The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

Thanks to the advice of my co-worker (Ben), I took a trip to Sobaeksan National Park today.  Ben visited this place soon after he arrived in Korea, and I remember him telling me about how beautiful it was.  Riding the train through mountains that remind him of the Alps, he got off the train at a stop called Huibangsa, and spoke so highly of it that I knew I had to check it out some day.  Ben has traveled everywhere it seems, so if he tells you a certain place is amazing, you don’t do much questioning.

What better time to visit these mountains than fall, right?  Well thanks to a couple articles in the Korean Times newspaper, I was prepared and knew exactly which dates the autumn foliage would be at its peak and where.  I had to go at it alone this time, since everyone was busy this weekend or trying to save money.  Actually I enjoy traveling by myself a lot, so I was glad to get away and have some “me time”.

The bus ride took about two and a half hours from Seoul (not bad at all, especially considering I’ve taken 16-hour bus rides in the past), and I arrived around 10am.  I decided only to spend the day here and not overnight it, because I have lots of stuff going on tomorrow in Seoul and I needed to be back.  I immediately headed for the Gosu Cave.  Lonely Planet Korea had a rave review of this cave (noted as the best in Korea), so I decided to check it out first.

It wasn’t until I was descending into the darkness of Gosu, that I realized I hadn’t really been to a cave since I was a little boy.  I remember going with my family to some cave around Tennessee or Virginia, but I think that had been my only legit “cave experience”.  This only added to my excitement of course.  At first it was a long series of tubes with tiny and unimpressive stalactites and stalagmites around each corner.  But after about a 5-minute walk I heard the group of Koreans ahead of me gasping and saying “Waaa!”  (Their version of ‘wow’)

I looked up to see what all the fuss was about, and there was an enormous crevasse with mist of water shooting down.  It seemed to go up forever, and looking below the stairwell beneath me….I couldn’t see it end!  So as I continued to climb the stairs and squeeze through tiny pathways, I quickly realized what an amazing natural feature these things are.  Just how many millions of years old are these formations, who else has seen them before me?  I had a deep moment there in that cave I must tell you….but soon I was exhausted from hiking around it in the humid air, and it was a relief to break out into the cold daylight again.

Alright, it was time to check out the hailed Huibangsa.  I will admit it, I was a little tired, and only having the day there made me a little less patient than I normally would be.  I was waiting on the bus to come, and after about 10 minutes I decided to just take a taxi instead.  The ride was fantastic, swerving around the mountains…and after about 20 minutes (and 15,000 won!) I had arrived.

A huge sigh of relief struck me as we drove past the parking lot and I noticed it was practically empty.  That’s another reason I was so excited about coming here, because Ben had said that it wasn’t too touristy and you would really be able to enjoy the nature.  Well…he was right!  I’m not sure why this place isn’t packed with tourists, it certainly has all the attributes you could hope for in a peaceful and serene valley in the mountains.

I payed the $3 entrance fee and started making my way up the small mountain.  I just have to say, that I really love this time of year.  It may very well be because I never got to experience it much growing up in Florida, but it just seems electric with all of the bright colors surrounding you, the sound of crunching leaves underneath your feet, a slight bit of cold.  It’s all so temporary that you are really forced to be in the moment.

In any case, I eventually reached the temple near the top.  There were speakers softly playing Buddhist chants, which of course added to the effect.  I had one of those “Wow, holy crap I’m in Asia!” moments, haha.  It’s strange because just looking around I felt like this could easily be North Carolina, or somewhere in the Smokies.  Then listening to the ceremonial chants I realized I was in fact on the other side of the world….in a completely different culture.  It’s weird how those occasions just sneak up on you, but it does put things into perspective.

The temple area was pretty cool, but if you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know I’m kind of over the whole ‘temple’ thing.  Much like the cathedrals in Europe, they begin to look the same after a while.  The setting of this one was what made me stop and pause though.  It had so much more character sitting on the top of this mountain surrounded by yellow, orange, and red trees.

As much as I enjoyed just sitting there, soon I started to get hungry, and so I headed back into the city of Danyang…..by none other than taxi again (I don’t know why I was so lazy today, maybe it was all the walking).  This cab driver tried to speak to me…usually they just resign to the fact that neither you nor they can speak the other’s language, but every now and then you’ll get a cab driver who is determined to carry on a conversation with you.  Such was my case on the way back to Danyang.

From what I was able to gather, he had been given nine speeding tickets from the city police, he enjoys traveling behind big trucks because he likes watching them blow the leaves up as they whiz by, and he gave me two giant chestnuts, which when I proceeded to thank him for and attempt to crack open, he raised his voice a little and showed me they were only for swirling around in your hand.  All kidding aside, the guy was very nice, we each ate a banana (his treat) as we were curving down the mountain.

I didn’t do anything else too exciting other than walking along the river and stumbling across a park.  I was famished by this point because I hadn’t eaten since early morning, so I stopped inside a kimbap restaurant (a very casual Korean food chain) and ordered Sundubu Jigae, boiling spicy stew of tofu and clams, with the usual side dishes of course.  I only recently started eating Sundubu Jigae, but I really like it.  I never thought I would actually crave tofu, until I started eating more of it here….now I love it!

Before I knew it I was back on the bus returning to Seoul.  A short trip this Saturday, but it was well-spent for sure.  I wish fall lasted longer….it always seems to come and go too soon, before you can really enjoy it.  This year I made sure that did not happen.

Today was rainy and dreary, providing me with the perfect atmosphere to go visit the Korean War Museum.  This had been on my list of things to go see for a while now, since I think it can really help put the Korean culture and people into perspective.  Too often I overlook the fact that this country was torn apart by war less than 60 years ago.  Walking around the streets in Seoul, you’d never know it.

The museum’s name is a bit misleading, as it’s not just an exhibition of the Korean War, rather it includes the entire history of the Korean military.  There is plenty of information on the war though.  I will save you a detailed historical account, whether or not you know much about it depends on how interested you are in it….but if you’d like to learn more you can check out this site.

It is fascinating though, how these two countries (North and South Korea) came to be as they are today based on different ideologies and a proxy war that ripped apart a people that were once united, albeit under Japanese rule.  It is in fact sad, but comprehendable, and I couldn’t help wondering whether or not the world really learned anything from the tragedies that took place here.  This blog, however, is not a political one, and although as an International Relations graduate I would love to write more on this….I will try to spare my readers the rant.

Nearly 3,000,000 people were killed as a result of the war, which is just an astounding number really. Almost 600,000 South Korean soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war….and there are huge hallways lining the outside of the museum where you can read all of their names (in Hangul of course).

I would probably rate the museum itself as “above average”.  There are a lot of miniature war scenes scattered throughout the place, and plenty of weaponry from the times throughout history.  I couldn’t help but feel that it lacked a certain emotional ‘pull and tug’ that so many other war museum I’ve visited have.  On the other hand I was a little tired and didn’t take my time to see everything in detail.  I did enjoy all of the old uniforms that the Korean military wore hundreds of years ago.  And they had shields and belts dating VERY far back into history.  As an American it’s always impressive to me when a country has a history that goes back so far.

Walking around the museum I was reminded of this Korean man I met a couple months ago.  It was the most random thing, I was sitting in a park during one of my breaks from work, right here in my neighborhood, and this old Korean man came up to me and started speaking to me in English.  I was impressed to say the least, but once we got the conversation going it was really exciting.  He had been in the military for 35 years he told me, he joined in 1950 at the start of the Korean War.

What an amazing (and random) opportunity is was to talk to this man.  So we just sat there in the park, for probably half an hour, discussing the war and politics of his country.  He spoke frankly about the war it seemed, or at least I was surprised by his frankness since he was in fact a Korean.  I could tell he felt serious contempt for the North, and the only story he shared with me (I didn’t push him too hard) was that he can still remember the US army dropping napalm to light up their targets at night before they wiped them out.  Soon though, he had changed the subject to his travels (to over 40 countries he said, I may not have believed all this if his English hadn’t been so good…it’s rare to meet an old Korean person who speaks English so well), and before I knew it I had to say goodbye and go back to work.

It makes you understand this country more though, if you take some time to learn about its history and the people.  Things have by far not been easy for Korea….I tend to look at this country sometimes as “the Poland of Asia”–geographically unfortunate, but a strong culture nonetheless.  It’s just a shame that it remains divided still, but that’s not for this blog entry.

So to conclude, if you’re in Seoul on vacation, you may want to skip the Korean War Museum depending on how much time you have….rent a documentary about it instead.  If you’re living in Korea though as a teacher, it’s definitly something you should check out during your time here.  It would be a shame to live here and then leave without getting a chance to see this place.  Don’t worry about getting bored because there is plenty to see for just 3,000 won….and if you’re a foreigner, as with most touristy places in this country, you’ll be humored a few times by the groups of Korean kids saying hello, and maybe even a group of attractive girls (as pictured here) who told me they love me, ha!

This weekend has been nice and relaxing…..no trips out of town, just hanging out in Seoul with friends, catching up on some work and reading.  There has also been a lot of smog in the city lately I’ve noticed, more than usual at least.  Anyway, Seoul is a city where you can find lots of random things to do to suit whatever mood you happen to be in on that given day.  That’s one of the things I like about this city so much is that you can never really get bored….and I suppose if you do then you only have yourself to blame for it.

One such strange and interesting excursion (that I’d been wanting to try for quite a while now) is a visit to Dr. Fish.  This isn’t a real doctor, it’s a nice little cafe with books and a cozy interior, but they also have a foot spa area.  The fun thing to do at Dr. Fish is to actually have your feet eaten by a big group of a special kind of fish.

You go in and take off your shoes and socks, wash your feet off, and then plop them into one of these tiny pools filled with hungry little fishies just waiting to bite off all the dead skin from your feet!  We went to the one in Gangnam (it’s right across the street from CGV) and everyone was really nice.  We were ushered around instantly by this Korean guy who works there.  After we had something to drink, we went over and washed our feet and he asks us, “Which fish would you like?” (pointing to two of these little pools)  ”Big fish, or small fish?”

Now we are all of the spirit that if you’re going to try something new, you may as well dive right into it, so we chose the “big” fish….which, to be fair, weren’t really TOO big, just bigger than the other minnow-sized ones.  Nothing could have prepared me for the bizarre feeling that I was about to endure.  Immediately after I stuck my feet in, the fish came swarming up to me and attacking, so I jerked them out of the water.  These things take time to get used to.  I had to dip my feet in for a few seconds at a time and then pull them out.  Gradually I got more and more used to the feeling of all these sandpaper-like mouths chomping away at my dead skin, that I was able to relax a bit.

Conversation was difficult though, as I would randomly interject my sentences with a loud “WOOAH!!”  or an “EEEK!”  I must have looked like I was having seizures because my body would jerk into different directions periodically.  Especially when they got up under my toes, that really sent me into convulsions!  For twenty minutes though, and at just 2,000 won ($2), it was an experience that was well worth it.  And my feet do feel really soft now thanks to all the “food” I gave those little guys!  I will definitely go back sometime.

We headed down the street to Dos Tacos for some Mexican food and margaritas, a nice way to relax after Dr. Fish.  Then we headed over to a board game cafe.  They have these randomly throughout the city and I think it’s such a fun idea.  You go in, and they’re set up like little coffee shops.  After you order something to drink and look at the “game menu”, you just order whichever board game you’d all like to play and they bring it to your table.  We ended up playing Clue: the Simpsons version and had a lot of fun.  I hadn’t played Clue since I was little, and even then I only played a couple times I think….so we were all a bit “clueless” (har har har) as to what the rules were, but we quickly got the hang of it.

Gangnam is a really fun area of Seoul….it’s one of the biggest areas actually and the one where most Koreans want to live.  So there are lots of things to do there as you could imagine.  Unfortunately like I said it has been really smoggy lately, so I didn’t take any pictures of the street because you wouldn’t be able to see a whole lot.  I frequent Gangnam though so I’ll be sure to post some another time.  For now though, I need to do a little more work and get to bed.

I woke up earlier than usual this morning and decided to head over to the Gyeongbok Palace and take some pictures.  I hadn’t been there since Aubrey’s visit in March when all the trees were still dead, so it was nice to go back and see what little greenery is still left this time of year.  It’s about a 45-minute subway ride for me, but I only have to make one transfer and it’s pretty much a straight shot, so not too bad.

Now for your little history lesson of the day.  This is the biggest palace in South Korea (I believe), or at least it’s the biggest one in Seoul.  You can get lost just wondering around this place as it goes back quite a ways and there are dividers everywhere that lead to other sections of the palace grounds.  It was built in 1395, but unfortunately, like so many of the palaces here in Korea, it was destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.

Fortunately enough, the city of Seoul renovated it in the 1990’s and brought this monument back to its original splendor.  This is fantastic of course, but almost all of the palaces in this country were renovated in the late 1900’s….which means they all look very very similar.  Impressive, but similar.  Anyway, this was the largest palace of the Joseon Dynasty, which ran all the way up until the early 1900’s.  It included the Great King Sejong who is on most of the Korean currency.  King Sejong was an amazing literary, mathematician, and scientist who invented the Korean writing system used today called Hangul.  I’m grateful for his contribution because it makes learning the language so much easier compared to other Asian scripts.

While wandering around this place it’s fun to imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago.  People walking around in their hanboks, scribes and scholars studying Confucianism hoping to pass the state tests (not a far cry from the test-run system still in place today actually, haha).  

Like I said, I was there bright and early this morning so it was nice to walk around and take pictures without having to worry about catching other people in them.  Soon though, it got a bit more crowded with kids and high schoolers visiting for class field trips.  The kids are always so cute when they see a foreigner and they’re in groups.  Eighty percent of the time they will shout “hello” or something.  I did get bombarded by a group of high school girls also, telling me “You are so handsome!”  I’ve heard that many times here, although I try not to let it go to my head because I’ve heard it’s a very common remark toward Westerners.  It’s still nice though, haha.  And I love the look on their faces when I say “kamsa-hamnida” (thank you).

I was leaving the front gate just before the changing of the guards ceremony took place, so I got to take some photos of that as well.  Their outfits are fairly unusual….heck, perhaps even comical.  The giant swords they stand with on the other hand, are no laughing matter.  There is one guard who bangs on a giant drum to signal movements for the guards, and also a smaller group of men playing instruments.  You might call them the “royal band”?  Not sure.

It’s a pretty neat show to watch.  After they’re finished everybody runs up to get a picture standing beside one of these guys as they stare blankly forward.  Koreans are typically very camera-shy, but the guards here just have to get over it I guess because people are snapping away (myself included).  I’ll have to go back in the winter when it snows.  I’d love to get some pictures with snow on the palace rooftops!

Admission into Gyeongbokgung is only 3,000 won (about $2.50), and they do offer audio tours or live tours which I haven’t done here yet.  I did at another palace in the city and I’m guessing it’s more of the same.  All in all, this is a nice place to visit for sure.  It’s the biggest palace in Seoul (possibly in Korea) so if you go to one, then this is the one to check out.  It’s nice because there are mountains in the background also, which unfortunately I could barely see today because of the fog, but they are there!

Every year the city of Jinju hosts the ever-so-beautiful Lantern Festival along its river.  I had never heard of this occasion, until just before this past weekend….and reading reviews on it from other expats had really inspired me to take the 4-hour bus ride down there and check it out for myself.  I’m glad I did!!  

I went on this lovely excursion with my friends Molly and Megan.  We ended up leaving Seoul on Saturday morning at (would you believe this, 7am).  That may not seem early to some of you, but when you’re used to not having to wake up early in the morning, it can be brutal, especially considering that I hadn’t really packed and still had to take the hour long ride to the bus station.  It was nice though, still being dark outside, walking around with my bag getting ready to head out into the country once again.  I love knowing that I’m on my way somewhere….I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from that feeling alone.

<sidenote>  I read this book a few months ago entitled The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton.  It was pretty good, but one of my favorite parts was when he wrote about where it is that us “travelers” feel most at home.  It is often when we’re in these transition phases, he argues.  Subway stations, train stations, on our way to the airport or on buses looking out the window.  That just spoke to me a lot when I read it, because that’s when I DO feel most content and comfortable.  So it was a good feeling yesterday morning as the sun had not yet risen and I was on my way to a new place.  

Well, we made it to the bus terminal of course and were soon on our way southeast to this new city.  We lucked out with a nice bus again and thanks to the good company and a brief nap, we had arrived before we knew it!  Jinju is by no means a big city, it has a nice river running through the center and there are various temples and things to see.  We immediately found a cheap motel room at the Versace Motel (a snazzy/cheesy “love motel” that are all-too-common in this country, it was complete wit a back-lit ceiling mirror and everything, haha).

We quickly dropped off our bags and headed along the river to grab some lunch.  It was exciting to see the lanterns everywhere, but we were still really anxious to see them later on at night.  There were booths along the water selling any random Korean thing you could think of….although Jinju is also known for its silk products so that was there as well.  I could NOT get over the silkworm larvae smell!  They sell them in many places around Korea, just on the streets, but I guess this city was more well known for them because they seemed to be everywhere….boiling in these giant pots.  It’s not the most pleasant smell by a long shot, haha.

We grabbed some bibimbap at one of the booths and just enjoyed the nice sunny weather.  Soon we were in a taxi on our way to the bullfighting show.  It’s not a Spanish style bullfighting show, it’s just two giant bulls fighting against each other and getting a little beaten up.  Unfortunately the shows had ended the weekend before, so we didn’t get to see the action after all.  Instead we made our way back to the river and walked around the fortress.  Even though these temples are beautiful, you quickly realize that many of them look exactly alike.  But we enjoyed walking around and watching people, as well as having little Korean boys and girls running up to us and yelling, “HELLO!!” at random times.

As the sun set, more and more people started popping up seemingly out of nowhere, and before we knew it this stretch of land along the river was suddenly packed with people!  You can’t fight it though, so we just waddled along with everyone else and admired the lanterns, they were all so beautiful….especially with the reflection off the water!  They were just everywhere you looked almost, and with such ornate detailing and colors….it felt like Christmas in a way and was really very magical.

As it turns out, there is a story behind this festival of lights.  It dates all the way back to the late 1500’s when Japanese forces invaded the country.  There was a huge battle in Jinju, and the Korean army floated these giant lanterns down the river to send signals to other troops.  Citizens also made lanterns to show their support for the army and their mission.  This festival has been held in the city for years, but only at this scale since about 60 years ago.  A lot of the lanterns are actually war scenes of Koreans battling with the Japanese army, although there were some silly lanterns as well as patriotic ones.  Looking at many of them you got a sense of Korean history and national pride.  If you get bored looking at the floating pieces of art (which would be difficult to do), you can try making your own wishing lantern, grab something to eat, listen to some of the live music which included a cool drum show, or shoot of fireworks.

At 8:00 the city gave its own big firework show over the river though, which just added to the ambience even more!  As it got colder we walked around a bit more and then made our way to a Korean BBQ restaurant for some “samgyeopsal” (thick slices of bacon which you grill and eat in a lettuce wrap with garlic and other fixins….everyone loves samgyeopsal).  We walked along the fortress wall, and after meandering around and soaking up as much as we could, we finally retired to our hotel for some goofy Korean TV shows and were soon fast asleep.

This is definitely one festival that I will go to again next year, as it becomes more and more difficult for me to find a reason to leave this country after just one year (next January).  I love the cooler weather right now too, and can’t wait for it to get really cold and start snowing!  Although I’m enjoying it now for what it is….there seems to be an electricity in the air this time of year, it’s always such a time of change and excitement for me.  Next weekend I’ll be taking photos of the leaves changing colors….they’re already starting to actually!

3-day weekends are always a perfect excuse to take trips around Korea for me.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to Baengnyeongdo Island as I planned, but I still had a good time nonetheless.  I went with me friend Nate who lives out in Incheon.

Seoraksan draws in over 3 million visitors each year according to statistics, and let me tell you….being there this past weekend over te holiday, I believed it!!  There were sooo many people in the park.  It’s located on the east coast of the Korean pensinsula and the bus ride which normally would have taken about 4 hours ended up taking us almost 7 hours to get there!  We spent the night in Sokcho Friday, and first thing Saturday morning we headed out into the park.

It was so stunning to be surrounded by mountains again, and such beautiful ones at that!  We ventured through the pathways, maneuvering the crowds of Koreans.  Korean people seems to really enjoy hiking, they go all out with gear, poles, special clothing, backpacks….you name it, they come prepared for hikes.  I always see people on subways or buses who are wearing hiking gear….so it seems like a popular hobby.  Why we didn’t assume it would be insanely crowded this weekend is beyond me, haha.

We quickly started getting annoyed, because what should have been a peaceful and enjoyable experience out in nature was quickly turning into a battle to make our way along the paths.  We decided to sneak off the main walkway and make our own pathway (not exactly legal, there were signs prohibiting it….but we knew we could play the ignorant foreigner card if need be).

It was SO nice to get out in the nature and walk along the rocky rivers.  We didn’t actually hike UP any of the mountains since it looked like it was going to rain any minute (which is eventually did right before we left).

I know I’ve said it many times in this blog after I get back from a quick trip somewhere in Korea, but Nate and I were left sitting there on a giant rock overlooking a big area of the park and we said it again, “Wow.  It is SO nice to get out of Seoul for a bit.  This really does a person good!”  I can’t stress it enough though.

Well, there was also a cable car that takes you up to the top of a mountain that is close to the big Mount Seorak.  I ended up doing this on Sunday morning, but it was raining and my pictures just didn’t come out well at all.  It looked pretty though and I’m sure would be gorgeous if you can actually see the area below the mountain.  So, after hiking along our own pathway along the moutain, accidentally sliding down a ways after I lost my footing on some small rocks (have a small gash on my rear end from that little slip-up, haha), we made our way down to another river and just sat soaking our feet in the cold water.

Why did I never really appreciate nature this much when I was growing up?  My parents took my brother and I on plenty of trips when we were young, to the Rockies, Yellowstone, etc.  I just never remember loving it as much as I do here.  Ah well…we had worked ourselves up a healthy appetite, so we headed back down toward the entrance of the park to grab something to eat.  I guess this area of Korea (Sokcho) has this certain specialty dish, because we had it at a few different places during our trip.  It’s like a stuffed grilled squid.  Not exactly sure what it’s stuffed with, but whatever it is, it’s really delicious.  So much so that I forgot to take a picture of it when it was served, but instead just dug right in!  We also had a tasty seafood pancake, which is one of my favorites.

Well, Nate ended up heading back to Seoul Saturday afternoon….there is a great Latin America Art Exhibit going on in Seoul right now and he was anxious to get back and check it out.  I, on the other hand, rented a room at a “minbak” (a guesthouse kind of like a bed and breakfast) and stayed an extra night.  I explored the park a little more, but sent most of my time in the coastal city of Sokcho, which I’ll write more about next time.  I have to cut this entry short, and I didn’t post at all last week because I had spilled a little Coke on my computer and now my “h’s” and “m’s” don’t work on my keyboard….I’m having to copy/paste them, wich is a pain, haha.  I’m going to the Apple Store soon to have it looked at though.

In the meantime, here are some pictures.