Jiri-san

Jiri-san Park is a huge National Park just north of Suncheon. My co-teacher asked me if I wanted to go for a hike and I said "Yes!".

Now, I am not the world's best hiker, but I've been on some pretty neat hikes: Belize, Quebec, Bar Harbour, New York State, and I figured that I could spend a day outside. I kinda needed that too! And, seeing as I'd done a whole 10 minutes on the treadmill last week, I figured that I was in good enough shape for a 7km hike.

So, the trail started off as big stones set in concrete that wound along beside a small river. Of course, for me a "trail" is a dirt path, and I figured that's what we'd find eventually.

Boy, was I wrong.

The "trail" was piles of boulders that you had to scramble up. Each step was an effort. And this went on for TWO HOURS. We stopped for lunch (kimbap - a sort of rice and veggie roll with seaweed, like California rolls) on top of a waterfall, then continued for ANOTHER TWO HOURS. When we finally got to the top... there was nothing there. And nothing to see. Apparently, your ancestors have to be "good" for at least 3 generations if you are to see anything from the top of a mountain in Korea. We waited for a gate to open (we'd reserved ahead) to go higher up on the mountain. See, in an effort to reintroduce native plants, the summit of this mountain had been closed off to the public since 1991. It will remain closed, except by reservation, until 2015. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but there is an army outpost and two helicopter pads up there too. Hmmmmmm. Anyway, we'd started our hike at 10 am, we reached the summit at 3 pm. The guided tour of the summit was all in Korean, so I really didn't understand much (yes, I scrambled up rocks and boulders on a 45 degree angle for 4.5 hours to take a guided tour in Korean.....).

To get down, we were able to follow a road (those stones in cement again). We ended up getting a lift back down from a nice couple in an SUV. The road twisted and turned (hairpin turns) down the mountain - but the view was breathtaking (good ancestors, I guess).

I promise you all.... If you come to Korea, I will NOT take you hiking.

But, all joking aside, it was nice to get outdoors and get some sun (is a sunburn a reason to call in sick?), and finally get to see some of Korea's natural beauty.