Caving and Ferry Trip

This weekend I went with about 10 friends on a caving a ferry trip with a group called Adventure Korea, who offers weekly trips in and around Korea doing various exciting things. We had to wake up so early, at about 5:30 to meet and get the bus for the trip. We were all exhausted but excited for the day. We boarded the bus at 7:30 and had about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride. We arrived at Chungju Lake for the first part of our trip, which was a ferry ride that lasted about an hour and a half. It was picturesque and absolutely beautiful! There were mountains surrounding us, along with unique rock formations and open land. The mountains reflected off the water and we couldn't seem to get enough pictures! It was definitely one of the prettiest places I have seen in Korea so far. We ate lunch on the ferry and rotated between the top and bottom decks. When the ferry landed, we got back on the bus and headed for the cave.

I've never been caving before so I didn't know quite what to expect, but it was amazing! The name of the cave is Kosu Cave, and is in Danyang-gun, Korea. Kosu cave is 1,300 meters deep, and is well known as one of the most beautiful caves in Korea. I learned that the name Kosu comes from the fact that in the past, the area was filled with thickets of tall grass. Rough stone instruments were excavated at the cave entrance, which revealed that this area was home to prehistoric human life.

Inside Kosu Cave, the temperature remains around 15℃ throughout the year, and when we were there, there was a thermometer that read 11℃. It was cool enough to enjoy the hike through the cave, but climbing a ton of stairs made us all sweat a little! There are reportedly about 25 different kinds of animal life inhabiting the cave. Some of the rocks resemble animals or human figures, such as Lion Rock, Octopus Rock, Eagle Rock, and even the Virgin Mary Rock. I didn't see the resemblance of many of these rock formations, but there was a Turtle Rock that was pretty impressive! About 120 various shapes of stalactites and stalagmites found here are valuable remains to researchers and scholars. Stalactites come up from the ground, and stalagmites come down from the ceiliing of the cave. It was like nothing I've seen before and would love to see other caves in the area!

After caving, we got back on the bus and headed to Dodamsambong Peak. Here, three huge rocks create a large “S” figure that stands tall in the middle of the Namhangang River. Apparently, this is the only place in the world where you can see such large rocks protruding in the middle of a river. There is a legend we were told about the rocks which was pretty interesting, and many people still believe it today. According to the legend, there lived a couple who loved each other, but could not have a child. They found a mistress because they wanted to have a baby, but once she had the baby, she began to mistreat and taunt the wife. The heavens saw them, and turned all of them into stones. The way the rocks stand next to one another reflects this relationship.

Near the rocks, we began to hike up stairs on the side of the mountain. It was about 300 meters up but we were all gasping for air and it felt like eternity. Half way up, there is a small pavilion called lhoyangjeong. Our guide told us that it was built to comfort the locals who lost their homes due to the flooding caused by the Chungju Dam. When you look down from the pavilion, the view is gorgeous. You can see all of Dodamsambong at once. We continued up the mountain...more stairs, ahhhhhh! We finally reached our destination which was a large stone gate. It was a huge rock with a hole in the middle so it resembled a gate and looked like it could of been man made but is actually a natural formation. We spent time taking pictures and then hiked back down, which I must say was much easier than hiking up!

We were exhausted and had a change to rest on our bus trip back to Seoul. It was an amazing day and we all want to do more with Adventure Korea soon!