Koreans Head to the Mountains for Fall Colors and Fried Grasshoppers
Hikers in Seoraksan National Park, South Korea, form a line up the mountain trail.
Autumn is an especially busy season for Seoraksan National Park in Gangwon province, South Korea. In a year, the park sees 3 million visitors, as many as Yellowstone Park in the States. But each October, the steady stream of outdoor admirers swells to a torrent when fall colors light up the park’s jagged peaks.
Outside the front gate, the atmosphere is excited, almost carnivalesque. It would make an American think of Disneyland, except for the elderly women sitting along the queue selling steamed, starchy corn. Crowds bustle past a free wheelchair distributor at the entrance and spill into the park. There are Korean nationals and foreigners of all ages and descriptions: Korean aunts and grandmothers in distinguishing pink jumpers and visors yell to each other with their families in toe, “Bali wa! Hurry up!”; tour groups in all the latest outdoor trappings hotfoot it to the trails; a rastafarian foreign couple meander conspicuously through the stalls of wooden souvenirs and plastic toys lining the park side of the ticket gate.
Soon after the entrance, the park opens up into a courtyard populated with food carts and the occasional overpriced restaurant. On one side of the courtyard, a monolithic stone Buddha surveys the crowd. Naturally, I head straight to the carts to see what snacks they have. The first vendor sells roasted chestnuts, and I buy a bag. At another, I find wild mountain raspberry wine and fried grasshoppers. I’m curious. The woman behind the cart takes a moment away from hawking the wine to complement my broken Korean and pours me a sample of purple liquid from a large glass jar into a small plastic cup. Sipping on the wine, I decide to try the grasshoppers. They’re crunchy and slightly salty. To my surprise, they make a satisfying compliment to the wine, the chestnuts, and the brisk, healthy fall air. It’s a windy day and autumn colors are all around. Thanking the lady, I drift back into the stream of hikers making their way to the summit.
