So enough time seems to have passed for the memory of the aches and pains of my last hike to have faded, leading me to embark on a new hike this weekend to Mount Yongmunsan, in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Again there was a lot of up and a lot of down, but this time it was complicated by the added factor of ice. I'm not terribly stable on my feet at the best of times (something to do with a complete lack of coordination) so this meant that I was inching along at a snail's pace for a lot of the time. When there wasn't ice there was mud, a lot of which ended up coming home with me. Unfortunately mud is pretty much as slippery as ice, so I had a lovely patch on my butt to go with the mud-splattered legs, which at least amused the people who shared a train with me on the way home.
Enough complaining however (I really should have written this post when I could walk without pain again), no doubt I shall look back on it and think how great it was. It was definitely great to get out of Seoul and to see more of Korea's country side, especially while there's still snow around. I will never get bored of seeing snow - even trudging through it when you're tired and sore is somehow still cool. I will however be quite happy if I never have to walk over ice again :-)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Han River
After going across this bridge in a train so many times I finally braved the cold to take a closer look at the Han River. I'm glad that I did, especially before the ice had completely melted. This was taken a couple of weeks ago - I'm pretty sure everything would have melted by now, seeing as it's been pretty warm in the last week or so. You know; 5 degrees, or something like that. Almost balmy!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Seokbulsa Temple
This temple was definitely one of the highlights of Korea for me. After catching a cable car up the mountain and walking for about 2 hours through unmarked bush it was quite an achievement just to find the place (kudos here to Mick, who convinced me that I was going in the opposite direction to where we were supposed to be going). When we finally arrived there was almost nobody there - perhaps because it's so hard to find? The temple is situated right on top of the mountain, so you have a great view. There weren't many buildings - just two or three - but there were these incredible carvings of buddha that had been carved right into the side of the mountain in some cases. Candles and incense had been lit in all the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and there was a real feeling of peace about the place. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Korea - just don't ask me where it is exactly.
P1020191
Originally uploaded by kirijae
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