Kuala Lumpur

So Sarah and I have been on the road for a couple days now. We had an incredible first few days in Singapore. We got in late to the airport and crashed for a spell until we could grab the train into town to drop off our bags. After doing so we took off for the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which were absolutely dazzling. Sarah said they were ranked #1 in the world by some magazine and I can definately see why.

After the gardens we checked in to The Hive offically and got cleaned up a bit. Then we went to Little India and explored the markets, ate some delicious Muslim food, and cruised around the streets a bit.

The next day we went to the Bukit Tihan Nature Reserve. Played with some Macque long-tail monkies and hiked through the primary jungle. Really incredible foliage and some of the largest trees I've ever seen.

Now we are in Kuala Lumpur. It's our last day here before we take off to the Cameroon Highlands. We've been a bit out of sorts since getting here, but are getting into the rythme of this wild city.

The hostel we are staying in (The Raggae Rest House) has been just that. A quiet place to escape the maddeningly chaotic streets of the city. Everywhere you turn there is something to take in. It's a mixture of gritty and flashy. Buildings covered in green moss with crackes running throughout, on the verge of losing a chunk here and there; mixed with posh hotels, frantic street markets and people--so many people. I have to stop from time to time just to look at the diversity of this city. Malaysian, Chinese, Muslim, European, American, Thai...etc. Too much to take it all in. Trying to just relax today and let things flow a bit more. It's easy for me to get caught up in the trying to absorb it all, but not very wise.

I've been snapping pictures non-stop, so I've hoping to get a couple gems. Unfortunately it's been raining off and on since we've been here, so lighting hasn't been the best.

We decide to just walk off from the hostel yesterday and wander. We ended up finding a small interior city park with signs that warned of scorpions, snakes, and so forth. The forest was dark and wet, so we took care to walk slowly. The end of the trail carried us up to the Communications Tower (4th largest in the world I believe) and we went up and walked around a bit. Then headed over to the Petronas Towers for a gander. Incredible to stand a the base of these two towers and take in their enormity.

Did a bit of shopping in the Central Market in the late afternoon and Sarah found a nice skirt and necklace. Lots of great deals to be had, just nowhere to put anything substantial. I'm really looking forward to the markets in Bangkok, which are suppose to be some of the best in the world for treasure hunting.

More later...

It's been a while, so here's a bit of what we've been up to.

Well...to start, we're now living up in Seoul. To be more exact we're in Gunpo-city, Gyeonggi-do Province. The area is quite different from where we were last year. It's rather modern and up tempo compared with Cheongok Dong, down in Ulsan. Instead of being on the last bus stop out of Ulsan, we're off the Line 1 of the Seoul Metro Subway, which essentially gives us access to this fair city of 22 million people.

The city of Gunpo was formerly an industrial and agricultural area with only a few reminants of this recent past. Today, it's being built up rapidly and has been reconstructed to have something of a new urban fabric. What I mean is that the city has taken the time to widen streets, add lots of trees, side walks, and parks. In many old parts of Seoul these things do not exist, but the government here is spending billions of dollars trying to improve the green factors here. From my window at work I see a golf course, luxury apartments, a couple smoke stacks and factories, and Suri-san Mountain set back behind it all.

Sarah and I have a nice 3bd/2ba apartment just up the street from work. It literally takes us about 4-5 minutes to walk in each day and we often go home between breaks at work to grab a bit to eat or catch a couple quick zzz's.

From our door step it takes us about 15 minutes to walk to the Gunpo subway station. About 1 minute to a convience store. 3 minutes to Paris Bagette bakery. We have several small grocery stores within 2-5 minutes, along with numerous chicken hof's (fried chicken + beer halls), samgyupsal restaurants (bbq pork restaurants), pharmacies, screen golf (video driving ranges), and dozens of other businesses.

It sounds like we're in the middle of a dense urban landscape, but we can actually walk to the base of Surisan Mountain and get a nice reprieve from city life. It's not a huge mountain, but it does climb up about 1000ft and gives us a chance to get away from it all. As everyone knows I love getting outside and hiking, so for me the access to three local mountain ranges is perfect. To the north we have Gwanak-san, to the east Morak-san, and then Suri-to the west.

Before getting back to Seoul, Sarah and I had a really nice visit home. We spent a nice, yet chilly couple months bouncing around Cody WY, Denver CO, Minneapolis MN, Hopewell Jct NY, Lancaster PA, and Lawrence MA. We're not sure when we'll be back, but maybe as soon as this summer for a shorter visit. We'll have to see how things unfold.

Some of the highlights for me in Cody were: photographing the Northfork of the Shoshone River near Cody, getting pushed around by the wind on a frozen reservior near Meeteetse while ice fish with Mike. Taking my nephew and niece, Ben + Abby, on a little hiking adventure around the fields in their backyard. As well as taking my nieces, Ava + Violet, on a couple walks around the windy streets in their neighborhood. Lastly, nearly polishing off a bottle of Crown Royal with Sarah's dad, Terry. Of course, coffee chats early in the morning are always enjoyable, with Sarah's Mom, Marla. This has become sort of a tradition.

Down to Denver: had a great time meeting up with my old buddies from NAU at Kerwyn + Elena's house. Got some good news about them expecting a pair of twins, as well as meeting, Duzan, Maurice and Sarah's son. Also, recently got word that Jed and Leni had their first baby girl, Ivi Mae. While there we took in a nice art walk in downtown Denver, skiied Keystone, ate some gourmet home cooking ala Elena + Kerwyn, as well as getting in some nice rounds of darts.

Over to Minneapolis: we walked into an awesome welcome home party at Poppy + Edward's. I got to jam out to some great local music at the 331 club in NorthEast with Jeff and got to snowshoe in the Minneasota Valley N.W.R on a bright sunny day with a foot and a half of fresh powder on the ground. We also had a great time hanging out with Carly, Stefan, and Aislyn for a couple days, doing a little bit of dining, sleding and chatting.

Further east to Hopewell Jct: Had a great time catching up with my folks and seeing all the home improvements they're done over the last couple months. We also had a great time over at my Jan and Tom's eating, drinking, and catching up. Tom and I even took a nice day hike/snowshoe trip us into the Catskills. Was a perfect day for it.

My parents have been venturing out more and more and found a great little Thai restaurant they took us to in Beacon. Fine foods and conversation were had on numerous occasions, but the best meal of all was a fantastic mexican restaurant they took us to just before flying back to Seoul. I've had tons of good Mexican food over the years, but this place was top notch.

A lot more happened then what I've mentioned here, including a couple short trips to visit my grandmothers in MA and PA. As always, we had a lovely time chatting with them and see what they've been up to. Oh...and to the people in MA. I think I'm a fan of Brown's now. Markey's was my childhood favorite, but Brown's had some of the best scallops and haddock I've had in years.

As you can see...eating was a big part of our trip home. After eating mostly Korean food for 13 months we were on a mission to enjoy as much good home cooking and Western style restaurants as we could. We ate everything from organic T-bones, to Thai, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Greek, and so on. Food is life.

Anyhow, I'm getting ready to walk home. It's been a nice relaxing day a work. 4 classes and some grading and I'm off. Hope everyone reading this had a nice day, too!

Cheers!

Andong Mask Festival

The 2008 Andong Mask Festival-but you could probably tell already.

Got this one walking through a horde of people dressed in incredibly ornate costumes. Was rather fun actually.

Spotted this classy lady walking with her hand bag dressed in tradional Hanbok.

The face of the statue is representative of one of the tradional masks worn in a dance peasants preformed during the Joseon Dynasty. It was typically a satire poking fun at the Korean elite. Now the elite put on a festival to parade around their politicians and turn a buck off the peasant culture.

Kelly, China Women, + Sarah

"Welcome! I'll need you to put the backpack down, raise your hand over your head and spread your legs."

This guy was relaxing to the fullest. White gloves and all.

They had several types of puppets. Sarah got one that looks more like a monk.

Say, "Kimchi!!!"

A bit of tradional Korea dance, dress, and music.

This lady looked like she walked right off a movie set. She was great!

She was a lot of fun, too. They took photos with everyone, but they didn't turn out to good.

Our friend Dale takes a second to pose for this one. I'm not going to cut on him while I'm still living in Korea. He's a bit of a loose cannon. He once nearly flipped his tank while on maneuvers in the Outback.

Some days just aren't that happy in Korea.

These guys share their head dresses with the local highschool cheerleading squads during the week. Communism still has a hold on some parts of Korean society.

Would have paid a hundred bucks for a paintball gun!

"Come on Kim Su. I see big brother running this way."

"Hey...pass that over here Mr. Lee. You geezers are going to drink it all!!!"

Sobaek-san National Park

We started the hike at Samga Vistor Center (bottom right). It was a great day!

Birobong Peak 3.4km back up the way we came.

A nice pine forest with a rough 4X4 road as our trail.






Don't know when they built this trail, but the chunks of stone they used must have been hell to work with. This was a couple km from where vehicles could access the trail.

A couple Yew Trees. They ranged in age between 200-500 years old, according to our guide book. This small patch of trees is the largest grove of Yew Trees in Korea.

Gnarly old trees, ehh?

Don't know what kind of tree this is, but it had an interesting shape.

A leg of the trail to Birobang peak--on our way down.

Grassy meadows and some pretty steep sloping terrain.

A group shot on the peak.

(1439 meters)

A trail leading off to Gungmangbong (Peak).

Sarah is all smiles while looking around at the views.

A news helicopter pass by, as a couple of Koreans wave hello.

Sarah and Nathan taking a rest after reaching the summit.

Approaching the peak. The legs were shot, so I took a ton of shots on this final stretch of trail.

Approaching the peak. The entire hike up was well forested. So we really couldn't see much of the surrounding mountains until we arrived at this point.

Autumn in Cheongok-dong

Picnic Spot

Haeinsa Temple

Haeinsa Temple

Haeinsa

Haeinsa Temple-We were allowed to actually photograph the inside, but the interior was fantastic. It was like a massive cavern supported by giganic pillars, roughly 5 feet in diameter and reaching to the very top of the temple. The interior was as ornate and detailed as the exterior. It was almost too stimulating.

An old fortress near Haeinsa that was used recently for a blockbuster Korean film, though I don't know the name of the flick or the fortress. We stopped by on our way back to Danyang for a couple minutes.

Danyang + Gosu Cave

Traversing deeper into the cave.

Gosu Cave

Jinju Beach

Residential Courtyard

Abandoned House

Lighthouse

Monk

Pair of Monks

Shot from a car. You see scenarios like this all the time in the urban areas of Korea.

Standard fishing boats.

Some Joe in a little ocean side coffee hut.

Jinju Beach

My Almost Published Travel Article

I wrote this article a couple months ago after getting in touch with some of the staff writers/photographers. The editor-in-chief excepted my article along with several photos and planned to publish it in their October issue of the The Korea Sun. Unfortunately, they aren't doing so well financially and have been bought up by another paper. So it may still get printed...but not very soon. And I sure what I have below was edited down, because it's a bit long.

So...take a look if you like.

Escape to Juwang-san

One hot summer weekend, my wife and I were in need of a little peace and relaxation. We grabbed a map and started looking for national parks not too far from Ulsan, in an attempt to thwart the life draining forces of our young English language students. We both love being outdoors and tramping around anywhere green and wanted to get off the beaten path or at least away from the hordes of people at the beaches.

We zeroed in on Juwang-san National Park, located approximately 45 minutes east of Andong in the North Gyeongsang Province. This park lies in the Taebaek Mountain Range, which extends into North Korea and spans a distance of roughly 500 kilometers. On the western slope of the range the mountains raise gently but steeply drop off on the eastern side into the East Sea (Sea of Japan).

The first thing that drew our attention to Juwangsan was that it receives fewer visitors than any other National Park in Korea. Also, it’s a relatively short distance from Ulsan (via a 2hr 20min train ride & a 45mins bus trip). Plus the campground is easily accessible (a 5 minute walk from the park entrance and a two minute walk from the bus terminal). As back up, should a thunder storm decide to spoil our communion with nature, we had our pick of minbaks (30,000 won per night).

We got an early start and caught the train out of Hogye Station at 8:26 am and were relaxing in the shade of a large maple tree before noon. We were greeted by a deep blue sky with only a handful of clouds hovering overhead. A lush green valley accented by massive sandstone formations beneath a mountainous horizon framed our view to the west.

After deciding on a campsite we set up the tent. I then pulled out my hammock and quickly realized the rope I had wasn’t long enough to span the distance between the two trees in our camp. We walked around asking different vendors for rope, but no one seemed to have any. I finally caught a friendly smile from a lady who offered up some twine, not realizing what we were intending to do with it. Then her daughter spotted a thick piece of rope tied off to a tarp. She cut me off a six foot section and handed it to me with a smile. I offered to pay her, but she refused. So I grabbed a bandana and said, “Olma imnika, chuseyo?“ “Sahm Cheonon,” she responded. People in Korea can be incredibly hospitable and this was just another perfect example to us that we were welcomed guests in the Land of Morning Calm.

As we made our way back to camp we noticed a few families were in a nearby creek swimming, while others were lazily grilling fish and chicken. The rest seemed to be napping under their Jackal sunscreens or laughing it up over Hite and Soju.

The intensity of the sun became more apparent after getting back to camp with the rope (94F/32C). The heat compounded with the humidity persuaded us to wait it out before running off for a hike into the mountains. We spent several hours lounging around camp, taking turns in the hammock and reading books under the scattered shade of our maple tree.

While laying there looking up at the sky through the maple leaves’ sublime movements I was drawn back to my childhood; lounging at the beach with my family, napping under the shade of an umbrella. Maybe it was the heat or maybe I was slowly drifting to sleep, but the nearby sounds of yelping children and quips from a group of teens snapping self portraits with their cell phones slowly began to drift away. Everyone and everything seemed to soften in the heat. Soon, all I could hear was the rise and fall of the locusts. Their rhythms weaving into a hypnotic tapestry of sound until I was finally no where. It’s no wonder Buddhists tuck themselves up into these lush mountain valleys to escape the encroaching modernity and meditate on their scriptures.

After the heat started to break and a few more cumulus clouds collected in the sky we ventured into the park. No one was collecting money at the entrance, so we strolled right in. We followed a wide, well groomed path for about a kilometer into the park watching the sun over head beat down on the orange sandstone cliffs. This was the first time in Korea I drew a mental comparison to the American Southwest. Though the scale was smaller, the rock formations, trickling creek, and large deciduous trees were reminiscent of a trip I took to Zion National Park; walking along the Virgin River and skipping stones, in Southeastern Utah.

I was quickly falling in love with the sights and sounds of Juwang-san, but the sun was setting quickly and my wife didn‘t want to get stuck out in the dark. We made our way back to camp slapping off a mosquito or two and taking in the notes of the creek meandering next to the trail.

The next morning we woke up a little after 5am, packed up a few snacks and a couple bottles of water, and off we went. Unlike the clear blue sky of the previous day, a dense white fog had settled in overnight. It was as though we were walking through some exotic dreamscape. Well, actually…we were. Less the dream. I looked up on occasion expecting to see Chow Yun Fat battling on the limbs of bamboo trees, but everything was still. It seemed no one was awake yet, only a few birds jostling around in the tree tops over head.

As we approached the park a Korean gentlemen sweeping the entrance collected the nominal 2,000W fee. The previous evening we bypassed Daejeonsa Temple; where several buildings, ornately trimmed trees, and a large collection of lotus flowers lay (Nelumbo nucifera). This time we turned in to get a closer look. The lotus’ delicate purple and white petals are offset by the lime green seed pod at the center of the flower. I later learned that the seed pod of the lotus is used in some of the banchan (side dishes) served alongside traditional Korean meals.

We located the trailhead to Juwang-san Peak, only a few hundred meters down the trail from the temple. The narrow dirt path immediately began climbing and was broken up occasionally by sets of wooden stairs. The climb to the summit was a moderate 2.3km. Gorgeous views of sandstone rock formation were visible after only 25 minutes on the trail. In the distance, we could see more expansive views of soft peaks poking up through the low lying fog. It took roughly two hours to slowly lumber to the peak. We were in no rush. Various parts of this trail provided nice resting spots to grab a nip of water or a handful of pistachios.

The peak was marked at 722m, a rather low peak compared with some of the climbs Korea has to offer. The only disappointing part of the trail was that the peak didn’t offer up a view. However, the summit was littered with wild flowers, which attracted a variety of butterflies and blue dragonflies. The most notable among them all was a large black and white butterfly (nearly 4-5 inches in width); moving from flower to flower drawing nectar.

After a rest on the summit we continued down the backside of Juwangsan Peak. This portion of the trail followed a ridgeline, toggling up and down with several steep declines along the way. Parts of the trail (2.5km) were under construction; people with unsteady footing might opt to turnaround. But, if you’re able - a pristine view looking out over the confluence of several forested peaks opens up about half way down this leg of the trail, which eventually leads to the 3rd Fall. We had the trail to ourselves for nearly 3 hours, passing only one lone photographer. A true rarity considering the fervor Koreans have for hiking.

Once we were off the mountain side and into the valley, we hiked one kilometer along a trail that crisscrossed a small stream. We saw countless butterflies, dragonflies, several large toads the size of a man’s fist and a couple of yellow bellied toads. We had heard that the elusive Eurasian flying squirrel lives in Juwangsan, but we saw only a couple of regular squirrels running along the ground.

As we approached the 3rd Fall, we were quickly snapped out of our trance. The falls were impressive, but the instantaneous increase in the number of people left us wishing we had lingered up on Juwang-san for a little while longer.

Along the final section of trail (2.5km-to the park entrance or 0.4 up to the 3rd Fall) the most impressive part was a narrow gorge. Several dozen small falls and massive rock walls were traversed by a well-built wooden pathway. I don’t know how they managed to construct it (with running water and steep rocky falls under toe) but the scenery was spectacular. The boardwalk clung to the edge of the canyon wall and slowly toggled downward en route to a larger dirt trail. Families with young children could easily make it to this particular spot with out any trouble.

The heat of the day was more apparent after leaving the cover of the forest canopy. We decided to make a V-line back to camp, pack up and check on bus tickets to Andong. Though we got more out of our trip than we expected, we were both a bit grubby; craving a cool shower, a solid meal and a bit of A/C.

When we got back to camp we packed up and caught a bus to Andong for 7,500W each. The bus and train station in Andong are only a couple of blocks apart, which isn’t a bad walk - unless the bus driver decides to kick you out a bit early and the clouds split open and unleash a torrential rain, which they did. Luckily, we nabbed a cab and missed the brunt of the storm.

The train tickets back to Hogye ran us 11,000W each. We were home, showered, and lying in bed with the AC cranking by 9 pm. Overall, our weekend away from the from the city did the trick and cost around 60,000W each.

Korea in August

Woke up one morning to this bright orange glow coming through the windows. I got up and took this picture of the valley from the window.

Saw this guy while walking through the gardens that lead to the hiking trails

One of the local gardens checking me out as he plucked chili peppers.

A make-shift garden lounge. These are set up throughout the local gardens and the farmers like to enjoy a Hite or soju in the evenings after baking in the sun all day. I usually hear them laughing up a storm returning from a late afternoon hike.

I was sitting in the living room when this guys' feet appear on the sliding glass door of our balcony. No fancy harness or ropes for this cat. He had a simple metal framed seat with rope wrapped around it (acting as the actually seat). To bold for my blood.

These roads cut through the valley floors provided access to the rice fields for the farmers. The make nice walking or bike paths, too.

Went a bit off the pavement and spotted this insect. It was a cross between a grasshopper and a locust. Roughly 5 inches in length.

These hairy guys are all over the place. I watched for a bit as he pulled webbing from his rear and stretched it out, then placing it quickly to expand his web.

Toward the end of my bike ride I came across this old Korean guy building a totem to the 2008 Bejing Olympics. I was a bit odd that he was building it next to a creek with loose rock and concrete, but that's how things go in Korea. No real regulation on a lot of the things we would get a ticket for in the US.