North Korea, part IV

North Korea, part III

North Korea, part II

North Korea, part I

Last weekend Les, three of his friends, and I went on a hiking trip to North Korea. There's a lot to say about my weekend visit to Commie-nation, but I'll try to be brief. We went to Geumgansan, a mountain "resort" area opperated by Hyundai Coporation (a South Korean company that gives generous subsidies to the North Korean government for their "development" of the land). I use the term resort loosely because it's more of a mountain compound--a handful of nice hotels and restaurants surrounded by a neon green fence guarded by North Korean security agents/soldiers. On the other side of the fence were essentially hovels--exhausted looking traditional homes in desperate need of repair. We were instructed NOT to take any pictures of buildings, people, landscape, etc., on the other side of the fencing or risk a hefty fine/deportation. When near the boarder of the compound (and on the bus to and from the Demilitarized Zone and the mountain) we were always within the sight of the NK agents. It was hard to resist taking a picture, though, because we saw horse-drawn carts, people using only bicycles for transportation, and goats grazing on sparse grass.

Despite these sad scenes, Geumgansan is THE most beautiful landscape I've seen in Korea. It was amazing. The pictures I've posted include snaps from the two days of hiking we did, views from our hotel window, the cumbersome name tag that HAD to be worn at all times, Les, myself, and a North Korean bellhop in front of a portrait of the "Dear Leaders," and a few of yours truly.

The Quintessential Single Woman's Dinner

It occurred to me tonight, as I sat down to eat, that my dinner was quite possibly the most ridiculous meal I've ever made. Green leafies, grapes and half of an Asian pear topped with a small cup of peach yogurt (Koreans apparently don't believe in low fat or fat free yogurt, so I've been dealing with the uber rich and creamy stuff since I've been here). But the real kicker was that I didn't have any dishes large enough to hold my salad. I actually don't even have bowls of any kind (I eat my $6 a box fibery stick cereal in tupperware or the oversized Papa John's mug that I inherited from the Roach Queen), so I had to eat my salad from a 3 quart pot. I kinda thought eating non-pot foods from a pot was something people did in college. Apparently I haven't really grown up yet. Truth be told though, I'm okay with that. For now, I'd rather be an adult than a grown up. Even so, I couldn't help but laugh to myself over the silliness of my meal. Silly, but damn tasty!

National Park Hike on a National Holiday

Last Thursday was Independence Day in the ROK. March 1 marks the day Korea declared their Independence from Japanese occupation. Though I get precious few days off, I am lucky enough to score a holiday when the rest of the country does. To celebrate our Independence from work, Les and I did a bit of hiking and mountain scrambling in Bukhansan National Park (in Seoul), home to Samgaksan--Triangle mountains. There are three peaks in Bukhansan, and we climbed up a ridge in between two of the tallest peaks. Along the way we met two adjoshis. They asked us to join them for some gimbap and soju (gimbap is a rice and seaweed roll of delish-y goodness). So we plopped our butts down and enjoyed their company for a little. One was a climber (with 30 years experience!!), and the other was an aspiring climber--they got a kick out of finding out that we climb ourselves. The experienced climber even asked to inspect our climbing shoes. Anyway, it was a fantastic day....our only day off for another TWO MONTHS. Oh the agony of working eight straight five-day weeks!!!

LNY: Seoraksan

So on Monday we finally made it into the "wilderness." Kind of. While we may have hoped to get out and really get on the mountain, and make a noteworthy hike up to a peak, time constraints prevented us from doing so (read, by the time we got our lazy asses out of bed, checked out, and put some food in our bellies we didn't have enough time to do any serious hiking). Instead, we meandered around the grounds of the Buddhist temple that was there. It was very relaxing and a nice way to cap off our tornado tour of Sokcho.

LNY: Outings

We certainly didn't stay in the hotel the entire weekend and drink. We got out there. Oh yes, we went out and did Sokcho. This, however, amounted to several trips to the corner store to pick up...supplies..., a quick stop at an arcade, a noraebang (karaoke), and a bowling alley.

LNY: Hotel WhatHaveYous

After a 4 or 5 hour nap in our pension, we were awakened by the teeny ajumma banging on our door telling us that we had to go. I guess 30 bucks doesn't buy a late checkout. We grabbed a bus up to our hotel, Hotel Sorak Park. The best way to describe the hotel is to say it's the hotel from "The Shining." No lie. Not even a little white one. In all honesty, we were at the deserted mountain resort hotel with no one and nothing around. Things even got a little...*crazy*.

Shan and I have the obligatory girl pillow fight (we felt we owed it to the boys). Les, Shan, and Gilles play more frisbee on our putting green patio, Les and I enjoy a "hot tub," and I practice yoga on the bed in near darknes. Big Papa Geoff probably said it best when he yawned on the window sill. Good times. Good times.

Lunar New Year Weekend February 16-19

Happy Year of the Pig! According to the Chinese zodiac, 2007 is the year of the pig, and is supposedly one of financial prosper and luck. Here's hoping....Anyway, to celebrate (read, to make the most of a 4-5 day break) some friends and I headed East to Sokcho, a city on the coast and home to Seoraksan National Park. More on the park in a little, but first a brief play-by-play of the weekend's (mis)adventures.

Shannon, Geoff, Les, Gilles, and I took off on an 11pm bus to Sokcho. Geoff and Shannon were shushed more than once on the midnight trip to "the Sok" (damn whiteys always making a ruckus!). We arrived in Sokcho around 2ish, if I remember correctly. A teeny ajumma (older woman) talked us into staying at her pension-style hotel. She wanted 30 bucks--split that 5 ways and we were easily convinced. We dumped our stuff and headed out for some grub. Funny how a 4 hour bus trip will work up an appetite. We chowed down and in a soju/seafood tent before going back to our room for beer and poker at 4am.

We were all loosened up when night decided it was time to turn to day. So we threw our shoes on and marched down to the beach to watch the sunrise. Shan, Geoff, and I enjoyed the sound of the powerful Korean surf, while Les and Gilles tossed a frisbee in the morning light.