Seonunsan National Park 18-23 Apr

Seonunsan and the rest of Korea

So after a day of hiking all over Seoul trying to find the correct bus station, I finally completed the 7:40 journey from Sokcho to Gochang-gun thanks to directions I found online.  I arrived too late to catch a bus to Seonunsan for camping and climbing and the temp was in the 30s F anyway.  So I once again played the walk around until I could find a wi-fi game until I learned that there were 2 jim jil bangs nearby.  A Jim Jil Bang is essentially a spa/bathhouse for super cheap.  When you arrive, the desk clerk gives you a set of pjs and a locker key.  You take your things and put them in your respective locker, then you strip down naked, shower, and enjoy the different temperatures of many spa pools and saunas. Many have massage chairs, pc access, barber shops, and shoe shine stands as well.  The only downside to this, if it is such, is everyone is completely nude and it's primarily elder Korean men and women.  Not to mention if you are a foreigner you gather quite a few stares for your strangely colored skin.  You may feel a bit out of place really.  All of that aside, once you have enjoyed the relaxing waters, you put on the pjs issued to you and make your way to a common area that may be co-ed or segregated by sex.  Here you sleep on a heated hardware floor and get a cushion of sorts for your head.  The idea is that sleeping on the floor is good for your back if you are lying on it.  If I didn't mention it already, yes all the spa rooms are segregated by sex.  I have learned this the hard way a couple of times.  On the first instance in Gochang, I did not read the sign and walked into the women's sleeping area, immediately after which a man came running down the hallway chasing after me to tell me I was in the wrong room  The second time I took the wrong elevator to the women's spa room in Busan.  when I walked into the room to try to change elevators, the desk clerks began yelling at me in Korean and ran to me to cover my eyes continuing to scream at me in Korean before shoving me back in the elevator and pointing upstairs.  So embarrassing. 

Next morn, I gather my things and step outside ready to catch a bus to the park for a great day of climbing with old cohorts of mine.  One problem exists though, it's 40 degrees and raining -hard.  All this and I have no idea if there is even anyone at the campsite.  So I take the risk and jump on a bus hoping for the best.  Fortunately, I happened to run into an Air Force guy who was taking the same route and he had a cell phone.  So we were able to make it to the park, where he called for directions to Sonia, one of the head people of the Korea on the Rocks climbing group.  She directed us to a campsite near the youth hostel I would stay in for the night.  the rest of the day I just spet catching up with my buddy and making plenty of new friends.  Met one guy who's an American working in Seoul as a design engineer of sorts.  Also met Canadian couple who were awesome and fresh in Korea as well as a guy from Spain with whom I'm currently traveling.  He's 24 working construction in Qatar visiting Korea with his Korean girlfriend.  Meeting all these people working abroad away from their home country gives me a lot of inspiration and hope for my own future.  I've just got a huge hurdle to get over called college.  Aye yay that's a big one.  At the moment I'm toying with the idea of attending a Japanese language school in Tokyo for a bit first then starting school the next semester.  

Anyway, fast forward through the weekend.  We hung out by the fire all day that was incredibly painstaking to get going with wet wood.  Totally didn't expect or pack for weather this cold but I managed with a beanie and a pair of thermals.  That night, about 20 of swapped stories and got a bit tipsy around the fire.  Then the people I mentioned before and myself all retired to the youth hostel, where we crashed out.  In the morning however, I was the first to wake up and to my unpleasant surprise, I noticed during the night someone had pooped on the floor of the bathroom.  I thought it must have been there all along and the guys the night before had been playing a joke on me telling me to go in the bathroom and I had not noticed it.  When I mentioned it in the morning however, this was news to everyone but we determined we had a pretty good idea about who had done it.  That is not a conversation for this blog though.  So much for taking a welcoming warm shower to greet the morning sun.  

By the end of the day, for various reasons, much due to a particular individual, we were only able to get in about 2 climbs per person and left the crag by 3 pm.  I got separated from my ride to Busan and decided to just hitch a bus with the Spanish guy who was also going to Busan the same night.  5 hours later we finally made it to Busan where I strangely ran into one of my good friends from 4 years ago who happened to be leaving Korea at the same time we were arriving in Busan.  He called my name and approached me and I said "yeah, who are you" which was a bit rude but I was tired from the long day.  He said his name and immediately my whole demeanor changed.  I had been very disappointed that I was going to miss him before he left for Colorado with his new Korean wife so I was elated to catch him at this moment.  It was great to chat despite our conversation only lasting about 30 seconds before he had to catch a subway.  Hopefully I'll meet the guy in Colorado.  

So Spanish guy and I luckily caught the last subway of the night to Haeundae Beach where we went to another Jim Jil Bang called Spa Center.  Another night on the floor but I can't complain for getting all that for roughly USD$10.  This one was much nicer and larger as well so it was a bit more fulfilling experience.  This is also where I accidentally walked into the women's dressing room as well.

Next day Spanish guy said he had a cool hostel we could go to so we jumped on the subway once again and made way for L-zone language cafe near Kyuksung university.  Here people come from all over the world to exchange languages with one another and they also set us up in a hostel nearby.  Here I set my bags down, made the bed, and slept from 3 pm to 7 am the next morning- my first time on a bed in 4 days.  

So majority of the day, we lazed around the hostel catching up on news and social life, before heading off for some Korean BBQ.  I was stoked to FINALLY get to enjoy this delight especially because my Spanish friend is typically a vegetarian but made an exception for this trip and this meal.  And it\s basically a pure red meat meal as well.  Super unhealthy but utterly delicious.  Afterward, another Korean delight- ice cream on Belgium Waffles.  It doesn't get any better.  All this followed by sweet bread in paris baguette, so naturally I felt like a fatty.  I dragged myself to the climbing gym which just happened to be about a block away from our hostel and punished myself until I felt I had adequately made up for the food splurge.  A little bit of yoga and a trump back to the hostel in the pouring rain, I am now here writing this blog.  

I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited to see my friends/second family and practice the language again.  I can hardly contain the excitement.  Lots of people and lots of things to see, I should be able to stay busy and perhaps have a more fulfilling experience than that of this past week.  

So that's it.  Spanish guy has a girl he wants to hang with and I'm going to join in the language cafe.  One more night in Busan and I'm outta here.  It was nice to see you again Korea.  Anyeonghi Kyeseyo!

Seoraksan National Park 18 Apr

Yesterday I made the journey from Seoul to a little town called Sokcho which I used as a jumping off point for Seoraksan National Park.  Seoraksan was one of the main reasons I decided to come to korea in the first place as I had never gotten to see it last time I was here and was told it was incredibly beautiful.  So after staying in a small motel the previous night, I packed my bag up to 30 pounds or so for extra weight and caught the inner city bus to Seorak-dong.  Thank goodness for a guidebook because although it's improving, my Korean is still abysmal and and  nothing here is in English nor does anyone speak it.  As you can imagine, this gets very frustrating and a bit embarrassing sometimes. This is what initally drove me to study languages in the first place.

So I dumped some change into the receiver on the bus (too much because I was nervous and didn't count) and headed off for the park.  On a sidenote, ever since I left Hongdae district, I've gotten a lot more stares and eye contact, but that's probably because I've been carrying a gigantic pack.  So naturally I caught a few stares on the bus.

We arrived at the park and the first thing I noticed was tourists-everywhere!  As is commmon is Asia, they were unloading by the busload, all loud, raucous, and mischievous.  Many of them were teenagers and the rest were adjumas.  They crowded the shop stalls and grouped together under single yelling leaders in large pockets of craziness.  Apparently, this was a MAJOR tourist attraction.

So I tried my hardest to ignore them, pushing my way through and walking quickly in and out of their ranks.  Finally after a kilo or so, when I hit the trails about 20 minutes later, the herd dwindled into small teams of a bit more matured Koreans all clad in the best Korean hiking gear with poles and sun visors and everything else they could pick up in the local market.  I don't blame them really though when you can purchase a decent pair of hiking pants for $10 and a breathable, moisture-wicking jacket for $15.  WIsh I had just waited until I arrived to do my own shopping instead of paying name brand prices in the U.S. which are outrageous.

The trail steadily gained in steepness and difficulty as I practically ran up it as fast as my fitness would allow.  Thank goodness for trekking poles as they were a major help with stabilization and enabled me to climb much faster.  Not a single person passed me on the way up this 850peak.  The stairs were mind-blowingly steep and the rocks slippery with mist as I gained elevation.  It was also drizzling the entire time which made conditions all the more difficult but I didn't mind.  After a 2 hour hike, I finally reached the peak of Ulsan Bawi which is large, beautiful limestone formation caused by eons of erosion.  All I could think was how badly I wanted to climb it.

Unfortunately, the peak didn't have much to offer in the way of scenery because that day, everything at elevation was cloaked in a dense fog with perhaps 70 feet of visibility.  I thought to myself "this was the main reason I flew across the world and I arrive at the peak and can see nothing. Shame really." But I wasn't down.  Life is just like that sometimes.  I was happy I had gotten to take on a tough hike and quickly made it to the top.

As I was looking over the edge and preparing to leave, I heard a barrage of gunshots that lasted approximately 5 minutes.  No machine guns, only single shot rounds.  Most likely this was simply the Korean and American military exercising (playing war games) as we often do at this time of year.  Of course my mind was racing with the recent elevated tension with North Korea.  I started going over a gameplan for how to shelter and survive if I needed to take refuge on the mountain.  When I returned to my motel that night however, I learned that a U.S. marine helicopter had crash landed 5-10 miles north of my position.  The reason given was "the crash is being investigated."  Honestly I hate that shit.  What harm would it do to cite the real reason the bird went down and save us all the B.S. unless they honestly don't know.  This used to drive me mad even when I was in the military.  Anyway though, this crash and where I was are only a few miles from the DMZ so it's possible foul play was involved.

So after the shots stopped, I made my way the 4 km back down the mountain.  At this point my legs were literally twitching and I knew my ankle was hating me.  Perhaps I pushed a bit too hard.  I'm only 25 and my body already won't take what it used to.  The rest of the night was another round of trying to find food, not wanting to pay for expensive food, and avoiding the risk of embarrassment at walking into a restaurant and not speaking the language.  I eventually gave in, buying microwave chicken which turned out to be way too spicy to finish anyway.  I don't understand why food like this even exists.

Well instead of going off on that tangent, I'll say it 19 Apr and I'm about to head out to Seonunsan Park where my rock climbing adventures all began..  The first place I ever sport climbed.  I'm going to meet a couple of old friends there for a weekend full of climbing, camping, and being merry.  Now if only my ankle would allow me to get off this bed...

Day 1 Seoul, South Korea

ONE DAY IN SEOUL

-------Pictures to come though I'll primarily be posting my photos on facebook------

So I've arrived in South Korea, the second stop on this trip.  I'm sitting in a kitchen on a rooftop overlooking Hongdae, a college district in Seoul.  After several delayed flights I finally arrived at the Incheon airport before attempting to make contact with my couchsurfing host for the night.  Well I called the guy and he had neglected to inform me that his couch would actually be full for the weekend and Iwould need to find anotherr place to stay.   Oh well.  So I found a wi-fi spot and booked a night at Seoul Base Camp Hostel in Hongdae district.  I recall my knee-bouncing anxiety as the bus driver neared my destination for I feared unless I pushed the stop button, he would surely drive by my stop since I had no idea of its whereabouts.  Fortunately, the lights came on and an announcement was made overhead as we neared the station.  Unfortunately, I had lost wi-fi and thus, the directions to my hostel.  Plus I had no sim card for my phone yet so once again, I was clueless of my heading.  I wandered the streets for a bit until I was fortunate enough to find an open wi-fi and review the directions.

View from the roof of my hotel

Upon arrival, I learned the attendant/owner was a Korean-Canadian who had moved back to start a business here for whatever reason.  He showed me around the place a bit and after a quick chat, I was out for the night.  

Next morning, I decided to take care of a few chores and run around the city for a bit.  I needed a languuage book, a tablet keyboard case, a sim card, and to register with the embassy.  Spoiler alert! I completed virtually none of these tasks.  Instead I got lost on the subway all day and ran into dead ends with nearly all of my objectives.  All the book stores had only Korean books (naturally).  I cannot get a sim card until I have been in Korea for a certain number of days.  I can register with the embassy online (because of the North Korea missile threat) and none of the 30+ electronics stores I checked had a keyboard case for a Samsung Tab 2 7.0 tablet.  KOREA IS THE HOME OF SAMSUNG AND I COULD FIND ONE NOWHERE.  So I capitulated and simply purchased a mini bluetooth keyboard for about $40.(I'm still getting used to the small keys and thus this entry may contain many typos.)

Left by other travelers in the hostel

By the end of the day I was utterly exhausted from the lack of proper nutrition, running up stairs all day, and jet-lag.  I had started at 5:30 A.M. that day and it was now 7 pm (AKA 4 AM on my body clock).  I had found difficulty in finding a proper resturant as I was being timid with the language barrier.  You see, when i lived here before, my Korean language skills were moderate but fine enough to get around and converse with people.  I also used to always carry a phrasebook.  Now however, with a diction that doesn't extend much farther than comsahamnida (thank you) and ahnyeonghaseyo (hello), I found myself struggling quite a bit.  Nevertheless, I mustered up the courage to muster up the courage and energy to roam the streets in search of food and perhaps a beer.  Another wild hungry wegugin (foreigner) on the prowl.

I eventually settled for some fast food rameyon (ramen) as it was the least intimidating of the many establishments in the area around my hostel.  Fortunately I am still able to read the language with very little difficulty so I decided this was my strongest craving on the menu, albeit a quite familiar option.  Let me just say however, I am not one of those people who finds thrill and excitement from eating strange and novel cuisine.  So that night when I decided to once again wander the streets in another district in search of the Namdaemun Market, I declined the offer to partake in stir fried and raw octopus as well as the pig's feet.  (In my defense, I've had cooked octopus before and I'm not a fan- too chewy).  There was also an array of other strange foods but this is the on that stood out the most on these street stands.  Fortunately, amid the strange and less palletable fodder, I did find a fruit stand with amazingly fresh watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and others.  So I allowed myself the delight of a slice of watermelon.  Much more delectable than any you might find in a grocery store.

A couple of observations from the day:

-When I was in the market, I laughed as I heard a Hip-Hop song with a chorus -repeating "I'm black from the waist down."  Asian women do love their black men.

-I had quite a bit of difficulty catching eye contact with anyone, whether it be young attractive ladies, old men, or middle aged women.  It seemed I could only garner attention from children.  Strange because Koreans have a reputation for staring at foreigners and continuing to stare even when you've made eye contact.  That only happened a couple of times.  Perhaps this is primarily in the regions where foreigners are more of a rarity.

-People act as though no one else exits outside there bubble so they are constantly running into each other and shoving elbows to get through crowds (especially the adjumas- old women).

-Getting on and off the subway is a free-for-all.  There is no waiting for people to get off the subway then politely moving in.  Everyone rushes the door- perhaps to grab a seat before they are all taken.

-In the U.S. most people have smaller phones such as iphones and Droids.  They supplement their tiny screens by owning tablets.  Here in Korea, no one has tablets in public.  They all have gigantic phones such as galaxy notes and others of the sort.  Seeing an iphone was rare.  Also, just like Japan, EVERYONE is on their phones at all times while on the subway as if the world around them does not exist.  I wonder if anyone in the last 3 years has ever made a friend on a subway.  Probably not.

-There is wi-fi everywhere here.  Much of it requires a pre-paid access card purchased at local convenience stores.  Even the subways and trains have wi-fi.  Not sure about the buses. Probably not since there's so many.

Double Barber Poles aren't necessarily a barber shop

-And one more. When I lived here before, I had heard rumor that many of the barber poles around the city are actually not barber shops only, but rather barbershop/brothel hybrids or just brothels disguised as barbershops outright.  Well thanks to a quick wikipedia search (not what you though I was going to say) I have discovered that this is indeed true.  I kept wondering when I saw barber poles (sometimes double barber poles which is a sure sign) in some of the allies, many pointing to spas and almost always with stairs leading underground. And oh btw, if you are concerned for my safety, in my experience, Korea is a pretty safe place so long as you keep your wits about you and don't do anything you wouldn't do in any other city.

Well today I plan to figure out how to make my way toward Seoraksan National Park on the other side of the country.  I was never able to make it out there last time I lived here because it was so far away but it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in Korea.  So I'm excited to try out my new trekking poles there and take in the scenery.  I'll take plenty of pix.  First though, if I have time, I'm going to head to Gangnam district just to see what all the hype from Si's Gangnam Style song is all about.  Probably nothing in the day time since its a party district, but it would still be cool to check it out.

So! Breakfast and blogging now complete, it's time to begin the day!

Gangnam District

Thank Goodness they warned me

Travel begins at the end of the week!  Flying to Salt Lake City to visit a friend then off to South Korea to let the adventures begin.  I'm a cautious about political tensions in the Koreas right now with all the military activity in the area, but I've always been a bit of a risk taker.  I'll spare you my views on the likelihood of an all-out nuclear war breaking out in the area but it is an ever-present risk.  Who knows? This could be the last time anyone gets to see a beautiful South Korean landscape for decades to come.

To anyone curious as to how to pack for a trip such as this, there's plenty of suggestions on the web and I'd be happy to provide a few ideas of my own.  It's taken a bit to round up all the necessary supplies but a couple more stops in the gear store and I should be ready to go.  A week from now I'll be hiking one of the most beautiful parks in all of South Korea, the magnificent Seoraksan National Park.