Great Day

Busan has an awesome hiking culture - the city is literally surrounded by gorgeous, epic, emerald mountains; it's like living in some secret, protected 'dent' in the world. Any given day you're sure to pass countless tiny packs of old Korean men and women, decked out in full hiking gear (walking poles included) hustling their way to the next mountain. Despite their age, any one of them could surely kick my butt...those people mean business.

Around 9am today my friend and I trekked over to Jangsan mountain (about a 15 minute walk from my apartment) to the trail entrance, and started to make our way to the top. I have been on hikes before, but this one was definitely a trip. Make no mistake, Korean hikes are not comprable to Canadian hikes. Back home, this thing would be Everest. Any true hiker living in the Bu would call me lame for marveling at Jangsan (it's outdone by so many others here) but compared to Ontario, this thing was Everest.

This hike itself was a purely 'Korean' experience - difficult to describe - Korean experiences are something that just can't be explained. Over the course of 5 hours I witnessed countless 'adult playgrounds' (a popular fad here, where awesome and fun workout equipement is placed in random areas throughout the city), buddhist temples, grandma & grandpa hiking groups (faster than me, at the ripe old age of 25), and one 70-something man walking that damn thing without shoes. At one point my friend Tom and I had to lay on a bunch of rocks for an apple break, and just laugh at everything we'd witnessed pre-noon today.

Anyway, I will post mountain pictures as soon as I have them. It definitely won't capture the beauty (and height!) of that monster, but I promise to take any of you for the journey if you visit.

Enjoy your Saturday, Canada. Thinking of you all!

xo, b.