Mount Seorak...fi-TING!!!

Here I am on my last day in Korea :( Taylor is working today...actually he should be home in an hour or so and I leave tomorrow around 2pm to head back to the States. I have had SUCH an excellent trip...couldn't have asked for anything more. It was so great to see Taylor and we really had a lot of fun together especially on all of our excursions...it makes me even more excited for Italy and all the travels to come!

I got to end my visit on a wonderful trip to Mount Seoraksan/Sorak/Seorak (it is spelled differently every where I look!!) Mt. Seorak is a National Park about 4 hours northeast of Osan on the East coast of Korea. We traveled over there Saturday morning with Taylor's friends: Alisha (another LT in Security Forces), Min (a captain in Security Forces and our LIFESAVER because he is fluent in both Hangeul and English), Min's girlfriend Jo (also a captain in the AF) and Jo's sister Kat who was in town visiting!

Anyway...we rented a car...sadly... Taylor's pride and joy of a car here in Osan, a Daewoo Prince from the early 90's, just wasn't going to make the trip! So we drove in luxury in a Hyundai Sonata! All you see around here are Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo...I believe they are all domestic. Anyway...Min has his Jeep over here so he took that with Jo and Kat. As we're leaving from base on Saturday morning I said, "so do you have an idea where we're going?" Taylor says, "yep, I'm following the Jeep!" Great. (PS I hate quotations...I got the punctuation with them wrong in school and I'm sure I have it wrong here too...I need my mother proofing my blogs!) So we're off to Mt. Seorak.

All Korean interstates are toll roads. There are not frequent exits like in the US with fast food places and gas stations and small towns. There are a few large exits where you leave the toll road to go to towns along the way and then there are rest stops along the way. But not the same as a US rest stop when at best you get a vending machine and some picnic tables. These are full restaurants, some with shops inside, music blasting, gas stations, everything...superstops they should be called!! Anyway...we drive on the interstate and sit in traffic for quite some time on the way out there and when we finally get to the end of the interstate (AKA the east coast and where we needed to get off) we go to get our ticket to pay our toll and it is NOWHERE to be found in our car! We pull over and search under our seats, in our bags, in the pretzels...we set it in the console...it was gone! So our first Min moment comes: he calls us wondering where we are and we have to pull into the toll booth and give the phone to the lady trying to tell her to talk to our friend. Min explains to the toll booth lady, over the cell phone, what happened and we pull over to the main office on the side of the road...stupid Americans, I imagine that was said...or at least thought!! Anyway...we found the ticket...apparently there is was a space up under the console/radio area where the ticket had gotten stuck. Phew...crisis avoided.

So we make it to the hotel, get checked in, and meet up to head out to lunch. We, and by we I actually mean Min, found a restaurant that looked nice. We walk up to the restaurant and you leave your shoes at the door and there is not a single chair in the place! I thought I had eaten traditional before...apparently not! Things are much more Westernized closer to big cities...but we were nowhere near a big city! It was quite amusing watching Taylor take off his cowboy boots at the door and then attempt to sit on the floor. He sat on the end against the wall and couldn't cross his legs...he can't sit Indian style (I'll add that he has never been able to sit Indian style...his joints won't bend that way)! While I have to admit, it wasn't the MOST comfortable meal...he was super/obviously UNcomfortable...but he survived lunch! Min ordered for us since there was no English on the menu...he described what was available. We all had bulgoki...Korean BBQ again. There were grills in the middle of our tables and we cook our own meat. They also bring out all kinds of side dishes that you share with the table...I mentioned it before in some of my previous posts. I'll post a picture of the lunch on a next post. It was nice having Min to describe what everything was. They are HUGE on the garlic...it is marinated with the meat and then the cloves are sliced and grilled to be eaten. In the grocery store the garlic is in a bin in the vegetable section (much like potatoes or onions would be for us) and there is a scoop there to fill your bag with garlic cloves!! They're hardcore with the garlic! Anyway lunch was good...we then went to the grocery store to stock up for the hike on Sunday, went by the beach just to see what it was all about. There are a few beaches in the area...most are guarded by C-wire because it is so close to the N. Korean border...it's a shame to ruin the beauty of beaches with metal fences and C-wire! Then we headed back to the rooms to unload and went to dinner. The only requirement for dinner was CHAIRS :) The restaurants close to our hotel had the option of chairs...so we were good!

At dinner Min was telling us about these karaoke rooms that were really big over here. It is a small booth that fits about 8 or 10 people and it has a couple televisions and you pick your karaoke song and plug the number in the tv. The lights turn off in the room and a colored disco ball comes on and you sing into the microphone...after the song it scores you! So we paid 15,000 won (about $12 USD) for 1 hour in the room. There were 3 of those karaoke places in this small little strip next to the hotel! It was so funny...but there were other people in the rooms around us because we could hear them singing!

The next morning we woke up bright and early and met for breakfast around 7:15. One of my friends from Camp Taum Sauk (where I work every summer in Missouri) is teaching English in Korea this year. He has been here since October and lives in a town about an hour south of Sokcho (the city Mt. Seorak is located). So my friend, Eric Richter, took a bus up to Sokcho and took a cab to our h0tel on Sunday morning and met us for our hike! How crazy...I meet up with a friend from California...whom I know from Missouri...in Korea! I hadn't seen him in about 2 years so it was fun to catch up!

We had about a 5 minute drive to the start of the hike. So the seven of us start out on our hike around 8:30am on Sunday morning. I just have to say it was the MOST gorgeous scenery I have ever seen. I felt like I was in the pages of National Geographic Magazine. The first half of our hike followed along a river that flowed down the mountain. The water was so unbelievably clear. You could be standing 100 feet up and see every rock underwater that was probably 6 feet deep...I just couldn't get over the clarity of it. I was a little shutterbug the whole way up stopping to take pictures all over. I was in charge of the camera in my little pack because Taylor was carrying all of our food and water in his backpack.

We stopped a little over halfway up for lunch outside one of the hostels on the mountain. We sat by the river and ate our lunch and rested for a bit. I decided to use the restroom while we were there, but restroom isn't the correct term for it. It was literally a hole in the ground with walls around it and there were flies in there with me. Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire...yep...similar to that with walls arond it. I have NEVER been in something so disgusting that smelled so horrible in my life...and this is in NO way an exaggeration. I will NEVER I repeat NEVER go in one of those again...yuuuck. Anyway...back to the beautiful hike :)

We kept pressing on with the goal to reach the peak. We had to be heading back down the mountain around 3pm in order to make it out by dark. We were a bit pressed for time because we were taking our time on the way up...that and it was a REALLY tough hike and we needed lots of breaks! My friend Eric and Alisha were moving at a faster pace and decided to attempt to make it to the top when we all realized we probably weren't going to make it in time at the rate we were going. So they went ahead and I stayed with Min, Jo, Kat, and Taylor. We went up a little ways further and got to a beautiful spot and they decided they were done. I still had some energy and thought we weren't too far from the peak so I decided to go on by myself and meet up with Alisha and Eric. I don't know what I was thinking...what a poor idea. So I climbed and climbed and climbed and never saw anyone. I figured if anything they would be passing back by me on the way down...but no Alisha or Eric. I finally made it up to a clearing and I thought I could see the peak a little ways up, but I was so exhausted so I sat and rested. There was another lady by herself up there from Holland. I started talking with her (it's amazing how anyone who speaks English becomes an instant friend when you're surrounded by a foreign language!!) She said she had passed them on her hike down. She was staying in a hostel at the top so she was going back up that afternoon. So I was then debating whether I should keep going up and try to catch up with them...or hurry down and try to catch up with Taylor and everyone. I was exhausted and it hit 3:15 and I knew we were supposed to be heading down by that time, so I decided to try to book it back down and hopefully catch up with the other group. I told my new friend Doreen that if she passed them to tell them I was trying to wait, but I headed back down the mountain! (And she did pass the message along...)

As I'm heading down, angry at myself because I left, on my own, with 1/4 bottle of water, in Korea, only knowing HELLO and THANK YOU in Hangeul...I have all these scenarios going through my head about what plants I could eat and how I could survive in the wilderness on my own. Not gonna lie...I was a little nervous/scared! So after 2 1/2 hours on my own I finally found Taylor and the others...it was such a happy sight!! He was getting a little nervous about me too...we both agreed that was not our brightest decision. Jo said after I left, Taylor said, "I just sent my wife out in the wilderness by herself..." kind of questioning that decision! Anyway...I finally rested when I met up with them and then we continued down the mountain. We kept making frequent stops trying to wait for Alisha and Richter and we were getting nervous about them...but we never saw them. We had to keep going quick enough so we would be off the mountain by dark...we were cutting it close! Finally when we got to the clear path we attempted Alisha's cell phone and they weren't too far behind us. Our last kilometer was in the dark...but it was pretty much a smooth dirt road by that point so it was okay. Alisha and Richter met up with a couple from Osan AB who were up for the weekend as well as a group of Army guys who were staying at the hostel on top of the mountain. So they hiked up with them and back down with the couple!

Anyway...it ended up being a 12 hour, 14 mile hike on Sunday! It was the most challenging, but most beautiful hike I have ever done! This is something I would want to come back to Korea for...I don't really care for the cities that much, but this mountain was just gorgeous. I would highly recommend this to anyone who happens to visit Korea for whatever reason; there are many different hikes you can choose from for any ability level.

Afterwards, Min, Jo, and Kat went to a Korean seafood restaurant, but Taylor and I decided we really needed some American food. There was an American restaurant in the lobby of the hotel...so Taylor, Alisha and I all ate there. I ordered a burger that tasted just like the flavor of Bulgoki...you just can't get away from it here! Richter took the bus back home and Taylor, Alisha, and I all headed back to the room, showered, and passed out!!! We woke up Monday morning feeling as if we aged 65 years! I am SOO SOO sore...it has only gotten worse today (Tuesday) A reference for the fam: I'm walking like I did any day after riding the Sea Doo with Read! I'm bracing myself to sit down on the toilet and holding on to the railings of stairs for dear life! An 11 hour plane ride tomorrow should make me feel great!

Anyway...I'm going to hang out with the hubby for the last time for 3 months! See you all soon! And I'll posts pics probably either tomorrow (depending on airport wireless) or on Thursday! Sorry to talk about this great scenery and then not even post it...kind of rude huh? I just don't have the time!

Take Care!!!

PS- fi-TING is a Korean cheer that is often said at a soccer or sports match. It seemed to be kind of a comraderie thing. Eric told us about it and was saying it to all the Koreans as we passed and everyone got a kick out of it and was cheering it back! I'm not sure how you actually spell it...but it's said like fighting...but there is a big emphasis on the TING.