Goryeong Bokbo - Nine Dragon Falls

A few hundred vertiginous steps lead us down to the famous pools, one for each dragon that are said to have descended from a rainbow.  The colours have faded but the pools are still beautiful, lying amongst vast granite rock walls and boulders.  We dip our feet in the super cold water for a refreshing natural massage, and share in the laughter from a party of hiking ajumas enjoying lunch on a flat rock above us.  

Dragonflies are everywhere, gracefully flitting in and out of the shade, setting down on warm rock to soak up the sun’s energy and rest their wondrous wings which remind me of stained glass church windows.  At rest, approaching from behind out of sight of their large eyes, they are easily caught and held gently between two fingers.  With an apology for the inconvenience, we send them up into the air again carrying our wishes for a long good life for us and them.

Heading back up, we meet a party of good humoured elderly Koreans, including two men in traditional hanbok clothes and hats, all of whom give us a cheerful welcome and shame us with their health and vigour.

Jirisan National Park

We find a decent, spacious, clean room in Namwon which seems to have more hotels than Jinju, thanks no doubt to the Jirisan National Park, which in seasons throngs with eager walkers kitted out in full gear and equal numbers of tourists, usually in suits and ties and high heels, oblivious to the rough terrain, keen to take in the splendours of the mountain range that is said to be Korea’s most beautiful.

We stroll through Gwanghalluwon, a traditional formal garden made almost 600 years ago and dedicated to the heroic love story of Chunhyang.

Dinner is a superb steaming mushroom soup, full of woodland goodness, that helps me fight off a chill from the unexpectedly cool mountain evening.

Wake to a crisp sunny morning, giving the green pine-clad peaks sharp relief against the endless blue sky, fuelling our anticipation of a day exploring the mountains.  Driving through rural scenes of golden rice fields, persimmons still on the tree branches, and very traditional hamlets, we soon come to a lovely river bed carved through solid, massive granite, part of it one huge flattened boulder, giving on to a narrower channel with a gentle flow of clear, very cold water and a couple of pools deep enough to bathe in if one were brave enough.