We woke up at 9AM and went to Paris Baguette. When I travel,
I’m always torn when faced with a decision to go to places they have in the
States. Part of me feels like it’s a waste of a meal when there are probably
better and/or more authentic options, but I really like seeing how chains tweak
the menu and experience for locals.
The Paris Baguette we went to was basically was the same as
the ones we’ve gone to in the U.S. – blue lighting that hurts your eyes, and
ambience that feels almost hospital-like. Oh well. BREADDDDDD.
After breakfast we met Andy at the Ewha Woman’s University
stop on the metro, and felt pretty shady walking off of the train after all of
the school girls. The plan today: Hike to the top of Bukhansan!
First stop was at the mountain village adjacent to the
trailhead, and one thing we noticed immediately was how serious the hikers here
about having gear. Like really serious. We felt pretty out of place in our
tanks, gym shorts, and sneakers among all of the other folk with hiking boots,
matching track suits, hiking poles, and huge backpacks, all for a 2-hour hike. I
don’t think there was any confusion about me being an American, for at least
this part of the trip.
We picked up some kim bap (think Korean-style sushi) and
were off. The trip to the summit took about an hour, including a kim bap break,
but it was a pretty beautiful hike.
We crossed a river with minnows, granite formations,
temples, and gardens. I definitely had the wrong shoes, though. The end of the
trail to the summit was all granite, with mounted cables to hold onto for
support. Slippery.
I’m not afraid of heights on planes or roller coasters, but
something about being high with little to no railing separating you from
imminent death by falling over a ledge gets me really nervous. I sucked it up,
though, and we got some pretty great panoramas of Seoul and its surroundings.
It really makes me wonder what the view would have been like from the top of
Fuji, had it been a clear day.
Some of the hikers obviously didn’t have my level of
trepidation for situations involving heights:
On the way down, both Andy and Ghyrn were having issues with
their knees, so we took it easy. It was nice catching the sunset on the mountain on the way out:
We arrived back at the hostel around 6:30PM,
showered, and did some planning for the rest of our time in Korea. Then headed
back out to Hapajeong for dinner with Andy and his mom. Andy wanted us to try bulgogi
ghumjol (sp?), a different style of Korean beef that isn’t easy to find in the
States. It’s kind of like hot pot, in that you cook everything in a soupy
central cooking surface, with a ton of veggies and sides around the main
attraction. I keep saying it, but I’m really going to miss the food here.
Andy’s mom treated for dinner, and we felt bad.
Ghyrn was pretty tired after dinner, so we headed back to
the Pencil Hostel and crashed. I think I take after my Uncle Bob, in that I
keep going and don’t stop to take breaks. I’ve always liked that part of my
personality, but I think I need to learn to appreciate relaxation.
We’re waking up early tomorrow to go to Sinchon Market,
Electronics City, and the Fish Market, since we missed out on that in Tokyo.
Parting thought before the sleep kicks in – my Europe trip
was a really spiritual experience. The themes for the Asia trip, thus far, have
been food and mountains. I’ll probably have more to say about this in my
closing blog post for the Asia trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment