CAVE EXPLORATION - Seongnyugul Cave, Uljin.

Sean Kruger
Mar 22, 2015
3 min read

This past weekend Sophia and I went exploring again. Everything around us is so new and exciting to see that we just can’t spend a minute inside.

Not far from us, one could say in our back yard, is a cave, a limestone cave that stretches over 472m. We heard about it and read a blog about the cave, we decided to see it for ourselves. A new friend, Chris, joined us and we headed out to find the mysterious cave. Finding it was not difficult, driving towards it we drove along a beautiful river that flows between the mountains. Across from the river we could see a colorful pagoda on the other bank, we presumed that this was where we needed to be.

Walking to the cave from the parking lot, we passed by some curios and traditional styled Korean food stalls. Beyond the food stalls, we arrived at the bank of the river and walked between a cliff face and the wide clear blue river, overhanging the walking path was a stone archway leading to the pagoda we could see from the other side.

After paying a small fee of 3000 won, we headed into the darkness, honestly not expecting anything spectacular. We crouched low, knees and back bent, eyes minding the jagged ceiling from our heads (we opted not to wear the bulky plastic helmets). Once upright again we could see the cave walls and ceiling, stalactites and stalagmites all lit up by the lights inside, the dark features of the cave highlighted by the well placed spot lights.

The silver bridges inside lead viewers across small reflective ponds, crystal clear, so that you could see the features on the bottom although some are about 30 meters deep. Apparently a habitat for many fish. As soon as we entered the first phase or cavern, all of us were immediately in awe. I was totally taken a back, and without hesitation I took out my tripod and camera. I began to shoot away at all angles. Sophia and Chris quickly became bored with my habitual snapping of the camera as I hovered around my tripod staring into the eyehole at the cave walls.

After a few minutes of patiently waiting for me, I suggested the two of them move on without me and that I would catch up. I was enjoying myself way too much to move at a normal pace through the multitude of fascinating structures and caverns. Many of the Koreans were moving through the cave system way too fast for my liking, in and out as though there was a flash sale happening somewhere nearby. A lady who entered shortly after us could be heard throughout the cave as she walked with a loud clickety-clack in her smart black high heel shoes. She passed by us, and we gladly let her, before any of us had reached the end she was exiting the cave again, still dressed for a day in the office.

The cave is made up of about 5 ponds all varying in size, it has several large caverns reaching about 40 meters in height with superb stalactites and stalagmites, forming large columns in places where they have united. Some of these limestone rocks have created natural rock statues that resemble characters from the outside world. Such as a praying Mary, Buddha monks and dragons, most famous are the three praying monks that can be found inside. The cave has an interesting history, related to the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-1598), when a temple nearby, relocated Buddhist statues to the cave to protect them; hence the name, Seongnyugul (Cave Where Buddha Stays). It was also a place where many local villagers from the area hid out during the war, unfortunately they were discovered by the enemy who then proceeded to bury them alive by ceiling the cave. Their skeletons were found later after the war.

The Seongnyugul cave is famous as it was the first cave to be opened to the public as a tourist destination in 1963, it is perhaps one of the most famous attractions in the Uljin area. Leaving the cave on hands and knees through the tiny opening one feels as though you have emerged from another world, the sun too bright for your eyes and the surrounding space suddenly more vast. We would recommend a visit to this cave if ever you found yourself in the near-by area. It is definitely an attraction we won’t be forgetting.