This was the fourth day of my 5-day trip to the area of Jirisan. I visited a lovely mountain village on the north east side of Jirisan mountain, home to a couple of 1,000 year-old trees and a great valley forest walk.
I left Hanok Guesthouse (무아 한옥 게스트하우스) at 8:30 and drove about 40 minutes east to the Baemsagol entrance to Jirisan National Park (지리산국립공원뱀사골탐방안내소). There’s a village up the valley with a forested valley trail going up. There’s also a single lane road but this is only for residents, guesthouse users, and park rangers to drive on. It about an hour’s walk to get to the village.
I visited the two old pine trees; the plaques say they’ve been revered by the villagers for ages and known at the grandmother and grandfather trees.
The village itself is a mixture of small and large houses, some quite new. There aren’t any old hanoks which was what I was expecting. There are also quite a few places to stay and about five or so restaurants. After exploring the village up and down the few lanes, I had a lunch of pajeon and makgeolli at Cheonnyeonsong Garden (천년송가든). It was a residential house with a dining area inside and a small terrace. I sat on the terrace next to a wood burning stove. The woman gave me a cup of hot medicinal tea from a kettle that was on the stove and later brought me a delicious Korea pancake (jeon) toped with black mushrooms harvested from the hills. I also had a bottle of the local makgeolli. It was all very idyllic and cosy.
I was a tiny bit buzzed walking back through the village and valley, and enjoying every moment of it. The weather was sunnier and the autumn colours were far more vibrant now.
At the car park, I found a large war memorial with sculptures of soldiers and civilians. I also checked out the park’s campsite. Then I set off for Jinju and the final part of my trip.
Places visited on this trip: