Muuido: A Day (or two) at the Beach

So Sarah left last Thursday and I was sorry to see her go but she’ll doubtless be sorrier once she finds out what I got up to after she left: a real beach trip!*
See, last weekend was a trip to the East Sea – the one between Korea and Japan – and although we had fun, the weather was a bit off and the water downright cold. By contrast, this weekend was a trip to the West Sea – the one between Korea and China – and both the weather and water were sublime. Check it:


Although the West Coast tides are a bit extreme…


So it was a good, relaxing weekend. The beach was actually on an island off the coast, so it was wonderfully isolated (as compared with Seoul proper). After our first swim we came back to find an impromptu, barefoot soccer game underway on the beach. Naturally we joined in and it was, honestly, the most fun I’ve had in months.



This is what happens when you score. Fortunately I didn’t score. I did help though...^^


That night we had a bonfire on the beach, watched the stars come out, lit fireworks, and drank a lot of soju. No one woke up for the sunrise hike but we did eventually stumble out to the tallest peak on the island and were rewarded with views like this:

... and people like this:

Yep, all in all it was a great weekend. I met some great people, go to know a few others better still, and came back with a wicked tan. Muuido, mi corazon, nos vemos pronto. ^^

* Shh… don’t tell her!

Home Away From Home

My, my, my, where does the time go? Actually, don't answer that; knowing only makes it worse. No, not worse. Better, definitely better. I'm hardly living a life of purpose in Seoul* but I am certainly living life. Take the weekend before last:
My old, dear, friend Sarah came to vist me here in Seoul for a long weekend and it was wonderful. As much as I like my vagabond lifestyle, you see, I do get homesick from time to time. As good of a time as I have with my new friends here, they are just that: new. It's all new and exciting but it's hardly comfortable. Think chicken soup vs. thai fusion. It's a consequence of my life, I agree, that makes chicken soup so hard to come by. So it was pleasant in and of itself to see a friend I've known for fully ten years in a city I've known for less than two months. Nice to see my old friend with my new ones.
But, but, but it was better still to explore a bit of Korea with her. We went with some friends to the east coast - we eventually met all of Sarah's key requests: 1) beach; 2) karaoke; and 3) shopping - where two days of sheer madness ensued.

Our highlights include:

Palaces, temples, and bulgogi - oh my!


Hiking in the rain!

Swimming in the [absolutely freezing] East Sea (and being photgraphed by friendly Korean men who actually asked permission and then mailed us the pictures!)

Fireworks on the beach!


Noraebang [Korean karaoke]


A Penis Park. I won't even try to explain this one.

An underground cavern of epic proportions.

I think I even managed to convince Sarah to move to Korea once her contract in Japan expires in September. If so her visit will have been doubly good; not only was it nice to see a friendly face but she is independent confirmation that I'm not crazy: this place really is amazing!

*Oh but I wish!

Korean War Memorial

It's been a weird few weeks here South of the Border. Like I mentioned before, Roh's death drew the attention of many away from North Korea's latest saber rattling but as the week drew to an end I found myself more contemplative than usual. The result: a highly surreal visit to Seoul's War Memorial. I can't explain exactly what drew me there but I went as if compelled as the sun set on another week in Korea. Maybe it was the fading light combined with the immediacy of recent events, but it was still sight to behold.*






Thank God for the sweet, simple relief of flowers!




*Which is exactly why I make this post as the first of a series of three, to share with you my experience but to take the edge off them.

Surisan

Another day, another hike (but you'll never hear me complaining!). As good as the weather was on Saturday for the Bulamsan hike, it was even better on Sunday for Surisan. Better still, unlike any of my other hikes to date, Surisan is practically in my backyard. [Actually, technically, this 500 meter mountain is literally in my office's backyard - how cool is that?] So I went, I climbed, I enjoyed (myself). The views were spectacular but the real highlight, at least for me, was the temple near its base. I still find them so wonderfully moving. Maybe it's their unembarrassed piety, their use of color - so distinctly not Western - or the simple fact that they alone in this increasingly globalized Korea are so distinctly not Western. Whatever it is, you can't argue with this:







Or this:

Bulamsam

My friend Jessica sent me an e-mail the other day asking, among other things, "I thought you were living in the city?" Which is a perfectly valid question, given just how many of my blog posts revolve around hiking and the generally accepted notion that cities make for bad hiking hotspots. Only in this regard, like in so many others, Korea is an exception: Seoul and its suburbs are defined by the mountains, mountains which are therefore tantalizingly close and aching to be climbed. Plus they're a damned sight more picturesque than the city itself!

This has never before been so true as with Bulamsan, located on the northeastern edge of Seoul.







It was a short, easy hike on a picture perfect day that concluded with drinks and boendegi [silkworms]. Who could ask for anything more?

"I read the news today..." [Roh]

Only, actually, I didn't. Well, I did, but since coming back from Jirisan I've been too busy to keep tabs on the American papers or even watch my favorite, The Daily Show. So I truthfully have no idea what the Western press has been going on about with regards to North Korea's latest temper tantrum.*

I can tell you, however, that it's just about the last thing anyone is talking about here - and not for the reason you might think. People aren't in denial, they're otherwise engaged. You see, the day I left for my epic Jirisan hike, one of Korea's most recent former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide. I won't get into the particulars - they're unimportant to my main point - but suffice it to say that Roh, a self-educated lawyer from a small Korean backwater, had been plagued by corruption and bribery charges since leaving office in 2008. I mention these two points by way of declaring him something of a polarizing figure: a rags-to-riches story for some, a betrayal of convictions to others.

Nonetheless almost all of Korea mourns. It's, well, weird. It's not just that I have only the most fleeting connection to a man that people are wailing in the streets over but the larger idea that people are wailing in the streets at all. I haven't been here long, but this I know is true: by and large wailing simply isn't done here, so when you see it they mean it.

Boy do they mean it. The women in my office discretely cried while watched the funeral on pocket TVs. The funeral attracted hundreds of thousands even though the current President refused to declare a day of mourning. Even my local subway station, as shown to the right, has become a local focal point of collective remembrance. The other night [last week?] I went to meet a couchsurfer there only to find well in excess of two thousand people lined up in a candlelight vigil.

Yep, the Norks could definitely have timed things better - no one has said anything about them for days.

*I can only assume that they're not making too much of a fuss because only one of my friends has even alluded to it in an e-mail and not even Mom seems frantic. ^^

N Seoul Tower

I was going through my picture folders and I realized that I never posted about my visit to N Seoul Tower a few weeks ago. [Not that I'm running out of things to blog about - much to contrary - but because I want to cross it off my "done" list and move on to other things.]

I went to N Seoul Tower on what has to be the prettiest day I've yet seen in Seoul. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, a recent rain had just washed the city clean and so - in short - it was perfect. The tower is located on top of a small mountain in central Seoul (Namsan) so although it only measures a little over 236m (777ft), it is in reality 479.7m (1574ft) above sea level. Which is not too shabby. Needless to say, the view is incredible. Plus, as the pictures below can attest, it's just about the greenest place in the area.

It was a normal touristy day except that the observation tower - not shown - just about broke my heart. Two week into my stay in Korea I was suddenly surrounded by glass windows labeled with world cities - New York, Washington, Mexico D.F., Santiago de Chile, Bogota - along with their distances. Oh, such distances. You never feel so homesick until someone throws in a statistic telling you just how far you are from your loved ones!

Still, the views were a nice enough way to combat my first bout of homesickness. The churros, too, helped. ^^

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.