So, after a hearty breakfast, I set course for Miryang and parts beyond. Miryang is a beautiful city that's actually built on an island at the intersection of two rivers. I've been there before, but not in the last year or so. My route there was going to take me past Cheongyeong (about 40km from where I live).
However, I usually get sidetracked on random roadtrips, and that was the case this time as well. A few kilometres out of Cheongyeong I saw signs for "Hwawangsan County Park." Knowing nothing about the place was reason enough for me to investigate further.
I parked the car partway up the hill by a beautiful Buddhist temple, grabbed my camera, tripod and a couple of extra lenses and took off...completely unprepared.
Now, before I go any further, I should point out that hiking is a massively popular activity with the 35-95 year old crowds in Korea. This, for the most part, is a wholly awesome passion of the Korean people. It keeps them active and fit, and compels them to explore their surroundings. Hiking trails are absolutely everywhere in this country, which is pretty cool too.
Of course, as is the case with many things in Korea, they go all out. Your average Korean hiker will have easily $1,000 worth of hiking gear on him or her. Hiking clothing and backpacks are not only expensive, they're fashionable...it's interesting, that's for sure.
The not so great part of the equation is that Koreans aren't the most environmentally conscious nation, when it comes to littering. This means that when you go hiking, you're constantly looking at discarded beer and soju (hard liquor) bottles, candy wrappers, empty bags, and the like. It's kind of sad. Finally, there's the noise. Koreans are the most cellphone obsessed people I have ever encountered. In addition, especially the older women (who are very fond of hiking) have this weird habit of absolutely screaming into their phones, like they think they have to yell clear across town for the recipient to hear them. Unfortunately, they carry this habit up to the mountains, where you'll be happily enjoying some scenic view, only to have your relaxation shattered by some cheesy ringtone, followed by 5 minutes of yelling). They also love to bring personal radios with crappy speakers cranked to the max with them. This one bugs the hell out of me as well...but...enough of that. Back to the story.
So, there I am...at this temple (dating back over 1,000 years, but as per usual nothing but a few stones remain after a few Japanese invasions, which reduced most of Korea's treasures to smouldering heaps of ash and rubble time and time again).
After checking out the temple (by the way, that's a Buddhist monk or understudy or something of the sort walking across the courtyard), I headed for the mountains: the rocky formations you see in the background.
I was utterly unprepared for the hike, as I left that morning thinking I'm just going for a relaxing riverside stroll. So, there I was in my wel- worn Nikes, Dockers pants, polo shirt and no water or food, weighed down with all manner of camera equipment. However, I have to say it's very satisfying passing scores of hikers outfitted in the latest, greatest and most expensive of gear up massive hills, while I'm dressed like I'm ready to go bowling around the corner or something.
The first bit of the hike was very chill, but at about the two-thirds mark, the trail changed abruptly from meandering through the forest to steep ascents over all manner of rocks. Throughout most of it, you just had to guess where the trail was, and it was an awesome leg workout, as time and again you had to basically put your leading leg up on the next ledge, and power yourself up...it was awesome. Then...it got too sketchy for even that, and hikers were met with ropes strung between metal stakes drilled into the ground. The idea is that you pretty much have to pull yourself up with your hands as much as you push yourself with your legs. Definitely a workout. Looking out from the odd clearings you could tell that you were basically going up at the edge of a sheer rock wall. The trail was to continue along the ridge of the mountain, with big drop-offs on either side.
Then, I got to the top. I was thoroughly unprepared for what was about to greet me. As I ascended the final few feet, I felt the wind blowing over the ridge, it was a surreal feeling. Then, as I started walking along the ridge, I had to be constantly careful that, in my quest to get a nice view, I don't fall off one of the massive cliffs. It was beautiful and just a bit scary at the same time. I didn't take a lot of photos because, unfortunately, the sky was incredibly hazy.
However, here's part of the trail on the ridge:
Soon, I reached the peak, at 754m:
From there on, the downhill hike was much easier, but more confusing. The leaves having just fallen, most of the trails were completely covered with leaves, and it was pretty much impossible to tell where the trail actually was. A few times I was merely relying on the fact that I was going downhill to assure myself that I wasn't getting hopelessly lost.
After a while, however, I bumped into another one of these things that makes you take a deep breath and think to yourself "Yep...this is why I moved to Asia. I'll never see anything like this in Canada."
Up on the top of a cliff of sorts is a roughly 1,300 year old statue of Buddha, carved out of granite. How they got it up there more than a millennium ago is both baffling and impressive:
And this was the view from the rocks on the right of that cliff:
And the view from where the statue is: (this is incredible, by the way...there are about three garbage cans in the entire country...they just HAD to put one right next to a 1,000+ year old statue to ruin the whole feel...makes sense, right?):
The temple was a short walk away (all downhill too! wheeee) from the statue. There, after bumming around and giving my legs a bit of a break, I hopped into my car and headed homeward bound. Of course, I had to sidetrack a few times. I found a couple of really cool temples...both fairly close to Hwawangsan Park.
This one was a little different than most in Korea...the overwhelming light blue colour was amazing! And the writing definitely wasn't Korean or Chinese either...I think this temple has more of a south Asian influence:
And my trusty little car:
Finally, just before the sun set, I found an awesome little hidden temple. What was cool about this (among other things like a ton of flowers in full bloom...in November!!...was a circular pathway in front of the temple. I'm not sure what the significance of it is (I'm guessing it's some sort of Chinese influence), but it's a very rare motif in Korea, most of the walkways lead straight from the gate to the main doors of the temple:
After that, I headed home and relaxed for the rest of the night! :)
All in all, an awesome Thursday! I gotta say this for Korea...I love that I can drive a short distance (I think from my house to the park is roughly 40 km, maybe less), and bump into a random park that gives me beautiful views, a great workout and a bit of cultural and religious insight into the country! It's experiences like this that make this whole living-halfway-around-the-world thing such a amazing journey!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
T
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