such beauty in the midst of dirty air
hello all
this past weekend, i was lucky enough to have a long weekend, where Monday was our "labour day" in Korea. it was really nice, because there was a lot of us at my school who needed a day off, but then it makes the rest of the week for some reason just drag on.....and seem like the day is just draining on.....regardless of that i'll take the day off. so what i decided to go climbing on my day off. now, in Korea, mountain climbing is a huge undertaking. you don't just go mountain climbing wearing pants and a shirt- you go mountain climbing wearing every single article of clothing specifically designed for mountain climbing; from the hat, to the poles, to the pants, ankle to knee-high socks - if there ever was a group of people from first glance that you thought were going to be heading off to mount Kilimanjaro, or Everest, it'd be the Koreans. they look for any excuse to get dressed up to go hiking. its kind of funny, to see them all worked up over this, but its their most popular hobby, so i guess they're allowed. the more comical they look, the more serious they are about hiking. in my neighbourhood, theirs a small mountain that takes you about forty-five minutes of slow walking to ascend - but regardless the size of the mountain, they dress to impress.
oh, before i forgot to mention that all of the new pictures posted on the site are from buhkansan, or buhkan mountain (san is korean for mountain) - it will give you an idea of what i mean when i write "such beauty in the midst of dirty air"....
overall, the "mountain" took my good friend youn-joung and I two hours to climb. part of the longer duration to climb the mountain was the fact that because of the national holiday, the climbers were out in force. we certainly weren't the only people who thought that mountain climbing was a good thing to do. regardless, once we reached the top, the view was beautiful. the air smells so much better up there, because theirs just no smog; the air flows much better up there (naturally) and only then can you appreciate the beauty that is Korea. valleys and mountains flow everywhere, and over the whole 360 degrees, all you can see are mountains going everywhere, and Seoul spread out all between the different ranges.
unfortunately, some Koreans thought that it would be a good joke to flip around the distance marker for the trail down. so instead of thinking that we had only 1.3km to go to the bottom, some nerd who flipped the sign instead sent us down on the 2.8km trail down the mountain. for all of the talk of Koreans being nice, they sure are lazy sometimes. who knows how many people knew that the marker had been flipped, and just walked down the side they knew was shorter. regardless, its easier to go down than up, so it only took us 2.5 hours. all in all, it was a long trek, including the 45 minute rest and short lunch at the top. it was pretty cool. all in all, its still so surprising to come out of the subway in the middle of Seoul, and see mountains surrounding your subway stop. its especially startling when you have to travel 1.25 hours just on the subway to cross the city, and then after that much time underground, your first sight is the mountains. it just reminds you when your here how much they've expanded from the original city on the rivers edge.
other than that, not much is new with me. the monsoon season is slowly starting up, with rain predicted for four days next week, on and off. and shortly after the rain, the cockroaches will all come out of hiding.... (I've killed five so far, and these guys are bigger than twoonies... they're vicious too; territorial suckers. if i could take a picture of one not moving, then you'd know what i mean...).
that's all for me. i hope and pray things are going well for you. if you're ever in the area, drop me a line, and we can catch up on lost time. he he....seriously though, if you're ever looking for a cool city to visit, minus the roaches, Seoul would be it....
adios all
this past weekend, i was lucky enough to have a long weekend, where Monday was our "labour day" in Korea. it was really nice, because there was a lot of us at my school who needed a day off, but then it makes the rest of the week for some reason just drag on.....and seem like the day is just draining on.....regardless of that i'll take the day off. so what i decided to go climbing on my day off. now, in Korea, mountain climbing is a huge undertaking. you don't just go mountain climbing wearing pants and a shirt- you go mountain climbing wearing every single article of clothing specifically designed for mountain climbing; from the hat, to the poles, to the pants, ankle to knee-high socks - if there ever was a group of people from first glance that you thought were going to be heading off to mount Kilimanjaro, or Everest, it'd be the Koreans. they look for any excuse to get dressed up to go hiking. its kind of funny, to see them all worked up over this, but its their most popular hobby, so i guess they're allowed. the more comical they look, the more serious they are about hiking. in my neighbourhood, theirs a small mountain that takes you about forty-five minutes of slow walking to ascend - but regardless the size of the mountain, they dress to impress.
oh, before i forgot to mention that all of the new pictures posted on the site are from buhkansan, or buhkan mountain (san is korean for mountain) - it will give you an idea of what i mean when i write "such beauty in the midst of dirty air"....
overall, the "mountain" took my good friend youn-joung and I two hours to climb. part of the longer duration to climb the mountain was the fact that because of the national holiday, the climbers were out in force. we certainly weren't the only people who thought that mountain climbing was a good thing to do. regardless, once we reached the top, the view was beautiful. the air smells so much better up there, because theirs just no smog; the air flows much better up there (naturally) and only then can you appreciate the beauty that is Korea. valleys and mountains flow everywhere, and over the whole 360 degrees, all you can see are mountains going everywhere, and Seoul spread out all between the different ranges.
unfortunately, some Koreans thought that it would be a good joke to flip around the distance marker for the trail down. so instead of thinking that we had only 1.3km to go to the bottom, some nerd who flipped the sign instead sent us down on the 2.8km trail down the mountain. for all of the talk of Koreans being nice, they sure are lazy sometimes. who knows how many people knew that the marker had been flipped, and just walked down the side they knew was shorter. regardless, its easier to go down than up, so it only took us 2.5 hours. all in all, it was a long trek, including the 45 minute rest and short lunch at the top. it was pretty cool. all in all, its still so surprising to come out of the subway in the middle of Seoul, and see mountains surrounding your subway stop. its especially startling when you have to travel 1.25 hours just on the subway to cross the city, and then after that much time underground, your first sight is the mountains. it just reminds you when your here how much they've expanded from the original city on the rivers edge.
other than that, not much is new with me. the monsoon season is slowly starting up, with rain predicted for four days next week, on and off. and shortly after the rain, the cockroaches will all come out of hiding.... (I've killed five so far, and these guys are bigger than twoonies... they're vicious too; territorial suckers. if i could take a picture of one not moving, then you'd know what i mean...).
that's all for me. i hope and pray things are going well for you. if you're ever in the area, drop me a line, and we can catch up on lost time. he he....seriously though, if you're ever looking for a cool city to visit, minus the roaches, Seoul would be it....
adios all