#1: [30-Mar-02]

06-Apr-2018 -- It’s been 16 years since I became the first person to visit all ten land-based confluence points in South Korea. It appeared that most of them didn’t have further visits since, so I felt a need to re-visit the old spots. Unlike the original visits, I had a car and an iPhone to assist me in getting there easier. Multiple confluence point visits in a single day became possible - I ended up visiting three.

This was the first point I tackled, which was the closest to home. A 40-minute drive to the east got me to the entrance of the Juam-maeul (Village) in Hwasun-gun (County). This was about 500 m west of the point. The point itself was within Mount Gomak, so I needed to see what was the best way in.

After two failed attempts, multiple warning barks from dogs, and 40 minutes later, I finally remembered to walk up to the northern road. Where the road ended, there was a small foot path heading south leading to a cluster of tombs. Past the tombs was a swamp and a stream that I saw at my previous visit. This was about 100 m from the confluence point and I stopped here back then. This time, I was determined to go all the way in.

This proved to be tricky because I needed to cross the stream while avoiding the swamp, and then wade through the tree-heavy hill. After about 40 more minutes of struggle I finally got to the confluence point. As it was in the middle of the mountain, all I could see around the place was trees, with just a glimpse of the nearby peaks and a transmission line. The ground was on a steep incline covered in leaves, branches, and flower petals, which made it hard for me to stand properly.

I took a brief break and carefully thought about my way back. Eventually, I got out of the hill and crossed the streams in 20 minutes, and just 5 minutes more was needed to return to the car. I headed to my next destination, 36N 127E.