Passports, Snow, Mountains, and Joy

I decided to begin my fourth month of travel with a flight to South Korea for a few reasons, namely the hiking, the history, and of course, that I have a handful of friends there. I also realized during my time in Taiwan that my passport had been filling up and some of the countries I intend on visiting this year need entire blank pages for their visas. After a bit of embassy research, I decided the most efficient thing to do would be to renew my passport in Seoul, then apply for my visas when I got back to the States in July.

Had I known getting my passport renewed would become such a fiasco, I may have reconsidered my method all together, but with the help of my older brother back at home, Fedex international, the patient and hard working people at the US Embassy, and a solid internet connection, we got everything sorted out. Long story, but in the end, all I lost was a day in Korea, I owe Matt $60 and a beer or two and I'm now carrying around four passports. Sacrifices must me made.

I had two weeks to travel around Korea before heading back to Seoul where I'd spend my third week, so on a recommendation from a friend, I headed to Sokcho, a small harbor town on the east coast about 20 miles from the North Korean border.

As we were going up over the mountains, the view, to my dismay, slowly got grayer then whiter and I almost convinced myself that it had to be something besides snow. Sadly, logic took over and I sat on the bus, staring out the window, frowning at mother nature. I didn't have long pants in my bag. I did have a hat that I'd crocheted in Taiwan when it was chilly and I also had a sweatshirt, so I figured I'd be alright. Luckily, as we headed back down the other side of the mountains, the snow changed to sleet, which turned to rain by the time we got into town.

I stopped in the information booth to grab a map and figure out where to sleep, but ended up spending about an hour in there. A young woman sat behind the counter reciting her "tour guide" lines in English. She asked where I was from and her face lit up when I responded with the standard "I'm from USA." "Are you in a hurry?" she asked, and politely requested that I look over her page of notes and make any grammatical corrections. I happily obliged. Then she offered me coffee and cautiously showed me about ten more pages. I looked outside at the cold rain falling, then down at the warm cup of coffee in front of me and made the easy decision to stay in and help out this sweet woman. She even taught me some Korean phrases.

I finished up the "peer review" if you will, then caught the local bus around the harbor to my hostel, settled in, then ventured out, poncho on, to find some dinner at the market then a hot chocolate as pictured above. Divine.

I woke up at a decent hour the next morning in order to take full advantage of the hiking trails throughout Seoraksan National Park. Thankfully it was sunny and not nothing icy was falling out of the sky. Perfect day for seeing the cherry blossoms too. :)

I learned when I arrived at the park that unfortunately the trails leading to the peaks were all closed until May fifth, but there were other hikes I could take advantage of. The first followed a beautiful rocky stream to a mountainside, then steepened up to a grotto high on the cliff face.

The view of the mountain range was absolutely spectacular.

Since I'd only had a piece of toast and a banana for breakfast, I ordered a nice big "bibimbap" for an early lunch. Bibimbap is a bowl of white rice, an array of other veggies and things, an egg, and a salty, spicy sauce, served with a side of kimchee and onion soup. It is my favorite Korean food.

With a satisfied belly, I headed up the second trail to some interesting rock formations.

The "rocking" rock, which, well, rocks when you push on it. No one has managed to make it roll though!

A bajillion stairs lead up to Ulsanbawi Rock, the most notable feature of the park.

The seasons miraculously worked in my favor. I was lucky enough to catch a perfect weather day in the middle of the low season. Apparently there is usually a solid line of people going up and down the trails/stairs, but on this lovely, albeit windy April day, the people were few and far between.

And the views were stunning.

The last trail led over a few hanging bridges to along an unbelievably clear stream to a waterfall, where I sat peacefully for a few minutes before a group of wild school kids showed up, which also put a smile on my face.

Satisfied, I headed back to the bus stop, munching on my favorite hiking snack- a Snickers bar, and enjoyed the views from the ride back into town, resting my legs from the seven hours of trekking.

There was no one at the hostel when I arrived, so I showered and headed out to wander a bit and find some dinner. I saw a some pictures of appetizing soups outside one restaurant, so I went in and ordered one. Little did I know, the soup came with eight side dishes, one being an entire fish!! I'm not one to waste food though, so I ate everything, to the last grain of rice. Good thing I had built up an appetite on the mountain. Besides, it was delicious and only set me back seven bucks. Not bad.

So far: hiking and great food... yeah I think I'll have a decent time in South Korea. ;)