Hey there! As promised, I'm gonna blog my experiences here in South Korea! Well, please take note that I'm new in this arena and gonna try my very best describing my adventures . :)
First among the lists, mountain hiking! Last autumn, my korean friends and I had a great trip to Unak mountain (운악산), about 2 hours away from Seoul. We left Cheonan (천안) about 7 am and arrived at our destination about 11 am, took us almost a 4-hour drive with a stop over to get there. Good thing about the trip, there was no traffic (t'was a Saturday)!
Upon arrival, we had lunch, a native Korean dish (닭도리탕), then checked in the pension house (cost us about $100 for a two day one night stay) and started gearing up!
Heading to the mountain, there were maps and guide along the road and at the entrance, which had an arch engrossed with Korean characters. It was like a field trip, like I was going to a botanical garden or a zoo? :) I was surprised to see some parts of the trail paved, so hiking wasn't as difficult as I initially thought. However, some parts were kinda stiff and had to push myself up. I was obviously an amateur. Hiking surely caused physical strain but the picturesque surrounding outweighed any pain. As a person who grew up in a tropical country, experiencing autumn-hiking is amazing!
After an hour of walking and picture taking, we arrived at one of the oldest temples in Korea built at the middle portion of the mountain. I did not enter the temple, only looked at its interior and took some pictures. We were thirsty and good thing water was provided, no cups were available so you could drink using a common dipper or your palms. I did the latter one. :p One funny thing about the experience, there was free wi-fi in that area! Technology is really amazing. Right there we shared pictures. By the way, there was also a souvenir shop.
As initially planned we did not climb to the top because we would be too tired for the night. Going down was a little easier as expected but one must be more careful to avoid losing balance. I almost slipped. It was a more beautiful scenery going down. I had a better view of the surroundings, the multi-color trees and the dry river which completed the whole set-up... That satisfied my cravings for nature.. God's works are truly marvelous.
Well then, after almost an hour, we arrived at the mountain base. We were sooo hungry so we checked out one of the restaurants and tried its goodies. We had Korean pancake (부침개). It was a winner!
For dinner, we stayed at the pension house coz it would be cold outside. My eonni already grocery shopped a day before so we could have lots of stuff to eat. We used electric grill for sam-gyup-sal (삼겹살), sausage and mushrooms. We had such a sumptous meal! Great chat plus great food gave as a great evening!
Just in case you're planning to stay here in Korea for about a year or during autum perhaps, I suggest that you try mountain hiking. Just be sure to have and bring the following:
1. A Korean friend who loves eating
2. Climbing/running shoes
3. Sports/training jackets
4. Gloves or hat (in case it gets too cold)
4. A bottle of water (crazy of me not to bring one)
5. Camera/Cellphone
