bar until you (attempt) to make it down the end of the street.
The next day, we started on our journey.
Onwards!
Having lunch with the road ahead
9) Find the most refreshing spring water you’ve ever had in your life
Damian refilling his bladder with some awesome water
Literally marked by a cardboard sign with a vague impression of an arrow directing us to a bay, we followed some worn down stairs to the rocky shore line. There, greeted us a spring water tap. We were skeptical at first, then we took a sip. Then we emptied our water packs and re-filled it with this spring water.
If someone wants to make money off how good this water is, find it out of St. John’s, heading down the Irish Loop. It’s like the pot of gold – go find it yourself!
8) Run flat tires with no extra tube
It was inevitable. And appropriately on a gravel road that went on for 3 km. We decided against carrying an extra inner tube to save weight and space, but we also didn’t expect to run 6 snake bites.
First car down the road in 1.5 hours were some friendly locals who saved the day by giving us a ride in their pick up truck!
I think next bike tour, we’ll carry at least one extra tube.
Result of the 6 snake bites
Some awesome people gave us a lift
On the boat to North Sydney
We eventually made it off “the rock” that is Newfoundland. We wrapped around the Irish Loop and went into Argentia to take a 12 hour ferry into Nova Scotia.
There were lots of references to Lonely Island while on the boat.
7) Get lost in the Cape Breton highlands
The lonely road heading out of Cape Breton along the coast line
A quick rest before manning up to that mountain ahead
Cape Breton Highlands is one route that shouldn’t be avoided if your ever travelling through the maritimes. It’s so incredibly beautiful. There’s only one road through it and many camping spots available. Take full advantage.
Definitely take some time up at “French Mountain” though. It’s probably the best view there of the highlands.
6) Bike up incredibly steep hills
This was intimidating at first
Then we saw this
After North Mtn, we scoffed at this one
This guy was the worst
5) Hit up a music festival
Seriously partying something serious
Evolve music festival! We attended E-10 on the recommendation of a friend from Toronto who moved out East.
A serious party for serious party go-ers who seriously party’s. You must seriously have fun.
First introduction to Rich Aucoin and his fun-tastic music! Which I found out later he did a few songs for Picnic Face, a comedy group which Damian and I both love.
Rich Aucoin heating up the crowd before night fall.
4) Find awesome people to host you
Kegs on motorcycles?!
Air rifles!
We met an awesome husband-wife duo who was going to get extremely angry had we not stay at their place upon leaving Evolve. They fed us dinner, did our laundry, toured us around to get to our next destination, fed us breakfast and let us play with their toys.
Oh gosh, their toys were so much fun! Kegs hauled by the end of motorcycles, air rifles, and puppies! They had a beautiful lovely pit-bull.
3) Be homeless – live out of a tent out of the panniers of your bicycles
Our weekly shower – if possible
Our weekly laundry service
There are certain things that we take for granted in life, especially living in the city in a first world country. Things like showering or laundry facilities. We came to a fast realization we’re out of luck with a few luxuries.
We showered in rivers when we could and took every opportunity we had to wash our clothes, including in rivers – which didn’t prove out to be the best idea. We ended up battling with this ITCH all over our exercise shirts when we put it on.
2) Kayak the Bay of Fundy
Sitting and waiting for the tide
This is probably the best tidal experience you’ll have. You sit in the kayak with the ocean infront of you and wait for the tide to roll in. It picks you up and then you paddle away. You watch the tide come in for about 10 minutes before you can actually paddle away.
For about 2 hours we zigged zagged our way between the rock formations in the bay. Damian being the expert pilot got ourselves into the tightest cracks and out again. 10 minutes later, those cracks were under water from the tide. So do it fast.
1) Bike through the maritimes and enjoy the trials and tribulations
Literally biking through the Bay of Fundy
All in all, the least anyone can do is see some of the East Coast. However, a highly suggested and most in depth way is to bike it. You’ll meet people you never knew were so kind, you’ll have food that will blow your mind away, see scenery that you never even knew existed, and above all, experience and wonderful part of Canada that could not be otherwise experienced in any other way.
For the picture album of the maritime tour, check it out here. There are a few pictures that didn’t make the cut onto the blog.
A broken chain with a pending T-storm
A very big P.S
I was very lucky to have my best friend with me. I learnt a lot about myself – especially travelling with others. The biggest lesson was learning to love a friend who will stand up to my crap. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Although this post is for the blogger roulette, I’m making a huge shout out to my buddy Damian who put up with my crap for a whole month. So uh… shout… out…?
As it were, fittingly enough, I post this on South Korea’s presidential election day; to announce a new video. Explorations sneak peak into one of the world’s most secretive countries, North Korea. Aka, D.P.R.K. (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). This is my week in North Korea in 9 minutes, video below.
Yes, you are allowed to go in. Yes, you are told where to take pictures. Yes, they confiscate your camera in certain places. Yes, you can laugh and jeer at the tourists on the South Korean border at the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).
This is Ian’s North Korea story… condensed and highlighted:
The summer in 2010 was sweltering hot in Seoul. Or so I thought, 2012 beat the crap out of 2010. I decided to hit up somewhere northern and cooler. The original plan was to head to Mongolia, but given a week, there were too many things to do. Last minute switch of airplane tickets from Ulaanbutar to Beijing. My second visit to Beijing that year. And this time, I didn’t miss the flight.
To get to North Korea, I had to fly into Beijing, then take an 18 hour train ride (which I didn’t know at the time). We arrived at the North Korean border at Dan Dong (no joke) and had to take a train across the river and into North Korea. This bridge is the opening shot in Explorations original introduction video. Once across the border, armed guards boarded the train. The Chinese tour group went ahead leaving the white people and the token Asian guy behind on the train.
Snapshots of the countryside while on the train
They searched through everything. They confiscated your phones and packaged them and made you sign a waiver that you won’t open it until after the trip. I left my phone in South Korea. I also hid my South Korean work visa permit so they wouldn’t see it. I think that might’ve stirred a few things up. I mean, they freaked out and thought some camp fuels were bombs when they first laid eyes on it. Some Polish guys needed to carry them through their journey… long story short, they were passed through.
Another long ass train ride into Pyong Yang itself. As the train was jammed pack of people, a high school student ended up sitting across from us. Imagine my amazement when he asked me in English “Excuse me, where are you from?” This guy knew how to speak English better than my South Korean middle school students!
During our little chit chat, I found out he’s attending a foreign language high school and wants to be a diplomat working in the government when he grows up. I asked if he enjoyed learning language. The conversation comes abruptly to an end when a guard on the train passes by. The student shushes me. When the coast was clear, he looks up and says, “Yes, very much. Now, no more talking.” I was not going to argue.
We stayed in a hotel called Yang Gak Hotel, or, “The Sheep’s Horn” based on a man-made island in the middle of the river (so that the foreigner guests couldn’t escape. At least our group joked). Through the days, our tour guides got drunk and so did we and the North Korean tour guides got… well… North Korean tour guide style.
I’ll admit, I got to move around a lot more freely than I expected. And I got to take a lot more pictures freely than I expected. The only restrictions were at the Kim Il Sung statue where we were told we had to take a full length body picture of him. And secondly, on the way to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) we couldn’t take any pictures on the 3 hour bus ride. (Yeah right, I did it)
We got to see a plethora of things which I will not go into detail. But a list includes war museums, children’s after school programs, monuments, battle-scarred ships from the Korean War, DMZ, Kim Il Sung’s mausoleum, and a club.
Outside Kim Il Sung’s mausoleum
In the war museum I started to realize and I found it incredibly hilarious, every chance they got, they said “…and we completely annihilated the enemy, the puppet South Korean army controlled by the U.S imperialists.” I’m pretty sure that’s word for word. If there was a drinking game to that sentence, you’d never be sober on the tour. Ever.
The only place where they confiscated my camera was entering this really grand hall to see Kim Il Sung’s body; the first President of North Korea. No pictures were allowed. We couldn’t even speak. We had to walk through 40 minutes of intertwining hallways and stairs and different security systems before seeing his body. And we must bow when we saw his body. That was the most sombre moment of the trip.
The DMZ from the North Korean side was probably the most hilarious. I hear all the stories when my friends and colleagues went to the border with all these strict rules. “Don’t wave, don’t smile, don’t take pictures”. When we saw them (the South side) we were waving and going “Hey guys! How are you?!” Trying to make them wave. Didn’t happen. The differences in border control is striking, to say the least.
The opening ceremony of the Arirang Games destroys any Olympic opening ceremony in a heart beat. 110,000 people participate in the opening ceremony. An estimated 75,000 of them are seated across from the audience all holding different colour cards. Imagine each person was a pixel in your computer screen. They would flash the appropriate cards at the appropriate times accordingly. As that was going on, in the field you’d have performances on an epic scale. Performers would weave through each other creating intricate patterns that change seamlessly on the dime in perfection. Through the performance there are also aerial performances with fireworks and everything. It was the most breath taking display of human planning and coordination I have ever witnessed.
Not sure what they were doing, but pictures weren’t allowed here
Funny enough, tourists are not allowed to use DPRK currency, I didn’t even lay my hands on any. They accepted RMB (Chinese), Euro, and the U.S dollar. Sometimes I would change RMB and they would give me the equivalent back in Euros or USD. Or if they really didn’t have anything, they would give me a few bottles of water as my change.
The trip came to the end too soon. To celebrate one of the last nights for us, some of the group paid more to stay, we sent to a club! Before you ask how hot are the North Korean clubbing fashion style, I’ll burst your bubble and tell you, we went to a diplomats club! We were damn fancy that night. We partied with our tour group in a huge karaoke bar filled with “oz”‘s of Russian vodka, it was a night to remember! Or kind of remember… How did we get back to the hotel? I had to fly back to Beijing because of time constraints on my vacation days from South Korea. I will never complain about American airport security again. Being puking-hungover going through North Korean customs was the most terrifying thing ever. Let’s just leave that at that.
Propaganda in the subway walls
After the trip, the biggest thing I hear is “did you see North Korean propaganda?!” Yes. Yes I did. Of course I did. It’s everywhere and its invasive. The only difference between “Western” propaganda and North Koreans is that the Western is more subtle. Very subtle. But it’s there and everywhere. Just like North Korea. It’s a matter of being able to identify it yourself.
Now, for some actual information of how to get to North Korea. To visit North Korea, I went through a tour group called Young Pioneers Tour. They were a damn fun group. This was a brief travel guide of what you’ll experience while on tour with them. You need a visa, but the visa won’t stay in your passport. Americans can go on this tour. I was advised to change my work from not South Korea, lucky I had a work address I could use in Canada anyways.They will search you at the border regardless. If you are interested in going, I would highly recommend Young Pioneers Tour. I’m still friends with the tour guides who brought me there, just be prepared for some seriously crass humour.
THE VIDEO: A WEEK IN NORTH KOREA IN 9 MINUTES The video was made by the North Korean tourist agency. I purchased the DVD and Azure Production helped highlight the most interesting parts of the video and put it shorter and more concise.
Rock climbing in Korea has become such an extensive part of our lives here in Seoul. If you followed us, you know we continuously post these pictures up with us on this mountain.
Please also note, rock climbing in Korea is generally trad climbing. Please be comfortable with your gear placement and anchor building before setting out! This post reflects our favourite routes and additional information on getting there, down and around, but climbing and information continues to evolve.
The information isn’t by any means secret. But if you’re wondering what we’re climbing or if you’re reading this blog sniffing out rock climbing in Korea, keep reading! This could be a great round the world idea for you to start your outdoor travel adventures!
Table of Contents
ROCK CLIMBING IN KOREA: What is there to climb?
Climbing Insu-bong in winter via Go Deok Gil
There are a lot of climbing gyms in Korea, but most of them are bouldering gyms. We’re not really gym rats… Korea is a very mountainous country. Don’t know where to go in Seoul? “Bukhansan”, on the northern edge of the city, a city which few would think of as an “adventure getaway”. Rock climbing in Korea, Seoul is actually very accessible. The city literally wraps around this mountain which is in a national park called “Bukhansan National Park”. This is a very popular park for Seoulites. The peak in the mountain we climb is called “Insubong” which is across from the main peak called “Baegundae”. From the summit of Insu, when you look across, it looks like an ant hill. Easy access (but complicated to get there) and a plethora of different routes attracts a lot of climbers to Insubong.
The climbs on the main face of Insubong are mainly high friction granite slabs and cracks. Multi-pitch trad climbing is prevalent. There are other climbs on the rappelling side that attract more sport climbers, single pitch stuff. There are 5.12 stuff for you stronger climbers. Most routes are about 5 pitches, so leave your portaledges at home! You can find a picture of the routes at the bottom of the main slab.
A few favourite routes of ours is “Insu-B [인수-B]”, “Yang Ji [양지]”, and “Gomak-B [검막 – B]”. Standard rack should suffice. There is this one 5.7 splitter crack, though, that requires BD5’s. But that’s one special case.
ROUTES ON INSU-BONG
A brief description of some of our three favourite routes for rock climbing in Korea, by no means comprehensive. We’re also a fan of mish-mashing routes together instead of sticking to one route the entire way. This is to give you an idea. For a more comprehensive climbing guide, check “more information” at the bottom of the page.
“Go Deok Gil” 5.6 (5.5?)
This route can be done with minimal trad gear. However, bring out your slings, because this is where you’ll need them. At the big slab head up right. Way right, like you’re going to leave the climbing area. This route is great for foul weather climbing as it’s very not-exposed. It’s about 6 pitches, but most of these pitches are less than 30m. Crux pitch is the last pitch that starts with a 5.7 shallow crack that opens into a layback. Several routes converge right here and usually bottle necks traffic. Bring up to a BD 3 here.
“Insu – B” 5.7
This is by far, our most favourite route, mainly because Ian learnt how to trad climb on this. We usually start this on the slab, but the official beginning is a 5.7 crack. The crux pitch is pitch 2, where you can navigate a 5.9 slab on the left and right, or stick into the off-width 5.8 crack. Ian usually sticks to the crack. Not a bad idea to bring a size 5BD camalot for this pitch, especially near the top of the crack. The rest of the 3 pitches are cruisers hovering around 5.7’s.
“Gomak – B” 5.9 (with A0 on crux pitch)
If you like slab, this ones for you. On the 3rd pitch, before you head up the climb, you have to walk down a bit to get to Gomak, otherwise, the route you’re looking at is a 5.8 splitter crack which requries 5BD’s and a lot of them. Navigate your way up the 5.9 slabs and you should find yourself at the bottom of the aided bolt pitch, 5.10c or A0. Quickdraws to aid should suffice. Just grab the bone and pull up. This is the crux pitch, freak out on it and cruise up the last 2 pitches.
GETTING DOWN
There are about 8 rappel anchors on top of Insubong that allows a quick descent. With the amount of teams up there though, getting down is a battle, mainly fighting for an anchor. You’ll need 2x 60m ropes. If you’re only stuck with one rope, like how we usually are, there are anchors at the 15m point to tie in again. There is a 7 meter over hang on the anchors to the mid and climbers left of the face. In the late afternoons, around 3 or 4, it gets windy.
GETTING THERE
Ian on Gomak crux pitch, 5.10c (A0) slab
To get to Insubong, get out of Suyu Station (line 4), exit #3. Get onto the bus island and take the 120 bus to the last stop, which is a small bus terminal. Hop on a taxi in front of the area where the bus for the temple picks up people, which is located across from the small bus terminal. The taxis usually shuttle people up and down for a flat rate of 2,000kw per person. This area also has a lot of small little stores with hiking and climbing clothes you can brows
Or, alternatively, catch a taxi from Suyu station and tell them “Doe Sun Sa”, which takes you to the rotary. It shouldn’t cost more than 10,000 kw (~10 USD).
You’ll arrive at the rotary and the trail head. Enjoy the view of the Koreans decked out in their finest Sunday climbing clothes. From here, start up the trail. The approach takes about an hour. Once you reach the campsite (about 40 minute hike in) look for campsite 11. From campsite 11 you’ll see the a trail that leads up. Follow it, but keep in mind your navigation toward Insubong.
MORE INFORMATION
On the anchors of the rappel station
If you’re a well established climber, you can search for more routes here on Korea On The Rocks (KOTR). This site gives you a lot of beta and different climbs; bouldering gyms, climbing gyms, and artificial outdoor walls. KOTRI (KOTR Initatives) recently just came out with a guide book “Climb”, you can find here. Rock climbing in Korea continues to change and evolve. So at the time of writing, this is the information provided. There would be updated routes and recommend to check as it is user generated content and updates: https://www.thecrag.com/climbing/south-korea/insubong
If you’re not a well established climber but want to head out on the mountain anyway, there’s a great guide company called SAN. They offer various beginner and intermediate rock climbing courses, rescue courses, ice climbing, guided climbs, and programs, a great way to get started in climbing! It’s all conducted in English. They’re also great for satisfying your outdoor travel adventure junkie inside you! That’s actually where we started climbing. SAN also helped sponsor the Reel Rock Tour film festival in Seoul. Check out more of the Reel Rock Tour here. So that’s the gist of it, rock climbing in Korea! Hope it was helpful!
