The waterfalls
Between the rocks.
Uwe Brodrecht — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mark Fahey from Sydney, Australia — CC BY 2.0 · Mark Fahey — CC BY 2.0
Mount Myohyang is a mountain in the north of North Korea whose name means the mountain of mysterious fragrance, for its strange shapes and scents. It is one of the most visited places in the country, and most of it is forest protected in a national park of about 16,000 hectares. Old Korean histories named the mountain as the home of King Tangun, the legendary forefather of the Korean people, though scholars now think the legend meant Mount Paektu. The mountain has several hiking routes, the 11th-century Pohyon Temple, small monks' hermitages and the Ryongmun cave, which is open to visitors. You see peaks covered in mixed broadleaf and conifer forest, and deep valleys where streams and white waterfalls rush between the rocks. Lower down are green lawns and tall firs, clouds sometimes cover the summits, and the forest turns colour in autumn. It is about 12 km from the town of Hyangsan and about 116 km from Pyongyang in a straight line. Foreign visitors can only come on organised tours, and the country has been closed to most tourists in recent years. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to North Korea, so read the current advice before you plan.
Between the rocks.
Mixed.
Deep.
Hyangsan county, North Korea
The mountain of mysterious fragrance.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to North Korea.