Sunday 30 September 2012
Saturday 29 September 2012
Stocking up on facial masks in Myeongdong and discovering the COEX mall
In the afternoon, the COEX mall in Gangnam was a whole town in itself, with even its own aquarium..for my last day in town, this is the last shopping gig. It maybe not a cultural destination for me, but a landmark of what Seoul has to offer in term of temple of consumerism.
It was difficult to think of my departure, as I grew attached to this diverse city, and the tranquility of its countryside.
Friday 28 September 2012
Friday dinner in Sinchon/Hongdae and and evening with 'Nanta'
I was meeting N. from the couchsurfing community for dinner, and we met in front of the Hyundai department store entrance at 17:30. I was a bit early so checked out the street vendors selling all sorts of snacks in front of the entrance while checking the metro exits nearby as Sinchon had so many exits in front of the store. She was early as well and we greeted comfortably. It was always a bit awkward to meet people that were complete strangers as we hadn't shared much online before meeting up. But conversation was easy and she let me though busting streets of Hongdae to quiet streets with interesting cafe/bar concepts. I was completely disoriented but was enjoying the conversation as if meeting old friends.
She suggested a chicken restaurant, which seemed to specialize in the type of spicy chicken that we had (chap chae). I was astonished by the dish size however, as it came almost in a huge round platter that could fed 4-6 people. Matter of fact the other tables had parties of 4-6 and the serving looked the same.
The red peppers were not for decoration. The cold radish as side dish was not enough to cool me down as the spices got me sweating and crying in no time. It was very tasty but the spiciness eventually accumulated and got the best of me. So I had an additional soda and rice while listening to her stories form her trips in China, her life in Seoul, and her aspirations.
After the meal we walked more into Hongdae looking for the Nanta theatre. N. asked me if I like clubbing, and I sure did, but wondered if maybe I had reached the age considered to be past the age of clubbing. It was interesting to see the ealry rising of nightlife as fashionable, hyper and hopeful youth started to take over the streets. I was curious but had a performance to catch. We were a bit confused about the direction of the theatre and when N. asked into a convenient store she was almost yelled at because it was literally in front of us (and though we must have been joking). Anyway, it was near a preppy mall/performance centre and in the underground floors.
We walked down the spiraling stairs about 19:00 and I got my ticket before a huge group of tourists took the whole desk. It was a popular show because it was a non verbal show. I was curious, obviously because it was about food (kitchen chefs etc) and also because it was the first non verbal show I was seeing after Cirque du Soleil "Ka", almost 10 years ago.
N. left after our meeting and I hoped to see her again the next time I visit Seoul or elsewhere in the world. I was touched by our conversation as it was simple yet meaningful. I was not used to be comfortable with strangers, but we got along nicely.
I was first to enter the theatre and was seated front row smack right in the middle. I was wondering whether it was a good thing or not given that I was expecting some food to fly at me (could still see some cabbage on the floor). The stage was setup as a kitchen and I was anticipating the show. As more people entered the hall, I could see groups of Japanese, Chinese, a few Koreans, Westerners. The theatre was not full but here was a good number of audience.
As the show started, I was caught in 1h30 of hilarious dance, facial expressions and onomatopoeia made by the 5 members of the talented cast. I would probably check out a musical the next time, or a traditional orchestra, in order to get a taste of the traditional musicality.
The show finished shortly before 10pm and as I walked back to the hotel I was envious of all the groups going out on Friday night. I was taken back 10 years during University days, and how things were so glittery and exciting back then. I also noticed how tall people were as I passed by the populous areas. After 15min walk, I got back to the Sinchon rotary and decided to turn the TV on to avoid hearing another screaming lady next door. I wondered if I would still have time to come back and enjoy the night life in Hongdae or if it would be too late the next time I visit...
She suggested a chicken restaurant, which seemed to specialize in the type of spicy chicken that we had (chap chae). I was astonished by the dish size however, as it came almost in a huge round platter that could fed 4-6 people. Matter of fact the other tables had parties of 4-6 and the serving looked the same.
After the meal we walked more into Hongdae looking for the Nanta theatre. N. asked me if I like clubbing, and I sure did, but wondered if maybe I had reached the age considered to be past the age of clubbing. It was interesting to see the ealry rising of nightlife as fashionable, hyper and hopeful youth started to take over the streets. I was curious but had a performance to catch. We were a bit confused about the direction of the theatre and when N. asked into a convenient store she was almost yelled at because it was literally in front of us (and though we must have been joking). Anyway, it was near a preppy mall/performance centre and in the underground floors.
We walked down the spiraling stairs about 19:00 and I got my ticket before a huge group of tourists took the whole desk. It was a popular show because it was a non verbal show. I was curious, obviously because it was about food (kitchen chefs etc) and also because it was the first non verbal show I was seeing after Cirque du Soleil "Ka", almost 10 years ago.
N. left after our meeting and I hoped to see her again the next time I visit Seoul or elsewhere in the world. I was touched by our conversation as it was simple yet meaningful. I was not used to be comfortable with strangers, but we got along nicely.
I was first to enter the theatre and was seated front row smack right in the middle. I was wondering whether it was a good thing or not given that I was expecting some food to fly at me (could still see some cabbage on the floor). The stage was setup as a kitchen and I was anticipating the show. As more people entered the hall, I could see groups of Japanese, Chinese, a few Koreans, Westerners. The theatre was not full but here was a good number of audience.
Friday afternoon shopping in Gwangjang market
I reached Gwangjang market from Jongno5ga station on line2 and the entrance was just outside exit 12 and 13. I was lucky it was a covered market because the rain was falling heavily and the air was damp outside. This was a last minute trip as well because I was hoping to check out the hanbok market on the first floor. However the ground floor market was very impressive with all the food and house decoration materials that could be bought. I definetely could have grabbed food for lunch while wandering about.
If not in stalls, food was setup on plastic chairs int he middle of the alleys or at crossroads. The displays themselves were so pretty it was a feast for the eyes. Because Chuseok was on Sunday, there were many packaged goods for offerings.
I just marveled at the arrangements and displays, whether fruits, sweets or seafood. The place was huge and there was no end to the food and temptation.
I finally found the nerve to go on the upper floor where all things fabric were sold: from curtain fabric to tower fabric to silk, there were everything. They also sold ready made hanbok and had catalogues of hanbok to order custom made. It was so hot despite the rain and I was trying to cool down at first passing by many fans. There were less people so I was more noticeable as a foreign customer, which I found awkward and not very good if I wanted to be able to bargain.
Eventually I stopped by a booth that had lovely colours and the ahjummas was very eager into asking me which colour I preferred, how long a fabric I needed, and even opened a catalog to showcase the other colours and match the samples I chose. I was in a bind since I already had so much fabric at home with not so much as an idea to sew them. But the lovely yellow colour won me over and another electric blue/dark turquoise one. I wasn't really looking for it but it was silk supposedly and they weren't too expensive. So I got a grey one too to top it off. Her credit card machine didn't work so she had to call the next booth to lend her one. And after that she sat me down like an aunt and served me juice and kept talking about her daughter in Oxford. I was seriously amazed at how much I was getting into the conversation, helped with the phrasebook. And the 3 other booth were watching us like TV...without laughing so I wasn't making a fool of myself at least! It was quite enjoyable to shop despite the initial awkwardness.
As the afternoon ended, I had to return to Sinchon as I had an appointment in the evening. The market got me everything I needed in term of atmosphere, food, fabric and more. It was definetely a must see and must-return place, to enjoy a leisure stroll and a chat with the locals.
If not in stalls, food was setup on plastic chairs int he middle of the alleys or at crossroads. The displays themselves were so pretty it was a feast for the eyes. Because Chuseok was on Sunday, there were many packaged goods for offerings.
I finally found the nerve to go on the upper floor where all things fabric were sold: from curtain fabric to tower fabric to silk, there were everything. They also sold ready made hanbok and had catalogues of hanbok to order custom made. It was so hot despite the rain and I was trying to cool down at first passing by many fans. There were less people so I was more noticeable as a foreign customer, which I found awkward and not very good if I wanted to be able to bargain.
Eventually I stopped by a booth that had lovely colours and the ahjummas was very eager into asking me which colour I preferred, how long a fabric I needed, and even opened a catalog to showcase the other colours and match the samples I chose. I was in a bind since I already had so much fabric at home with not so much as an idea to sew them. But the lovely yellow colour won me over and another electric blue/dark turquoise one. I wasn't really looking for it but it was silk supposedly and they weren't too expensive. So I got a grey one too to top it off. Her credit card machine didn't work so she had to call the next booth to lend her one. And after that she sat me down like an aunt and served me juice and kept talking about her daughter in Oxford. I was seriously amazed at how much I was getting into the conversation, helped with the phrasebook. And the 3 other booth were watching us like TV...without laughing so I wasn't making a fool of myself at least! It was quite enjoyable to shop despite the initial awkwardness.
As the afternoon ended, I had to return to Sinchon as I had an appointment in the evening. The market got me everything I needed in term of atmosphere, food, fabric and more. It was definetely a must see and must-return place, to enjoy a leisure stroll and a chat with the locals.
Friday lunch in Garosugil
By 11:30am I was in the metro again to head for lunch in the super hobo area of Garosugil. I exited the Sinsa station and spent some time circling around many restaurant still not opened (at least with no visible customers inside), before finding the famed street. Admittedly it was taken over some familiar brands (Nine West and Melvita to name a few), but there were also some pop up stores.
I settled on a corner yellow restaurant that served Italian food and ordered red crab pasta and kiwi juice for 34000KRW. It came with water and sweet cucumber pickles that I could eat forever. I had a refill of the sweet cucumber but thought that a second refill might be a bit too much for my stomach. As rain suddenly poured down, more people came in for lunch and so I had to suck the crab meat out of its shell in front of an audience. It was delicious and I could have taken a nap right there. But the rain stopped and I was out again to window shop, digest and even bought an umbrella to add to my collection.
Since I could not find the area with small bookshops and street market, I headed off again to another interesting station on line 2.
Since I could not find the area with small bookshops and street market, I headed off again to another interesting station on line 2.
Friday breakfast in Gangnam and the D'lite mall
Friday morning came as a sunlight woke me up around 7:00am instead of an alarm clock. I was planning to get to the Samsung showroom and shop in Gangnam and explore the area. I avoided the full rush hour but still saw lots of workers going to work, Some high schoolers traveling with luggage to head home for Chuseok. I passed by Media City, University of Seoul, as well as National Centre for Education.
I exited at Gangnam station right after 10:00am and headed straight to the basement level of the showroom form the metro station. consumer electronics appliances (no fridge or washing machine). The ground floor was the showroom, with all sorts of devices being showcased: digital cameras, flat touch surfaces to dance on, tablets, phones. I was new to the Android environment so I was a bit awkward playing around by myself trying to avoid the staff in an empty building right after opening hour. The upper floor was an activity room which I enjoyed very much. There was an interesting history of semi conductor research in the first hall, with lots of information to read. Then there was a small living room with different appliances showcased that could be tried out as everything interacted together: a table with a flat surface interface, the TV, oven, the fridge and the washing machine and lighting of the area.
There was also an activity area to play with a tablet, wheere one had to scan the barcodes to start the activities. The theme was software and it was trying to illustrate the importance of software by providing various example of what a software would do in different settings: power management, Elevator (reminded me of my University coding project), traffic lights, etc...
By the time I finished playing around like a dork, a big group of Chinese tourists entered the shop looking for the bathrooms. I went across the shop into a French themed cafe and calmly had a hot chocolate and cream cheese biscuit, while eavesdropping on all conversations around me. I could walk around Gangnam but I had no interest in luxurious boutiques after all. I would have needed to explore with more time on my hands but I had more interesting quirky destinations to explore in Seoul so I took the metro again for Garosugil.
I exited at Gangnam station right after 10:00am and headed straight to the basement level of the showroom form the metro station. consumer electronics appliances (no fridge or washing machine). The ground floor was the showroom, with all sorts of devices being showcased: digital cameras, flat touch surfaces to dance on, tablets, phones. I was new to the Android environment so I was a bit awkward playing around by myself trying to avoid the staff in an empty building right after opening hour. The upper floor was an activity room which I enjoyed very much. There was an interesting history of semi conductor research in the first hall, with lots of information to read. Then there was a small living room with different appliances showcased that could be tried out as everything interacted together: a table with a flat surface interface, the TV, oven, the fridge and the washing machine and lighting of the area.
There was also an activity area to play with a tablet, wheere one had to scan the barcodes to start the activities. The theme was software and it was trying to illustrate the importance of software by providing various example of what a software would do in different settings: power management, Elevator (reminded me of my University coding project), traffic lights, etc...
By the time I finished playing around like a dork, a big group of Chinese tourists entered the shop looking for the bathrooms. I went across the shop into a French themed cafe and calmly had a hot chocolate and cream cheese biscuit, while eavesdropping on all conversations around me. I could walk around Gangnam but I had no interest in luxurious boutiques after all. I would have needed to explore with more time on my hands but I had more interesting quirky destinations to explore in Seoul so I took the metro again for Garosugil.
Thursday 27 September 2012
Back in Seoul for a stay in Sinchon and shopping in Insandong
The approach to Gimpo airport was quite impressive as I was landing early afternoon on Thursday. After the rice paddies the metropolis sprawled along the Han river. Closer to the airport there seemed to be new housing development as some skyscrapers were sprouting out of the ground in the middle of the rice paddies.
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From the airport I headed to Sinchon station, South West area of Seoul, which is famous for its nightlife as it is close to 4 Universities: Hongik University, Ehwa University, Yonsei University, Sogang University. The station was easy access from the airport. When I exited the station I was directly on the Sinchon rotary (or circle, big roundabout). There was a department store at the exit I took, the other one from the Hyundai department store. After crossing the street and walking around looking for the street of my hotel I finally found it among other neon lit hotels off the main street, behind a grilled meat restaurant, in front of Santa Fe hotel.
Reception gave a complimentary pouch filled with "goodies": a pair of toothbrushes, a pair of condoms, facial wash, a razor, panty liner. So indeed I was in a love hotel (why would a business hotel give condoms?). The room was decent and clean, with a huge TV screen taking up a whole wall. The 1m square bathroom let me shower in front of the toilet (seems like a common setting). The shower gel was fantastic for my hair and I was tempted to take it home. I started to smell like the people I first met in the trains: a mix of soap and bleach.
By 15:00 I was out and about again in Anguk station, strutting like a local and heading directly to the main shopping street I scouted the days before. I was mainly looking for the souvenir centre and combine all my expenses on the credit card. But there were many small shops worth the trip as well. There were many shops for instance selling paper crafts: decorated papers, fans, and everything else to decorate a sheet of paper or stationary papers. I resisted the urge to buy tea sets from the many celadon shops lining the streets. I got myself boxes of traditional sweets and even spoke French to a shopkeeper that spent time in Quebec.
Soon it was time to head back to Sinchon and I still regret to have stayed in instead of going out and explore the famous night life. To be honest it was holiday season since Chuseok was on that week. So the students would have gone home to their respective families. This is the area that comes alive with impromptu concerts from the students at Hongik, and craft markets from the arts students. It is definitely an area I should get back to as it reminded me of the early days of Brick lane markets.
On a side note, the hotel (hotel Parfe) had thin walls. The next door room woman could be heard screaming and making all sorts of noises when being pleasured by her partner. I had to turn on the TV and the AirCon to max to be able to sleep.
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Reception gave a complimentary pouch filled with "goodies": a pair of toothbrushes, a pair of condoms, facial wash, a razor, panty liner. So indeed I was in a love hotel (why would a business hotel give condoms?). The room was decent and clean, with a huge TV screen taking up a whole wall. The 1m square bathroom let me shower in front of the toilet (seems like a common setting). The shower gel was fantastic for my hair and I was tempted to take it home. I started to smell like the people I first met in the trains: a mix of soap and bleach.
Soon it was time to head back to Sinchon and I still regret to have stayed in instead of going out and explore the famous night life. To be honest it was holiday season since Chuseok was on that week. So the students would have gone home to their respective families. This is the area that comes alive with impromptu concerts from the students at Hongik, and craft markets from the arts students. It is definitely an area I should get back to as it reminded me of the early days of Brick lane markets.
On a side note, the hotel (hotel Parfe) had thin walls. The next door room woman could be heard screaming and making all sorts of noises when being pleasured by her partner. I had to turn on the TV and the AirCon to max to be able to sleep.
Leaving Jeju
After almost 12h sleep, my body awoke at 08:00am complaining from the excessive workout from the day before. Fortunately I packed hot patches so I slapped those on my lower back, and calves. Then it was time to check out and catch the airport limo (who screeched to a stop to wait for me) to the airport to drop off my luggage and try to visit the Jeju City.
However my body condition was not very comfortable so by the time I got to the airpot at 11:30 I just shopped for local food (cactus flower tea) and got some lunch before chaning my plane ticket for Seoul's Gimpo airport. So instead of leaving Jeju in the late afternoon, I boarded another big empty plane at 12:30 and flew over many small islands surrounded by turquoise waters to eventually get to Seoul early afternoon.
Jeju was fun to visit but requires more time if using buses. If I had stayed a week I would have rented a bike to go around the various Olle trails. Maybe that would be another concept trip that could be a fun challenge to do on my next trip.
However my body condition was not very comfortable so by the time I got to the airpot at 11:30 I just shopped for local food (cactus flower tea) and got some lunch before chaning my plane ticket for Seoul's Gimpo airport. So instead of leaving Jeju in the late afternoon, I boarded another big empty plane at 12:30 and flew over many small islands surrounded by turquoise waters to eventually get to Seoul early afternoon.
Jeju was fun to visit but requires more time if using buses. If I had stayed a week I would have rented a bike to go around the various Olle trails. Maybe that would be another concept trip that could be a fun challenge to do on my next trip.
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Hallasan in solitaire
In retrospective, the idea of hiking a mountain of almost 2000m above sea level, on a remote island in a foreign country, by myself, seems a bit crazy. Maybe I was, even though I went through some light preparations long beforehand during that summer (hiked twice). So on the D-Day of the hike I could no longer turn back and put all my expectations and excitement to waste.
I booked a cab the night before. packed my backpack (a 2L water bottled, 2 brownies, a Ghana chocolate bar, 3 bananas, flip flops, bandaids, dynamo headlamp, whistle), and set my alarm for 4:45am. I slept through the alarm on Wednesday morning at 5:15am, showered and dressed in 15min and waited for the taxi that never came for 5:30am. So I walked out in the early morning that was still the night, and hailed a taxi on the main road.
For 20000KRW he agreed to take me to the beginning of the Seongpanak trail on Hallasan. As the car drove through sleepy villages and started to go up into forest territory, it dawned on me that although I had 2 phones with me, I didn't know the emergency service phone number! Thoughts like "what if I disappear like this, abducted" or "what if something terrible were to happen?" haunted me during the 30min ride. I tried to keep my composure as someone confident who knew what i was doing and trying to keep busy with the phone pretending to send text messages to my imaginary freinds waiting for me at the trail.
When we arrived at the trail entrance, there were a few cars in the parking lot. There was a building with light inside, but the single person inside just waved at me to go ahead. I was left to myself in this vast wilderness and as the clock showed a few minutes after 6:00am and dawn was timidly showing its early lights on the horizon, I transferred the water into the camel bag, threw the bottle away, and wore my headlamp to start my foray in the dark and conquer Hallasan through the 9.7km trail.
The thick forest was very quiet and relatively dark. The trail was clearly marked with ropes on each side, and made of light gravel or planks of wood. On the side of the trail, emergency call booth with location number could be seen every 20m or so. This was very reassuring in knowing this was a well monitored trail. As I started to be at ease, I could hear the silence of the forest as there was no birds chirping yet or leaves rustling with the wind. In the stillness of the morning, the sound of a bumble bee or a fly would be deafening. It was comfortable as there was no wind, no sun, and the path was easy to walk on, with only the sound of my footsteps and breathing to break the silence.
Shortly before 7:00am, I was startled by a deer munching close to the trail, maybe 5m away. I stopped to breathe, tried to take a photo without flash, and waited for it to notice my presence and leave. It was magical encounter after I had spent 1h on my own with the consciousness of being the sole creature in the reduced universe of the forest.A light fog completed the fairy tale setting.
The encounter put a smile on my face. But a few minutes later another thought quickened my pace and heartbeat :"what other (scarier) animals are there in this place?". It was interesting that my thoughts were so loud. And so my senses heightened as everything in the forest seemed to awake: minute sounds of rustled dead leaves, flights of the early birds, the scraping of my backpack against my back, etc...Eventually I had to consciously block my ears to ignore the sounds and not stop at every sound to check out what it was. After all I had a deadline to reach a destination and stopping to listen was only met with dead silence mot of the time.
I had to read the shelter before noon in order to have a chance to get to the summit, and so I walked on, waving away the occasional buzzing bug. I was aiming a minimum pace of 2km/h (about 10km to do in 5h max), having started early and not wanting to be out of breath yet. The Seongpanak trail was not very steep for the first 5km. As dawn finally broke information posters showed up on the side of the trail, indicating hiking progression and difficulty level. They were very encouraging and mentally prepared me for the steep sections ahead.
As the day progressed and I got used to the peace and calm outside and inside myself for 3h, rythmed by the regular breathing and footsteps, around 09:00am a disturbance came in the form of over hikers. I wasn't annoyed because they were a couple of middle aged hikers (50-55 year old maybe?) but because they overtook me so easily with nods and smiles, without loosing their breath.I was disturbed because I had someone ahead and there was a temptation to break my pace and catch up to them or follow their pace. So I needed extra focus on my breathing and pace. I needed to last the day, not to be first.
Some other hikers overtook me shortly afterward and even engaged conversation, asking "honja?" which I guessed meant "alone" or "by myself". I nodded and they smiled and I eventually came to my senses and explained I was left behind my friends who were ahead of me with a sudden fluency in Korean (+sign language), as my brain suddenly went overdrive and remembered all the vocabulary gathered passively while watching kdramas.
After the first 6km labelled as easy, the gravel and wooden plank disappeared to reveal a trail made of stacked boulder and narrow crevasses to climb through. The real exercises had started and frequent stops were needed to catch up breath, drink water, and admire the gradual change in landscape. More people overtook me and after more than 1h of struggling with almost boulder climbing, my thighs started to be sore. After a proper sit down to eat chocolate and replenish some energy after 4h hike, I resumed the hike step by step, meter by meter until I arrived at the gravel and wood planks trail again, and oh so above the tree tops and clouds.
As bushes and high grases replaced the tall trees, I was happy to wear a hat as the sun started to warm up. Out of nowhere a whole group of people started to arrive behind me and overtook me in a blitz. They were a group of teenagers (17-19 probably) on a school trip, and 80% male. Watching them run up the stairs with just a small bottle of water was astonishing. I sighted like an 80 year old woman nodding at the energy of youth displayed. Older folks wore gloves and full hiking equipment. I could not bring my walking stick but managed to keep my pace and not be disturbed by the crowd ahead or overtaking me. I briefly wondered how long it took them to hike so far as I was starting to reach my 5th hour.
As the summit got closer, and the air rarer, even the bushes became scarce and only rocks and grass could be seen on each side of the path. A helicopter was making trips to being the planks of wood and materials needed to repair the trail.At a certain part the trail had no path and one had to rock climb with chords nailed on the rocks.
On the other side of the island, a city (maybe Jeju city?) and the sea could be seen below cotton clouds.
Finally after 5h07min climb, I arrived at the summit short breathed, with my feet bloated and hurting, and starving. The feeling of victory, achievement, and relief could not be described and my mind shutdown to safeguard the memory of the previous struggle and to capture that exhilarating feeling of being on top or arrived at destination.
The kids around me were eating their boxed lunch that looked hearty and yummy (rice and banchan/side dishes), while I sat down for a rest, took off my shoes, put on bandaids and wore my flip flops, and unpacked my brownies, bananas and chocolate bar. The view was from another world and I could not wish for more at that time.
After 30min resting and taking pictures with the help of other tourists (there were a few from overseas, like Australia), it was 11:30am and I had to face the climb down. I planned to take the Gwaneumsa trail and try to avoid the crowd.
The trail down was prettier as well as the mountains and vegetation seemed very luxuriously green and rich. maybe it was the food in my stomach and the excitement that embellished everything I saw from that moment. I was hoping to finish the trail in 3h but it was more difficult and more painful than expected.
One oversight was the fact that it was warmer in the afternoon and there were little shades during the first half of the trail on the way down. Water was running low and the steep slope was taking a toll on the knees and ankles, especially on the part of the trail that had loose gravel or small rocks. Only the wooden plank trail was comfortable as I did not need to focus on where to step on and stabilize my ankles. I caught myself saying out loud "I hate rocks".
After a few hours coming down steps and rocks walking in the valleys on hanging bridges or river beds was a nice change of pace and rest the knees and thighs. Sometimes I had to sit down as my feet were shaking so much from the effort.Even climbing up from the valleys was welcome to use different muscles. I was still getting overtaken by the kids, rolling down the moutain at full speed, running with the music blasting from their backpacks.
The second half of the trail was under the shades of the tall trees, and had some geological, flora and fauna information posters near some viewpoints. After 3h going down from the summit I started to meet hikers on their way up, on their afternoon leisure hike. It gave me hope that the end of the trail would be close.
As more teenagers overtook me, I heard them encourage each other saying that there was only 1-2km left until the end. I was glad I could count in Korean until 5 to be encouraged by that good news. Somehow going down the mountains did not lift my spirit as much as the hike up. It felt more like a desperate trip to get home by sunset. I did not take into account the fact that my body would be tired and exhausted after 5h hike, and had a difficult time to survive another 4h of physical effort. All my energy was focused on breathing, standing, staying focused on putting my foot on stable ground. Should a dangerous encounter had happened, I had no reflexes left to flee or react..
The trail finally ended on a huge parking lot, and there was a 711 across the stree. I took off my shoes and wore the flip flops again to air my smashed toes, and drank a bottle of chocolate milk and a fruit juice to get fluids and sugar in my system. There was a bus stop on each side of the road but they didn't seem to be any bus running that day, or maybe it was too late. The next bus stop was 40min walk away! There were 4-5 taxis near the 711 and they wanted 20000KRW for Jeju airport or 35000KRW for Seogwipo. I went to Jeju airport and took the counter clock limo for 5000KRW.
I arrived at the hotel for 18:00 and managed to get a sunset view of the Seogwipo bay, and pigged out from local food from the nearby restaurant : seafood, ramen, with no concern for what it was. Then I showered and crashed, somewhat planning for the next day. But my body was numb and only sleep could help.
I booked a cab the night before. packed my backpack (a 2L water bottled, 2 brownies, a Ghana chocolate bar, 3 bananas, flip flops, bandaids, dynamo headlamp, whistle), and set my alarm for 4:45am. I slept through the alarm on Wednesday morning at 5:15am, showered and dressed in 15min and waited for the taxi that never came for 5:30am. So I walked out in the early morning that was still the night, and hailed a taxi on the main road.
For 20000KRW he agreed to take me to the beginning of the Seongpanak trail on Hallasan. As the car drove through sleepy villages and started to go up into forest territory, it dawned on me that although I had 2 phones with me, I didn't know the emergency service phone number! Thoughts like "what if I disappear like this, abducted" or "what if something terrible were to happen?" haunted me during the 30min ride. I tried to keep my composure as someone confident who knew what i was doing and trying to keep busy with the phone pretending to send text messages to my imaginary freinds waiting for me at the trail.
When we arrived at the trail entrance, there were a few cars in the parking lot. There was a building with light inside, but the single person inside just waved at me to go ahead. I was left to myself in this vast wilderness and as the clock showed a few minutes after 6:00am and dawn was timidly showing its early lights on the horizon, I transferred the water into the camel bag, threw the bottle away, and wore my headlamp to start my foray in the dark and conquer Hallasan through the 9.7km trail.
The thick forest was very quiet and relatively dark. The trail was clearly marked with ropes on each side, and made of light gravel or planks of wood. On the side of the trail, emergency call booth with location number could be seen every 20m or so. This was very reassuring in knowing this was a well monitored trail. As I started to be at ease, I could hear the silence of the forest as there was no birds chirping yet or leaves rustling with the wind. In the stillness of the morning, the sound of a bumble bee or a fly would be deafening. It was comfortable as there was no wind, no sun, and the path was easy to walk on, with only the sound of my footsteps and breathing to break the silence.
Shortly before 7:00am, I was startled by a deer munching close to the trail, maybe 5m away. I stopped to breathe, tried to take a photo without flash, and waited for it to notice my presence and leave. It was magical encounter after I had spent 1h on my own with the consciousness of being the sole creature in the reduced universe of the forest.A light fog completed the fairy tale setting.
I had to read the shelter before noon in order to have a chance to get to the summit, and so I walked on, waving away the occasional buzzing bug. I was aiming a minimum pace of 2km/h (about 10km to do in 5h max), having started early and not wanting to be out of breath yet. The Seongpanak trail was not very steep for the first 5km. As dawn finally broke information posters showed up on the side of the trail, indicating hiking progression and difficulty level. They were very encouraging and mentally prepared me for the steep sections ahead.
As the day progressed and I got used to the peace and calm outside and inside myself for 3h, rythmed by the regular breathing and footsteps, around 09:00am a disturbance came in the form of over hikers. I wasn't annoyed because they were a couple of middle aged hikers (50-55 year old maybe?) but because they overtook me so easily with nods and smiles, without loosing their breath.I was disturbed because I had someone ahead and there was a temptation to break my pace and catch up to them or follow their pace. So I needed extra focus on my breathing and pace. I needed to last the day, not to be first.
Some other hikers overtook me shortly afterward and even engaged conversation, asking "honja?" which I guessed meant "alone" or "by myself". I nodded and they smiled and I eventually came to my senses and explained I was left behind my friends who were ahead of me with a sudden fluency in Korean (+sign language), as my brain suddenly went overdrive and remembered all the vocabulary gathered passively while watching kdramas.
After the first 6km labelled as easy, the gravel and wooden plank disappeared to reveal a trail made of stacked boulder and narrow crevasses to climb through. The real exercises had started and frequent stops were needed to catch up breath, drink water, and admire the gradual change in landscape. More people overtook me and after more than 1h of struggling with almost boulder climbing, my thighs started to be sore. After a proper sit down to eat chocolate and replenish some energy after 4h hike, I resumed the hike step by step, meter by meter until I arrived at the gravel and wood planks trail again, and oh so above the tree tops and clouds.
As bushes and high grases replaced the tall trees, I was happy to wear a hat as the sun started to warm up. Out of nowhere a whole group of people started to arrive behind me and overtook me in a blitz. They were a group of teenagers (17-19 probably) on a school trip, and 80% male. Watching them run up the stairs with just a small bottle of water was astonishing. I sighted like an 80 year old woman nodding at the energy of youth displayed. Older folks wore gloves and full hiking equipment. I could not bring my walking stick but managed to keep my pace and not be disturbed by the crowd ahead or overtaking me. I briefly wondered how long it took them to hike so far as I was starting to reach my 5th hour.
As the summit got closer, and the air rarer, even the bushes became scarce and only rocks and grass could be seen on each side of the path. A helicopter was making trips to being the planks of wood and materials needed to repair the trail.At a certain part the trail had no path and one had to rock climb with chords nailed on the rocks.
On the other side of the island, a city (maybe Jeju city?) and the sea could be seen below cotton clouds.
The kids around me were eating their boxed lunch that looked hearty and yummy (rice and banchan/side dishes), while I sat down for a rest, took off my shoes, put on bandaids and wore my flip flops, and unpacked my brownies, bananas and chocolate bar. The view was from another world and I could not wish for more at that time.
After 30min resting and taking pictures with the help of other tourists (there were a few from overseas, like Australia), it was 11:30am and I had to face the climb down. I planned to take the Gwaneumsa trail and try to avoid the crowd.
This trail allowed me to see the profile of the crater and to go through at least 3 valleys on the way down. It was a bit steeper in general than the Seongpanak trail, and there were several parts where it was necessary to climb out of the valleys as well.
One oversight was the fact that it was warmer in the afternoon and there were little shades during the first half of the trail on the way down. Water was running low and the steep slope was taking a toll on the knees and ankles, especially on the part of the trail that had loose gravel or small rocks. Only the wooden plank trail was comfortable as I did not need to focus on where to step on and stabilize my ankles. I caught myself saying out loud "I hate rocks".
After a few hours coming down steps and rocks walking in the valleys on hanging bridges or river beds was a nice change of pace and rest the knees and thighs. Sometimes I had to sit down as my feet were shaking so much from the effort.Even climbing up from the valleys was welcome to use different muscles. I was still getting overtaken by the kids, rolling down the moutain at full speed, running with the music blasting from their backpacks.
The second half of the trail was under the shades of the tall trees, and had some geological, flora and fauna information posters near some viewpoints. After 3h going down from the summit I started to meet hikers on their way up, on their afternoon leisure hike. It gave me hope that the end of the trail would be close.
The trail finally ended on a huge parking lot, and there was a 711 across the stree. I took off my shoes and wore the flip flops again to air my smashed toes, and drank a bottle of chocolate milk and a fruit juice to get fluids and sugar in my system. There was a bus stop on each side of the road but they didn't seem to be any bus running that day, or maybe it was too late. The next bus stop was 40min walk away! There were 4-5 taxis near the 711 and they wanted 20000KRW for Jeju airport or 35000KRW for Seogwipo. I went to Jeju airport and took the counter clock limo for 5000KRW.
I arrived at the hotel for 18:00 and managed to get a sunset view of the Seogwipo bay, and pigged out from local food from the nearby restaurant : seafood, ramen, with no concern for what it was. Then I showered and crashed, somewhat planning for the next day. But my body was numb and only sleep could help.
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Sunset at Jusangjeolli rocks (Jisatgae)
The path to the cliff area was in pretty sunset light and my photographs could not capture the fairy tale or magical light that surrounded me at that time.The small park that includes the sight was behind the Convention centre, accessible by a short Olle along the sea.
I was right on time and joined the other tens or maybe hundred of tourists (for 2000KRW) already on the platform setup to view the rocks. The big rectangular shaped rocks were impressively stacked to form the cliff, and the sea was splashing with white foam against the black rocks.
The sun was setting fast and I had to walk back to the main road to catch the bus to Seogwipo. I kept on walking hoping I was on the path of the bus/airport shuttle I took the day before. Taxi fare was 10000KRW and I had no idea how far I was and night was falling alarmingly fast. Eventually as I was crossing a bridge a bus approached and I hailed it. It stopped and the driver let me in, but he grumbled something like " I'm not a cab". I pretended to understand nothing, paid my fare (2000KRW) and rode until Seogwipo safely.
The day finally ended beautifully, with 8600KRW spent on entrance tickets to the various attractions, and 10 000KRW spent on bus transportation. Food was relatively cheap since I barely ate all day. I spent some time picking up water, bananas and cookies, instant noodles and chocolate bar at the convenient store before sleeping in early, satisfied and anticipating the next day.
The sun was setting fast and I had to walk back to the main road to catch the bus to Seogwipo. I kept on walking hoping I was on the path of the bus/airport shuttle I took the day before. Taxi fare was 10000KRW and I had no idea how far I was and night was falling alarmingly fast. Eventually as I was crossing a bridge a bus approached and I hailed it. It stopped and the driver let me in, but he grumbled something like " I'm not a cab". I pretended to understand nothing, paid my fare (2000KRW) and rode until Seogwipo safely.
The day finally ended beautifully, with 8600KRW spent on entrance tickets to the various attractions, and 10 000KRW spent on bus transportation. Food was relatively cheap since I barely ate all day. I spent some time picking up water, bananas and cookies, instant noodles and chocolate bar at the convenient store before sleeping in early, satisfied and anticipating the next day.
A quick visit at the Cheonjeyeon falls
Traveling from Jeju-si I was aiming to reach the Jungmun resort area and catch the sunset on the Jusangjeolli rocks. The bus drove across the island inside of taking a sea front route. We drove by many golf courses to finally get to a small town that indicated Jungmun. I wasn't sure where to alight for my destination and when asking the driver it seemed like I was close. So I alighted in the town of Jungmun, where I bought stamps for the postcards at the local post office, and walked in the estimated direction of the sea.
Eventually I ended up in a huge parking lot of Cheonjeyeon falls. The Olle I wanted to take, Jungmun Olle (part of route 9), mentioned this attraction so I thought it proper to pay the entrance fee before following the path to the waterfalls. As I went down the big steps, I could hear the first waterfall and hurried down to see the wall of huge blocks of cubic rocks
The legend mentions 7 nymphs coming down from heaven to bathe (because they must be filthy up there). In any case there was 2 other waterfalls downstream, and downhill. I was expected to hike the whole day the next day so decided to save myself from having to climb back up from the 3rd waterfall.
While exiting the waterfall area, I realized there was another path on the other side of the parking lot, leading to a nice walking path and a beautiful bridge overlooking the stream and the forest below. And it was leading me to where I needed to go, for free!
Along the way there was a great view of the forest and the gorge below, some well hidden villas, and the Jeju statues.
After much walking in quiet Olle, behind large hotels and passing by other walkers waiting for the bus, I eventually found the path leading to the sea by sunset, leaving behind the nymphs to bathe in their waterfall.
Eventually I ended up in a huge parking lot of Cheonjeyeon falls. The Olle I wanted to take, Jungmun Olle (part of route 9), mentioned this attraction so I thought it proper to pay the entrance fee before following the path to the waterfalls. As I went down the big steps, I could hear the first waterfall and hurried down to see the wall of huge blocks of cubic rocks
While exiting the waterfall area, I realized there was another path on the other side of the parking lot, leading to a nice walking path and a beautiful bridge overlooking the stream and the forest below. And it was leading me to where I needed to go, for free!
After much walking in quiet Olle, behind large hotels and passing by other walkers waiting for the bus, I eventually found the path leading to the sea by sunset, leaving behind the nymphs to bathe in their waterfall.
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