I like Busan, but Busan is a crowded concrete jungle. Lindsay and I needed a break. Last week, we took off to the North East region of South Korea, Gangwando, in hopes of finding something more rural. We weren't really sure what to expect or even where exactly we were going.
On Monday afternoon we packed out bags, grabbed a guide book, and hopped on a bus headed North. After about an hour or two, Korea started to change. The high rise apartments turned into small old time Asian style homes, the air started smelling less like piss and more like actual air, and the ocean turned into an almost tropical clear teal. It was both relieving and exciting; Lindsay slept through the whole thing.
We hopped off the bus in Donghae, a city near the Muryeong valley, an area we had heard had caves and a river.
Day 1-
The scary death angel statue overlooking the bed and enormous concrete pillows did not allow much sleep the first night. Caffeine and breakfast were all I could think about in the morning, but after wandering the city for an hour or so all I could find was kimchi. I gave up the hunt, grabbed Lindsay, and headed to a nearby cave. At the cave we found canned coffee, fried to the bone chicken, and of course, kimchi. Sometimes you take what you can get. Cheongok cave is a limestone cave formed several million years ago, but was found only recently by developers in the heart of downtown Donghae. The cave is about 6km deep; we were allowed to walk through about 1.5 of it. We were outfitted with hard hats, which seemed like over-cautious protection at first, but that helmet saved my head several times. That cave was built for Asians, not Dave Nunn. I was clunking against stalagmites, cave roof, and Lindsay's helmet all throughout the journey. And not all of it was on purpose. Although the cave was an impressive site, it was hard to really appreciate it with dense crowds and the overdone lighting (think ground effects on a Honda) throughout. Lindsay and I even found fake cave walls put in to try and make the cave seem more "cavey". I enjoyed the cave, and the rest of the trip was amazing, but Cheongok cave is a perfect example of what I think are two major problems with Korea... over crowded and overly/unnecessarily aestheticized to the point where things seem fake.
After the cave we took a taxi to the valley we had heard about. The cab took us to a hotel in a small town located next to a river. Muryeong Valley is surrounded by dense jungle/forest mountains with a river flowing through the base. There are also two temples, an ancient fortress, and numerous waterfalls located in the mountains. This is what we came for. We dropped off our bags at the hotel, ate some strange potato squid pancake thing, and set off to explore the valley. The river is full of pools and small waterfalls, it is also drastically cleaner than anything you would find in Busan. Our first stop was a temple near base camp. I have been to a few other temples since moving here, but none like this. This is a working temple with barracks for monks and even a Buddhist school. In the heart of the temple is a Siddhartha statue from 600 A.D. It is in near perfect condition, the only restoration done was on it's right hand. The statue sits in a decorated room where people can pray or meditate. There were also some other Buddha statues and relics that were incredible to see. Lindsay and I went into a room with highly detailed ancient Buddhist paintings, hundreds of gold Buddha figures, and the typical 3 Buddhist statues found in room for prayer or meditation. We tried to meditate but the caffeine and excitement prevented us from any relaxation.
We left the temple and hiked up the river a little further. Near the town, the river was full of kids and families playing in the pools and sliding down the wet rock faces. But once we hiked up a bit, the river became much less crowded. We stopped at the base of a small cliff with a waterfall streaming down. We were alone for a while and this was the first time I really felt away from civilization since I've been here. We even saw a frog!! Wildlife sightings are rare Korea. Later on we saw chipmunks, black squirrels, and signs for deer. We then hiked up the river for a while and found a secluded pool fed by a short, but wide waterfall. After all the hiking in the humid valley, we had no choice but to jump in. After playing in the water for a while, we turned back and headed back to the hotel. I slept well that night.
Day 2-
Excited to explore some of the valleys surrounding mountains, we packed our bags full of Cliff Bars and water, grabbed some ice cream, and headed out early. Our first destination was a temple up in the mountains. When we reached the turn off, we read a sign, "Temple 1.5 km" which didn't sound all that difficult. We quickly realized we were wrong. The trail was straight up and difficult to traverse. My thighs were jelly before reaching the half way point. After a while of "climb hiking" we started hearing Buddhist hymning. We had reached a small, but very peaceful temple. There were people meditating inside, we didn't want to disturb them so we did not go in. We did however find a nearby river covered in trees and boulders. Here we could see the temple and hear the hymns. We hung out there in silence for a while, it was once one the most peaceful moments of my life.
On the hike back down, we found another waterfall fed pool and went for a swim. Then, we made our way back to the main river and set off for another mountain with an ancient fortress. The hike was pretty intense, but well worth it. We reached the fortress, and while what we found didn't resemble a fortress in any way to me, the scenery was absolutely amazing. In every direction we could see nothing but mountains, trees, and rock formations. The only sign of civilization was the temple we had previously climbed to in the distance. What an amazing way to relax after an exhausting day!
Day 3-
We made our way up north to Seoraksan National Park, known for it's mountains and battle fields. It also has a nearby water slide park which may or may not have been my primary motivation for visiting the area. Our hotel for the night was beautifully decorated with colored tissue paper pasted to the walls and spiders with a night time craving for delicious Dave Nunn. It was cheap though, so oh well. We woke up and hunted for a western breakfast and coffee for about an hour, until finally settling for bagels at Dunkin Donuts. Then, off to the water park!!! After spending the $65 to get in, excited Dave and Lindsay walked in to see 2 small water slides and hundreds of small, shallow pools and tubs. People wore life jackets, we got our money back.
We headed up to the mountain area and found another valley full of chuffy scenery and mountains. After checking into a hotel on level 5 (which is really level four, but 4 is the number of death here so many hotels don't have a forth floor. Many of the ones that do, use an F. The elevators go 1, 2, 3, F, 5...) anyways, we checked in and headed to the park. There were a bunch of old tombstone like structures used as gifts for high level monks back in the day. There was also a HUGE statue of Siddhartha. This thing was MASSIVE!! There was even a little temple under it. We stared in awe at the ENORMOUS statue for a while, then headed to a cable car which takes you up another mountain. You could see the GARGANTUON Buddha statue from the top of this mountain. We then walked a little farther up the mountain and found the peak with a Korean flag waving at the top. This place was pretty crowded. We got near the top, but started slipping, realizing that if we slipped and fell we were guaranteed death, a painful mountain falling death, so we gave up. The thing is, elderly men and children were making the climb up!! I couldn't believe it. Koreans climb A LOT. It's pretty amazing actually. They work ridiculous hours during the week, then "climb hike" mountains on the weekends, and most of them do this almost every weekend. It helps them keep in pretty decent mental and physical shape even in old age. I can't see many people my age, let alone their grandparents, climbing like this back home. I was thoroughly impressed.
We then went to another face of the mountain with no crowd and had another relaxing chill out with breath taking mountain scenery. We went back for dinner and Lindsay watched me eat river salmon.
Day 4- my favorite day of the trip.
We saw a sign indicating a cave on top of one of the mountains. We decided head up. After probably the most intense, exhausting climb/hikes of my life we reached the cave. The sweaty mess that was Dave Nunn plopped down in the mouth of the cave and just shut down for a minute. After recouping, I took a minute to look around. I was in a small cave on top of a mountain, looking out the mouth I saw probably the coolest view of my life. Inside the cave was a small temple with a monk hymning. I think she lives in the cave. I don't really know how to describe the feeling, but it blew me away. Then I drank some cave water, that felt cool.
We left the park and met up with people from Busan to go on the rafting trip I talked about in my previous post. This was one of the most awesome weeks of my life and I'm still pretty stoked on it.
I have more pictures up on the picture site: http://picasaweb.google.com/nunn.dave
