The parents even pray for their child's success on the test for something like 100 nights, every night, before the test. No flights were allowed to take place during the test time and if the students woke up late for the test, they got escorted by the police to the testing site. It was serious business here last Thursday.
On a lighter note, I chose to spend my day off in the mountains. I had been wanting to hike Geumosan (Gumi Mtn.) for a second time for awhile now. The first time I went was in the summer and the humidity about killed my friend and I. So, before it became too cold to hike, I decided I'd make the best use of my day off. What also encouraged me to go was that a friend of mine had posted some pictures of the beautiful fall foliage.
Even though it was really tempting to go back to sleep when I woke up at 7am that morning, I managed to get out of bed and start my day. I packed my mini-backpack with some fruit & water and headed towards the mountain. Since the mountain is about a 30 minute walk from my place, I chose to taxi it there. I wanted to start fresh from the bottom and see how fast I could make it to the summit. Yes, I timed myself on my I-touch, lol.
Since I've moved to Korea, I still have yet to become used to using kilograms, kilometers, etc. So I looked up the conversion and 3.3km is equal to a tiny bit over 2 miles. While 2 miles doesn't sound bad, keep in mind that parts of this mountain have you literally climbing straight up...using rocks like ladders. There are some pretty intense parts where you just look ahead and say to yourself, "How the hell am I going to make it up that?" But you do! And you say the exact same thing at the next blockade, but you somehow make it to the very top and it's all worth it!
So, here are some pics of from the beginning of the hike. It starts out fairly simple with a couple small uphill walks, then quite a few wooden steps, followed by some stone steps. The fall foliage was beautiful.
The first stopping point is the waterfall, which is as the sign says, 1.2km into the hike. It's your reward after the first set of hills and steps. However, I couldn't resist checking out the view from the cave, so I took about a 15 minute detour to go see it. The cave itself isn't spectacular, it's just a good view spot. Here are pics of the waterfall, the view from the cave, and the windy path you take to get up there.
After resting at the waterfall for a few minutes, it was time to start trekking up what seems like the "never ending" stairs. I should have counted to see if it was close to the 900 step part of the hike I did in Sokcho. Here are the stairs, followed by an example of how odd the rocks look at some points of the hike, and then a picture of the last easy part of the hike before the tough journey to the summit.
Along with an amazing view of the city of Gumi, you also get to take a picture with this rock. Purely for proof that you went all the way to the top. Other than that, not much else at the summit, lol. My time to the top ended up being 2 hours, after taking out the detour to the cave. Don't have anything to compare it to since I didn't time myself the first time, but I felt pretty proud of myself for only taking a couple stops to rest.
After soaking in the scene at the top of the mountain, it was time to head back down. You'd think going back down would be easier, and while it is faster, it definitely takes a toll on your knees and toes. This time was even more difficult because it was pretty muddy. I nearly slipped about ten times, but I survived! Actually to be honest, I did fall once but not in a muddy area, lol. It was when I was coming back down the steep path of the cave. I didn't quite have the grip I thought I did with my feet and landed on my bottom. I also bumped into the rail at the cave. So one bruised arm and scraped hand from trying to stop my fall were minor injuries compared to the ones I was imagining having on my hike down the mountain, lol. Here are a few pics of my journey back down.
Once I made it back to the waterfall area I stopped to take some artsy pics, or should I say, tried to take some artsy pictures.
After hiking I had a misleading burst of energy. I felt like I could have gone on a nice run after completing my task for the day. This is what led me to deciding to walk back to my apartment. As I said, it's about a 30 minute walk, which turns out to seem much longer after hiking, lol. About half way through the walk back home I had my eyes peeled for a taxi. Alas, it was meant for me to walk. I made it back to apartment and didn't move for a good hour or so.
Here are a couple pictures of the view from the lake near the mountain to give you an idea of how far up I was. I was where the towers are in the pictures:
I ended my day off with a nice trip to the sauna to relax with a couple friends. Afterwards Ali cooked us a meal, which we followed with dessert at a nice little cafe that serves amazing mojitos and cheesecake! So, we split a cheesecake and I enjoyed a blackberry mojito. So strong, but so good! Eating blackberries reminded me of picking dewberries with my grandmother growing up. She would make the best cobbler, pies, and jams from them! :)
That sums up my day off from work!
XOXO,
Amanda
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