Jirisan, oh Jirisan

At 1915m (6280ft) Cheonhwangbong is the highest point in mainland Korea and also my excuse for visiting Jirisan National Park last weekend. Not that I needed much convincing; when it comes to hiking "it is there" is usually a sufficient reason. ^^ Fortunately, many of the people I went with felt likewise.
The plan was this:

* Depart Seoul Friday night and travel overnight to the trailhead.
I went with a group of likeminded hikers - expats like me and locals, all of whom I happily met through Meetup.com - who are so dedicated that not a one balked at our 11:45pm departure. We had to leave so late because, as you can see, our destination was a bit of a ways from Seoul:


* Leave at daybreak and head straight up to the highest peak, making camp only after summiting the peak a few hundred meters further down.
So we did and I have to tell you, I am still not accustomed to the Korean style of hiking. Switchbacks are all but nonexistent here so the incline is intense and, worse still, riddled with stairs - natural and artificial. It was an incredible but tough hike going up and completely unlike anything I had ever attempted before. About halfway up, as is the custom here, was a temple. A charming temple, to say the least. It offered a lovely rest and - bonus! - the most delicious apple I've ever eaten as well as a stone pagoda more than a thousand years old.

Weary but rested we continued on to the summit - resting more and more frequently, I am a bit ashamed to say - and by the time we reached our goal the visibility was almost nonexistent.

Oh well, it's the journey not the destination, right? ^^ Plus, the journey was't over. We'd reached the top but still had to make it to our base camp and then down the mountain. Easier said than done, you know?
Well, actually, one part was easy: going from the summit to the campsite. Less easy was actually overnighting it there. See, the park service kindly offers hikers heated shelters in which to sleep en masse. See we, a group of more than thirty in all, had reserved eight spots. Yep, that's right, eight. So, short story long, a lot of us ended up sleeping outside. The rain gods more or less played nice, though, and although it came close the temperature never actually went below freezing. The consolation prize - because there is always a consolation prize! - was something almost unheard of in Korea: a sky full of stars. It was so wonderful to see stars for once - with the air clean and clear and without the neon technicolors of Seoul you could see so much. It was magical. Just me, the open sky, and the guy snuggling next to me for warmth snoring away.^^

* Break camp and head back home the long way.
We broke camp somewhat later the following day than the day before - I mean, it was fully daylight this time - and headed down. Sort of. First we headed over, then down. The air was clearer today and the views better.




In short, it was breathtaking. My camera did not - does not - do it justice, but the sheer rawness of the beauty was fantastic. The way down was no easier than the way up, although a quick dip in a waterfall was exactly as soothing as you would expect. In sum, was a lovely time with lovely people and I would go back again in a heartbeat.

I am much too new to be this busy...

... and far too lucky for my own good. ^^ On Friday I celebrated my first month in Korea. On the day in question - May 22nd - my coworkers took me out but I've been a busy beaver all week:
* Tuesday I had dinner and drinks with Jae Sik;
* Wednesday I had curry with Connie [which, incidentally, is really fun to say];
* Thursday I met up with Hauen for a little chess;
* Friday was traditional Korean barbeque (bulgogi) and way, way too much soju with my coworkers as well as my Jirisan departure;
* Saturday and Sunday = Jirisan!

So, in sum, it's been a good week for a newbie. ^^ All other things aside, doesn't this just look delicious? Because it is, oh it totally is.

The world shrinks and my head spins.

Take a look at what I saw at my local metro station on my way to Jirisan last Friday.

Look closely.
Yep, that's some Peruvian pan flute players.
At the metro.
In Korea.

It's hard for me to explain exactly why this so completely blows my mind - although I'm sure it has a bit to do with the contrasts captured in this one photo - but, well, it does.

PS Jirisan update to follow, post haste!

Dobongsan!

I swear I do non-hiking things. I swear I'm more well-rounded than this blog has indicated of late. I swear... but, well, it's just so damned photogenic!

Next week I am going on a three-day hiking trip to Jirisan - at 1915 meters (6282 feet) the tallest mountain in mainland South Korea - so this weekend I tagged along for a warm up with the hiking group I'm going with. Although a great deal of fun was had, as this picture indicates we were anything but warm.



On the bright side - literally - the rain stopped right after we reached the summit, affording us a rare sight in and around Seoul: clear skies. The air quality here isn't too bad, but it does normally keep visibility down. After the morning rains, however, it was clear skies and lovely views!


[What you cannot see here: the people standing on this promontory!]

At the bottom of the mountain, of course, were the two things I've grown to know and love while hiking in Korea:
1) temples

2) Makgeolli!

[Korean rice wine]

Small-city Seoul?

It pays to be blonde in a small world, I suppose. Today, after only three weeks in Seoul - and not even in Seoul proper, but in the satellite city of Anyang - I randomly ran into somone I know. A girl I met a week prior halfway across the city. I know it's not earth-shattering, it's not incredible, but to me it's interesting.
Suddenly this city of 20 million seems a whole lot smaller. I could get used to that. ^^

This is My New Everyday.

Okay, so I'm a little behind on the blog posts for the stupidest reason imaginable: my camera battery is dead and I cannot recharge it. Yep, I said it. Stupidest reason ever. See, I have a camera and I had a power converter, but my last couchsurfer kind of, sort of blew it up. It was an accident, I know, but that doesn't mean my iPhone photos do justice to my experiences of late.

On Saturday, for example, I meant to meet up with a local group of Hash House Harriers but despite my hour-long trip into the north of Seoul they turned out to be no shows. So instead I took a bit of a walk and stumbled upon this:


Gyeongbok Palace

I didn't go in - although exactly why I cannot quite remember - and instead went on to Itaewon to pick up the ingredients necessary to make hummus. Mmm... delicious. Getting back on the metro, I headed home to Anyang but once at my local station I headed East instead of my usual West. This is what I found:


Anyang River

It was, as you can see, a beautiful, sunny day and walking along the length of the river a found an amazing cycling path. Now all I want to do is buy a bike and take it for a test drive here. Come payday - next week - I think I'll do just that.
The next day, also surprisingly beautiful - the forecast called for rain but it did not - I went to this park tantalizingly close to my school. Well, I thought it was a park. It turns out it is the gateway to highest mountain in Anyang:


View from Surisan

So there I was, at the top of a secondary peak in my sandals. As if being blonde wasn't enough to make my neighbors stare! Luckily it is only a fifteen minute walk from my apartment so I'll be back. Oh yeah, you betcha - I'll be back.

Simple Pleasures and "you are the only one"

I am quick to smile these days and in that way Korea would seem to be the perfect thing for me. A thousand things a day make me smile here. As I said, though, I'm easy. Like a cat I am drawn to shiny objects or pretty colors and Seoul is riddled with such things. Any day of the week the streets seem to be decorated for the Lantern Festival or Parents' Day or just with the unceasing neon of the officetels. Yet this simple drawing, on display in Gwanghwamun Station just below the Sejong Center in Central Seoul, blows any of those out of the water and has captivated me for days. So, in the interest of sharing life's simple pleasures, here is Lae Tae Wook's you are the only one:



Also on display, if less arresting:




PS Although I cannot translate the Korean that was with the flower, that last one, the burst of color that it is, is appropriately named Climax.

Buddha's Birthday : The Lantern Festival Parade

I know I mentioned somewhere before that the big thing in Korea last week was Buddha's Birthday - happy 2572nd, big guy! - and the big thing for me, as a result, was the Lantern Festival Parade that accompanied it. It's been some time since the event (it took a while to go through all the pictures) but as this is Korea's biggest street parade I thought I'd post a few pictures anyway. Better late than never, you know?

This is the kind of thing I moved to Korea for:

What a Difference a Year Makes

I am, as always, getting behind in blog posts - it's just too hard at times to both live life and accurately record it - but I cannot let a day like yesterday pass without at least trying to tell you a little about it.
Yesterday was, simultaneously, Childrens' Day in Korea and Cinco de Mayo in Mexico. Because of the former it was a holiday here but because of the later I cannot help but think how much things have changed for me in a single year.

2008: A year ago, as this blog itself shows, I was in Mexico itself, celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Humberto, Allain, and Remy in Guanajuato, the heart of Mexican independence.

2009: This year I was half a world away in Seoul, Korea playing frisbee, drinking soju, and eagerly anticipating 2000 won tacos by the Han river with new friends.

Forget, for just a minute, the worries of the world. Forget the wars, the famine, the strife. I know I am the luckiest man in the world, but try to see the world as I see it. As a place of infinite possibilities, a big, beautiful world full of sunshine and laughter.

I know I am lucky, so unbelievably lucky, but I wish everyone could see what I see.

PS Damnation, I am definitely getting more sentimental in my old age...

Taking the Cell Phone Plunge and other excitement in Itaewon

Today, Saturday, was rainy and quietly gloomy so I took the opportunity to spend some time running errands. Of course this Korea and I've only been here for about ten days so simple errands become serious midadventures.
So I woke up and headed to Itaewon because I received a tip from a fellow CouchSurfer that absolutely unbelievable deals on cell phones could be found there. In the end she was right - it took some serious searching to find a distributor - so I took the plunge and bought and Korean cellphone. It cost roughly $50 dollars, is prepaid with about $20 of talk time, and is named George. The number is 010-5784-4765 and no, I don't have any idea how to call that from the USA. Ask skype; it will be activated on Monday morning/ Sunday night.
But, but, but - and this is exciting part - in addition to having cheap cell phones Itaewon also has the largest concentration of foreigners in Seoul, a mosque, and food that goes with them. So while there - and while most of the things in my local street market seem like little more than vague mysteries - I went to the halal markets and loaded up on the essentials. You know, chick peas, curries, and so on. One of these days I'll get up the courage to make my own hummus... and when I do, I'll be sure to call and tell you all about it.

Street Food!

I think Korean street food is so delicious because I have no idea what it is I'm eating or, really, what it should taste like. That having been said, I definitely just had this omelete-esque thing and it was amazing. Who knew soy sauce was a key ingredient in the most important meal of the day?