Jirisan

Landscape in South Korea is varied and interesting. One beautiful place to visit is Mt Jirisan.
Mt Jirisan is the largest mountain range on the South Korean mainland.

Our starting point is Namwon a city on the edge of the Jirisan national park, which will lead us to the base of the Gold Valley, 9km of picturesque scenery through some of Korea’s grandest valleys. High up on top of the mountain, you will find a spot with two huge pine trees overlooking a beautiful old village. These pine trees have enormous significance. They are both said to be over 1,000 years old. The villagers revere them, because they think the pine trees are sleeping dragons. The bark is like the scale of the dragon, and once a year, the villagers celebrate the trees’ existence, and thank them for protecting the village. These trees are absolutely beautiful. They are worth the climb up to view.

Mt Jirisan is enormous with multiple peaks and rises 2,000km above sea level and it’s in the top 10 places to visit in Korea for its spectacular view.
It’s able to claim ten of Korea’s most spectacular vistas – so set aside time in your itinerary to visit.

Hiking through the mountains was fantastic. If you are into hiking, or the outdoors, this is the experience for you. The fresh, crisp mountain air is amazing.

Mt Jirisan is also home to seven Buddhist temples. Yes, Korea has a rich Buddhist culture. And the temples are quite unique, compared to the Buddhist temples in Japan and China that you may have seen before.

It’s hard to believe, 1500 years ago, that someone had the foresight and vision to build something so spectacular like this temple. At the time, Buddhism had become the major religion in Korea.

The first pavilion built was quite simple – it had no decorations on it – but as more pavilions were built, the unique Korean artistry and decoration work on the pavilions started to come through. So you get to see the whole movement of the development of Buddhism here in Korea through time. There is a lot of history I these temples that are just fascinating.

Looking at things that are really significant, take a look at this pagoda built around 6th to 7th century. When it was built, there were some relics that were introduced here from India. In 1995, they opened this up, and 47 original relics were still sitting in that pagoda. Including one that they suspect holds the ashes of Buddha. Buddha’s ashes were spread all over the world, after his death, to very significant monasteries like this one in Jirisan.

This area also plays a very important part in the modern Korean history as well. In 1953, a truce was reached between the North and South Korea, but the North Korean army still had some people up in these mountains. It took another couple of years, before they were taken out of the hills and this area finally found some peace. So it’s really a fascinating piece of history to come and experience.

This is a beautiful area to visit, off the beaten track. The best time to visit is summer…and of course, autumn, when the deciduous trees are changing their colours.

For more information, visit english.visitkorea.or.kr