Since I last wrote, I’ve been out to dinner twice with the teachers; I’ve spent endless hours navigating around the country in a delightful combination of walking, busing, and hitchhiking; I’ve ingested more fruit than can possibly be good for me; and I’ve had a fantastic time. This past weekend made it impossible to NOT like Korea. How could I dislike a place where people are so friendly and helpful?
Nika and I went to Ganghwa-do, an island northwest of Seoul that is close to the border. So close, in fact, that from the northern end, you can see North Korea, and according to my guidebook, if the wind is right, you can hear their propaganda (but not when we went, unfortunately). It’s also the island where the government historically retreated when under attack. The channel between it and the mainland is pretty treacherous, so enemies rarely followed until recent times. At one point in the thirteenth century, the royals were there for seventy or eighty years! We were originally going to go rafting, but we found out on Friday morning that we needed a group of at least 10 to do so. We’d been looking forward to hooking up with a group of rowdy outdoorsy Koreans, but perhaps it was just as well—it was a chilly weekend. Though it didn’t really rain, it was overcast and drizzled some. Enough to make a day on the river miserable, I’m sure.
The plan was to meet in Sincheon (a young, happenin’ district that happens to have a “bus station” catering to Ganghwa-do travelers) at 5:30. Since I get out of school early with my new schedule and traffic was light at midday, I was left with four hours to kill in Seoul, which I mostly wasted shopping. I am slowly acquiring a tea collection, almost all from one shop in Incheon. I really love the store—the people there are really nice (I am developing a crush on the awkward guy who usually helps me) and the tea is all from Korea and mostly packaged right in the store. It’s a nice change from the overpackaged commercialized hype that characterizes most shopping in Korea. I also picked up Taiwan and India guidebooks and Nika and I began planning our upcoming trips. I’m going to be in Taiwan in only 19 days now! After reading the little I did, I am already so excited. I fully anticipate falling in love with this country, which seemingly has it all—the highest mountain in NE Asia at 4000m, fantastic tea, good street food, subtropical weather, gorgeous scenery, beautiful beaches, and an interesting and turbulent history. (But I do love Korea, so I guess I don’t regret not going to Taiwan TOO much. It’s a good thing I have so many years for traveling ahead of me!) My friend Caitie is going to meet me there, which is soo exciting because I haven’t seen her since last year. And then there’s India coming up almost before I know it…only three months now! I was a little bummed to discover that it’s going to be far too snowy to do the trekking I anticipated in the northwest, but I suppose I’ll just have to come back! So far, I’m tentatively planning a week-long hike in the Nepal-Tibet area in the north, plus a visit to the place where the Buddha reached enlightenment, plus possibly some wandering in the northeast, a region my book says is virtually untouched by tourism. I’m trying to get off the tourist track this time. I’d like to travel the land route to Bangkok, but I’m afraid Myanmar will pose a problem. And to top all these travel plans off, there’s the whole northern Asia/Europe trip coming up next summer. It’s pretty awesome to have so much to look forward to in the next year and a half. Life, indeed, is good. I’m so fortunate to have these opportunities. I remember how little I had to look forward to in school—there was always too much to do, and so much stress—and it makes me even happier to be in the situation I am in. Just enough work to make money, and enough time off to explore.
Back to crazy Korea. We had to take a bus to the island and disembarked at the major city, which seemed perhaps as large as Buyeo. It was time for dinner by then, but we couldn’t seem to find any good restaurants! They were all of the cheap variety, which I’m swearing off this year. They really aren’t any good—might as well not eat. The rest were hardcore meat places. We finally entered one, determined to order whatever noodle or rice dishes they had and endure the stares and weird looks we got. They definitely didn’t understand the whole “we hate meat” idea (they brought us a meat and noodle soup for the main course), but they compensated with side dishes so we were happy. I still don’t know where all the nice restaurants are in town. We walked around the whole place the next night and still found nothing. Most mysterious, especially in light of the fact that wonderful restaurants were abundant everywhere else on the island. Literally, EVERYWHERE else. What the city did possess in abundance, however, were friendly drunk old men. We were approached by several persistent fellows while sitting at a table outside a convenience store on the main road, which is quite unusual. Usually they might point or yell hi, but I’ve rarely had anyone pursue conversation with me. I find this is happening to me more and more. I don’t know if I look more approachable now, or if it’s because I’m traveling more and outside of major cities, or if Koreans are becoming more bold, but I’ve definitely had more encounters with strangers since I’ve been back here than I probably did all of last semester. And it’s nice—I feel my Korean has dramatically improved, surprisingly, after a summer away (excluding the first few days, in which I forgot most everything), so I can actually converse a bit as long as the other party is patient, and these encounters are often so amusing that I’m glad to be held captive. At any rate, Nika and I received several invitations to go to a noraebang and/or drink, but we drew the line there. There’s nothing so awkward as singing with old men with whom communication is difficult or impossible.
The next day, we decided to check out the northernmost mountain, from which we could see North Korea. We got a little lost—my 2004 guidebook took us to an overgrown path—but some ancient lumberjacks set us straight and even gave us a ride to the trailhead. Hitchhiking experience #1 for the weekend. The trail wasn’t too demanding, but the view was pretty awesome (and was even better once we figured out which way was north!).
After that, we planned to go to a port on the western edge of the island to catch a ferry to the next island. Ganghwa-do, by the way, was pretty tiny. Maybe 25-30 km long and 10-15 km across. Big enough that we didn’t want to walk everywhere, but small enough that we could. After some difficult bus stop translation, we asked these middle-aged men hanging out and talking by the trailhead for help and managed to score a ride to the city! Hitchhiking experience #2. He was actually pretty easy to talk to. I find that my Korean skills definitely differ according to who I am talking to. Sometimes it’s impossible, and sometimes I feel essentially fluent (HA!). We took the ferry across and then proceeded to wait for a bus for an HOUR. We wanted to ride bikes (my guidebook said it was possible to rent them), but we didn’t see any and it was drizzling, so we decided not to chance it. This is the thing about rural areas—buses aren’t always frequent. Meanwhile, we saw about a zillion cars zip by off the ferry. At least there were plenty of restaurant menus to decipher while we were waiting. The temple, Bomunsa, was pretty fabulous, when we finally arrived. It’s the second-most famous in the area and boasts a stellar mountain location and a large Buddha relief in a stone wall at the top of the mountain. We enjoyed some tea there and took in the serenity and peace that only a temple can bestow, and afterward had my favorite Korean meal—rice with mountain vegetable side dishes. Basically, you are ambushed with vegetables and have some rice on the side, which I use to cleanse the palette in between different vegetables. It wasn’t the best variety of this meal I’ve ever had, but it tasted pretty good on an empty stomach! We’d been eating fruit all day because Nika had brought a bunch from Gwangju. She moved into her apartment this week and the teachers at the school gave her a lot of fruit to celebrate. I love fruit, but I never realized the repercussions a fruit-heavy diet could have on the digestive system. I think I prefer fruit in moderation after all.
The next day, yet another overcast one that threatened rain, we went south to Jeondeungsa, the most famous temple. This was pretty amazing, too. I think I preferred the location of the first—it seemed more dramatic, situated on a steep hillside—but this one was also beautiful, in a more serene way. It was high, but was in a forested valley, surrounded by gentle mountains and the remains of an old fortress. Nika and I took a little hike around the area and found the perfect camping spot. We’re planning to sneak back there in the spring and spend the night. While walking, we heard church bells from a village on the other side of the ridge, and it was bizarre to hear the wooden clang of temple bell in contrast with the melodies of the church bell. There’s religion in Korea right there.
Nika left me at this point and I was left on my own to conquer Manisan, the mountain from which the mythical founder of Korea descended 4000 years ago. The island bus, as usual, was slow to come, so I started walking. I made it most of the way before I was picked up—hitchhiking experience #3. And, of course, along the way I was invited to eat and drink with a rowdy group of hikers. The friendliness I experience in this country is unsurpassed! The climb was fairly difficult—over 1000 ft in less than two miles, most of it on stairs. This is the highest mountain on the island, at 468m, and the view was pretty good. Unfortunately, you couldn’t get to the highest part, where the ancient table for rites was constructed long ago, because it was fenced off, presumably for preservation. Koreans would probably see it as a picnic table, so I can understand why this is so. Once up there, I opted for the loop route, fully aware that it might leave me without a bus and make getting back to Hongsan at a reasonable hour an impossible task. I often do this to myself—leave myself without a recourse and force myself to keep going, no matter how little sense it makes (see Seoraksan entry). And here, too, it was a mistake, though at least I wasn’t on a closed trail! It was a ridge of giant boulders that were so difficult to climb, especially with a full backpack of guidebooks and a bag of apples in my hand. It actually got pretty treacherous, since an earlier drizzle had dampened the rocks that were already challenging to begin with. I was adopted by an older couple at one point, who insisted on helping me find my way and carrying my apples for me. The guy directed just about my every step. Again, how amazing are these people?!? I’m still sore from this unexpected rock-climbing expedition, however! And then at the very end, stuck at a junction and trying to decide which path would lead to the greatest chance for a ride off the island, I was adopted again, by another middle-aged couple. The lady started yelling at me through the trees, and then we headed down together. She was another one I was able to understand more easily than most. The interesting thing about all these exchanges I had was that they were entirely in Korean, which made me feel very competent for once. Usually people switch to English for me, but the ones I ran into this weekend didn’t know much English, I suspect. I’m still surprised they all approached me, as I’m sure they figured I wouldn’t understand anything. It seems that most foreigners here do not. But anyway, they bought me ice cream and gave me a ride off the island and directions to get to Incheon. And then my first bus driver gave me candy, which almost cancels out the fact that the would-be second driver kicked me off because I didn’t have change. It ended up taking me three hours to get from the mountain to Incheon, another 40 minutes to get a bus, and 2.5 hours to get to Buyeo. I just managed to catch the last bus to Hongsan, and finally got home at 10:30, exhausted. What a weekend. Tiring, yes, but I am left feeling a lot of love for this place I call my home.
I’ve been asked to provide an itinerary for my upcoming activities. So here it is, Dad…(there’s more at http://english.tour2korea.com/03Sightseeing/TravelSpot/travelspot_read.asp?oid=3851&kosm=m3_8)
1. September 7-9: Pyeongchang Hyo Seok Culture Festival
2. September 14-16: International Jazz Festival in Gyeonggi Province (somewhere around Seoul)
3. September 22-30: Taiwan
4. October 5-7: Andong Mask Festival
5. October 12-14: Busan Film Festival
6. October 19-22: Fulbright Conference in Gyeongju
The rest are as yet undetermined, but somewhere in there will be a party weekend in Seoul, a weekend hiking in North Korea, and most likely hiking in other places. Even when I’m working, there’s always something to look forward to!