Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

Location: South Gyeongsang Province & North Gyeongsang Province (경상남도와 경상북도)
Distance: 9.3 km (3.8 miles)
Time: 6 Hours
Elevation: 1,433 m (4,701 ft)


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I usually don't go on hikes that require a long bus ride on Sunday because I don't want to be completely exhausted at work the next day. However, since I was a miniature vacation between school sessions, I was able to go on this trip. On this outing, we went to Gaya Mountain (가야산) which is located in Gayasan National Park.

This park (and our hike) spans the two Korean provinces of North Gyeongsang Province and South Gyeongsang Province. In 1413, during the Joseon Dynasty (조선) [1392 - 1897 CE], the Korean peninsula was divided into the Eight Provinces (팔도), which included Gyeongsang Province (경상도), the predecessor of North and South Gyeongsang Province. In 1896, five of the eight provinces were divided in a northern and southern halves. For almost six hundred years, the internal political boundaries of Korea have stayed the same except for some redistricting in 1953 at the end of the Korean War.

The name of this mountain is derived from the Gaya Confederacy (가야) [42 - 532 CE], which was a collection of cities-states before it was conquered by the Kingdom of Silla (신라) [57 BCE - 936 CE].

After a three and a half hour bus ride from Seoul, we got off at a small resort in the village of Baekun (백운리) on the eastern slopes of the mountain in North Gyeongsang Province. This weekend was surprisingly warm after the long cold winter we had here in Korea. Quite a few of us took off our outer layer before we started to hike while everyone put their jackets in their hiking bag a little ways up the first slope. The view of the mountain from the resort was quite deceiving since the ridge that we could see was only the first part of the mountain that we had to ascend. There was a set of even higher peaks behind the first ridge.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

At the entrance to the Gayasan National Park there was a small forest ranger's station. When we arrived, a group of forest rangers came out and had everyone gather around and take a picture with their banner reminding hikers the dangers of forest fires. This public awareness campaign seems to be taken from the tradition of hiking groups taking pictures with their club's banner at the beginning, the highest point and the end of their hike. Additionally, I was hoping to see a mascot of the Korean version of Smokey the Bear, but as far as I know, there is no equivalent in Korea.

An interesting aspect of the Korean language is that the word 'forest fire' in Korean is san-bul (산불) which directly translates into English as 'mountain fire'. I believe that this word came about because Korea is a very mountainous country and flat land that can be used for farming is usually cleared. Therefore, any tree or forest that can burn is most likely going to be located in the mountains.

The beginning of our hike at the bottom of the mountain was around 500 meters (1,640 feet) above sea level while the highest peak of Gaya Mountain is 1,433 meters (4,701 feet) high. As you can see from the map above, especially the first part of the trail was quite steep.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

As we climbed further and further up, we could get some wonderful views into the valley below where we started.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

Much of Gaya Mountain consists of rocks and boulders that jut out of the terrain. Luckily for us, it hadn't rained recently so the surfaces of these rocks were dry and not slippery at all. These rocks made for some wonderful views, but at times the trail would have to wind around, over and through many of the rock formations.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

While Gaya Mountain provided many spectacular views, we weren't covering much ground since the majority of our hike at the beginning was mostly vertical. After reaching the top of the first incline, we took a break and had lunch. As typical with virtually every Korean meal, our dining experience was a communal one. One of the hiking members shared with me a dish from South Jeolla Province (전라남도) called Hongeohoe (홍어회), which consisted of slices of raw, fermented skate in a spicy red pepper sauce. The meat was quite crunchy and a bit hard to chew, but beyond that, it was a tasty treat.

After lunch, we continue up the last section that leads up to the pinnacle of the mountain. Luckily, the first part of the slope rises quite gently before it becomes steep again, so we had some time to digest our meal before the hiking became strenuous again.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

As we reached the top, I noticed two interesting thing. The first was a young man who was doing his government service as a park ranger. Every able body male in Korea is required to do two years of government service during their twenties. Most men end up in the Army or the police. However, there are a few positions open for the National Park Service of South Korea. This young man was wearing the brown/beige uniform of the park rangers while he was picking up trash at the top of the mountain. If I had had to do mandatory government service in Korea, I would definitely have applied for the National Park Service. Two years of hiking would've been a dream come true!

Another peculiar item that I found near the top was weathered tree that was carved into a smiling face. One thing you might notice on the lower part of the tree is the carving of a manja (만자), which is a carving of a Buddhist swastika. The first thing that you should notice is that fact that the outer arms go in the opposite direction of the swastikas that are normal identified with World War Two. This symbol is extremely common on Korean maps since they represent the location of a Buddhist Temple. The word manja is derived from the Chinese character of man (만, 萬), which literally means 10,000, but also has the meaning of 'eternity'. In Korea, whenever someone wishes show their support for an organization and hope it lasts forever, they shout out 'Man-se!' (만세!), which directly translates to '10,000 Years!'

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

Once at the top of the mountain, my hiking friend 'Guardian' (수호신) and I took some pictures of ourselves, the peaks and the surrounding valleys at both Chil-bul Peak (칠불봉) and Woo-doo Peak (우두봉). Since both of us are apart of the Baekdu Daegan (백두대간) hiking team, this was a relative short hike for us and we were the first of our group to reach the peak.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

While the peaks were wonderful, we didn't spend too much time there because we wanted to get down to the valley on the other side of the mountain to visit Haein Temple (해인사), one of the most famous Buddhist temples in South Korea. Haein Temple is considered what of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea (삼보사찰) and represents dharma, or the teaching of Buddhism. The temple was first constructed in 802 CE and was renovated multiple times throughout the years. Unfortunately, most of the temple burnt down in 1817 but was rebuilt in 1818.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

One very interesting item that I came across while wandering the grounds of the temple was a maze like path where people can pray and contemplate as they walk through it.

From Gaya Mountain & Haein Temple - 가야산과 해인사

One of the most amazing things about this temple is that it houses the Tripitaka Koreana which is a collection of Buddhist scripture that have been engraved onto wooden blocks that can be used for reprinting. These wooden blocks, which were carved in the 13th century, are known in Korean as the Palman Daejanggyeong (팔만 대장경), or the Eighty Thousand Tripitaka. These blocks were given this name since there are 81,258 blocks. In all of these blocks, there are 52,382,960 Chinese characters.

Luckily, these blocks survived both the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 and the 1817 fire of Haein Temple. While tourists are allowed to walk up to the buildings that store the blocks and look into them, tourists aren't allow to enter the building nor take pictures anywhere in the vicinity of the blocks.

There were quite a few more different Buddhist statues and shrines in this area, but we didn't have much time since we had a long drive up across virtually the entire country of South Korea back to Seoul.

Later that evening, when we finished dinner at a nearby restaurant, I was walking down to the first floor where I saw four young Korean men who were doing their government service at a local fire station. When I saw these four young men sitting at the dinner table, I thought they were praying before their meal since they all had their heads bowed. As I walked quietly by, I looked over and realized they weren't praying but were using their cellphones which were on their laps!