One fine day, I've spontaneously decided to travel somewhere I love the most in Korea as I couldn't resist so nice and fresh sunny weather on that day right after the rain. It's Ganghwa island (Ganghwa-do, a.k.a Ganghwa-gun) which is an big island nearby Seoul (about a hour with driving) but is connected to the mainland with a big bridge so you can travel just using a car or convenient public transportation from Seoul.
This place is well known as its rich historical spots and idyll landscapes in Korea. Besides, this place is very special to me as I used to live in that area about an year when I was very young (in my elementary school age) and I remember this place as a warm and fun place for my lively youth time.
The place I go the most often in Ganghwa-do is definitely Mani mountain as I am a hiking lover. This mountain is very very beautiful and I also have a very good childhood memory to hike this mountain with my grandfather (now passed away) and my other family members. It was a winter time and I remember that my grandfather was really good at hiking even at his ages of over 60 and at the snowy mountain tracks. He was the winner at that time other than any other younger ones in our family.
Anyway, I would love to introduce this place today. This mountain is not just a beautiful nature but also a historically critical place in Korea as people believe that this place is the origin of Korea. On the top of the mountain, you can see the sacrarium-like place (its name is Chamsung-dan) that people believe the first legendary founder of Korea (his name is Dangun) used to pray for God in there. As it's very very long long time ago, there are no obvious documents related to that story so we also learned it as a ancient legend of the origin of Korea.
There are two routes to go to the top. It would take about 3 hours or more for back and force to the top of the mountain in either ways. It's not that easy course in a hiking perspective but you would not regret when you finally see the awesome sceneries of Ganghwa-gun and the nearby ocean from the top.
You also can see a small and cozy art shop in the entry of the mountain.
Honestly, I couldn't get to the top on that nice sunny weather day as I couldn't prepare enough water (you may need two bottle of waters - 500ml at least) and I also had the time limitation as I had another target spot to visit. I was so sorry that I had to miss the clear scenery on that lovely weather day. However, this is not my first time visit so I have the photo that I took at the top before as you can see the below though it was a bit cloudy day differently :P
It was the one day trip so, after the hike, I went to Do-sol Gallery which is a hank-ok (Korean traditional residence house architect) style cafe. There are many other art gallery in Ganghwa-do so I think that you would be able to find your favorite-style art gallery there. My favorite was this unique traditional-style house. Can you feel the uniqueness?
If you pay 8,000 won (about $8), the cafe serve the free drink (you can choose one type of Korean traditional teas with two pieces of small cake). My choice was Jujube tea which is my favorite.
You also can order other types of Korean rice cake or other desserts like I did (the dark brown rice cake at the very right side of the plate). Yeah, I definitely love these combination of foods and strongly recommend to you as it's also very good for your health :)
If you can travel Ganghwa-do much longer than one day, it's easy to find many other historical and cultural places there including UNESCO cultural heritage as this place was once a palace city in Goryeo era (1232-1270). I recommend you visit the official website of Korean tour to get more traveling information in Ganghwa-do. --> https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_ENG_2_12_1.jsp
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