Koreans take hiking to a whole other level. Seriously.
At home, if I wanted to go on a hike, I'd put on a pair of shorts, hiking shoes, sunglasses, and a t-shirt. I'd bring some water, an apple or orange and, if I'm feeling particularly saucy, a granola bar. Then I'd hike up to wherever, have my snack, enjoy the view, and hike back down. Easy-peasy.
The people we've encountered hiking in South Korea go all out. In everything. Take their trails. So many of the trails here go straight up, up, up. No switchbacks, I mean it. Parts of them are pretty steep. On our way to Manjangdae, in Songnisan National Park, the last 2km were not only steep (and up), but consisted almost entirely of stairs. STAIRS. How many of you want to climb up 2km of stairs?
The Korean hiker dresses the part. Almost everyone wears a well-put-together outfit of mesh cap, bandana, wicking pants, long-sleeved wicking shirt with a zip-up vest, hiking boots, and sunglasses. Half of them also use trekking poles, which means having a pair of wicking fingerless gloves. Hikers are mainly adults. We saw a lot of senior citizens, since we went out during the weekdays.
Lastly, Korean hikers do not mess around with their snacks. Once at their goal, they're either going to eat at one of the many small restaurants along the trail (like we saw on our hike around Sangdang Sanseong fortress) or munch on the wonderful foods they packed in. On top of Manjangdae peak, I saw one family settle down with sushi rolls and instant coffee (ie: carrying up a thermos of hot water) and another bring out bottles of soju for everyone. We chose to go back down the trail and eat at a restaurant when a couple of hikers, Miha and Kyam, invited us to share their lunch with them. They had brought an orange, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, greens cooked with sesame, watermelon, sushi rolls, a thermos of hot rice and beans sprouts, a smoked fish and red sauce dish, some sort of thick noodle in red sauce, squares of seaweed (for wrapping things in), kim chee, and, of course, soju.
It was a tasty meal and they really enjoyed sharing it with us. Her English was a little better than his, but there was a lot of charades, pointing, smiling and giggling on all sides. Miha would also use her cell phone for looking up English words. Once we learned that they lived in Cheongju and we were staying in Cheongju (we took a 1.5 hr bus ride to the park), they offered to give us a ride back in their car. We said yes and we all hiked down together. Before getting in the car, Miha bought us more snacks and drinks to try.
We were looking forward to a nice day in the outdoors, and found so much more. Thank you Miha and Kyam.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
SOUTH KOREA
Flying into Seoul, South Korea was, thankfully, quite easy and boring. We did get scanned for fever at the airport, but since that didn't slow us down or anything, it was no big whup. Just for fun, each time either of us sneezed or cough before leaving the Philippines we'd say to the other, "Uh, oh! Better not be swine flu!"
Ah, the silly jokes between travelers.
Anyway, as soon as we arrived we met Paul, our Couchsurfing host, and he immediately took us out for traditional Korean bbq and soju, some really strong national liquor. The food was good. Any food would be good after the unsatisfying fare of the Philippines, but, really, Korean food is very good. I didn't know if I'd like the kim chee, but I love the crunchy spiciness of it! Korea is the first place we've been to in a long time where you get lots of veggies with your meals: kim chee, cucumber salad, pickled radish, and more kim chee.
Since we only have 11 days here, we've decided to spend a lot of it sightseeing. Our first sight was a quiet hillside, popular with the local shamans. It's tucked away behind huge apartment buildings and is quite peaceful and green. There's a small buddhist temple nestled there as well.
The next day (my birthday!!), we visited the DMZ and it's about as weird as what little I've read said it would be. The weirdness began about 30 min away, with the banks of the river Han covered with barbed wire and high fences, with guardposts every 200m. It's strange to think that South Korea has been on edge, anticipating an invasion from North Korea, and has been for years. Strange that North Korea has dug tunnels into SK (at least 4, that have been found), and that they tried to disguise one as a coal mine. Strange being told not to point, when to take pictures. Strange seeing soldiers on each side poised, still as statues, facing each other. The photo-happy Indonesians and the gift shop at the end were also weird.
Speaking of weird, we're currently staying at a love motel. Yes, that's love as in "bow-chikka-bow-waah." I know you're picturing some tiny, dingy room with questionable linens, but the rooms are quite nice. This current one has a big bed, huge-screen cable TV (with one free porn channel), mini-fridge with one beer and one small soju, instant coffee, one juice, several bite-sized candies, his and hers robes, full bath, big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, gels and lotions, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The food items are included in the low-low price of W30,000 (less than USD30). AND all you have to do is pay up front for the night and leave in the morning. No paperwork or nothing! (The manager didn't speak any English, but thanks to a couple of phrases in the guidebook we were able to make our wants known. I guess the big bags weren't much help.)
Ah, the silly jokes between travelers.
Anyway, as soon as we arrived we met Paul, our Couchsurfing host, and he immediately took us out for traditional Korean bbq and soju, some really strong national liquor. The food was good. Any food would be good after the unsatisfying fare of the Philippines, but, really, Korean food is very good. I didn't know if I'd like the kim chee, but I love the crunchy spiciness of it! Korea is the first place we've been to in a long time where you get lots of veggies with your meals: kim chee, cucumber salad, pickled radish, and more kim chee.
Since we only have 11 days here, we've decided to spend a lot of it sightseeing. Our first sight was a quiet hillside, popular with the local shamans. It's tucked away behind huge apartment buildings and is quite peaceful and green. There's a small buddhist temple nestled there as well.
The next day (my birthday!!), we visited the DMZ and it's about as weird as what little I've read said it would be. The weirdness began about 30 min away, with the banks of the river Han covered with barbed wire and high fences, with guardposts every 200m. It's strange to think that South Korea has been on edge, anticipating an invasion from North Korea, and has been for years. Strange that North Korea has dug tunnels into SK (at least 4, that have been found), and that they tried to disguise one as a coal mine. Strange being told not to point, when to take pictures. Strange seeing soldiers on each side poised, still as statues, facing each other. The photo-happy Indonesians and the gift shop at the end were also weird.
Speaking of weird, we're currently staying at a love motel. Yes, that's love as in "bow-chikka-bow-waah." I know you're picturing some tiny, dingy room with questionable linens, but the rooms are quite nice. This current one has a big bed, huge-screen cable TV (with one free porn channel), mini-fridge with one beer and one small soju, instant coffee, one juice, several bite-sized candies, his and hers robes, full bath, big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, gels and lotions, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The food items are included in the low-low price of W30,000 (less than USD30). AND all you have to do is pay up front for the night and leave in the morning. No paperwork or nothing! (The manager didn't speak any English, but thanks to a couple of phrases in the guidebook we were able to make our wants known. I guess the big bags weren't much help.)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Philippines- Your Next Vacation??
I think I've said before that I knew nothing about the Philippines when we got here- no sights, no activities, no nothing. I think that's probably the best way to visit a new place. You have no expectations so you cannot be very disappointed (very buddhist).
Well, I sure am enjoying my time here, especially once we're out of Manila. Don't get me wrong- Manila has it's historical quarter, modern and old sites, food, etc. But in the end it's just another big city and we've seen a lot of big cities on this trip. They all have their own vibe, but life seems better for the budget tourist outside of the city.
Anyway, after hanging out in Camiguin we headed out to Donsol, on South Luzon. Since we're short of funds we thought it best to NOT FLY. That means taking it in short bursts of 3-4 hour bus rides and one-night stands in hotels before boarding another bus or ferry. Fortunately, we've got the time to travel slowly, and it's allowed us to see just a little bit more of regular life in the Philippines.
Donsol is known as the whale shark capitol of the Philippines. We're so fortunate to be here during the right season! Froody made a bunch of text messages to a guy named Taks who organized a place to stay, two trips out to see the sharks, and one evening on a river to check-out fireflies. He was a very relaxed guide and happily answered our questions about himself and the island.
He picked us up at sunrise and we all hopped onto his motorbike, stopping for breakfast before boarding our whale sharking boat. We spent about 3 hours on the water and had 7 "encounters" with the beautiful animals. I wish Froody's pictures did justice to the awesomeness of the experience.
After that, Taks took us to his uncle's house, who was having a party for his entire baranguay. It was nice relaxing, eating authenic filippino food (complete with scary red and awful tasting hot dogs. But it wasn't all bad.), and drinking warm beer poured over ice. That afternoon, Taks again picked us up and brought us to the river where we all loaded onto a small fishing boat--me and Froody, Taks, and the two young men who ran the boat. We stopped at a piece of land owned by Taks's family on which another family was living. We all relaxed in the shade of coconut palms and Taks asked that someone climb up and bring us all some young coconuts (buko). Froody and I had one and a half coconuts between us, water and meat. Young coconut is a bit different from the mature fruit we get at home. As evening approached, Taks (Froody) bought a fighting cock off the family. The young men and Taks then killed it about 3 yards away from us and gave it to the wife to clean and cook up for our dinner. Froody and I agree that while this chicken was tasty and flavorful, it did not taste like chicken. This took a while to prepare and it was full dark by the time we were served rice and chicken. I think Taks was a bit embarrassed and very hungry by the time it arrived. Anyway, when all of us were done eating, we slipped and slid down the mudbank onto the small boat and found the fireflies. Seems there are a few trees where hundreds-up to 1000- of fireflies congregate. It was beautiful,the tree outlined by silent, moving light.
The next day we did another whale sharking boat trip! We had another 8 encounters with about 6 sharks. One shark Froody and I had to ourselves, as the others on our boat couldn't keep up with it. :-) Of course, Froody didn't have his camera for this, but it's a good thing. I don't think he'd have been able to keep up with it while worrying about his camera.
Well, after that we thought it would be cheaper to stay on the island of South Luzon. So, it was off to Legaspi- the biggest town on the island- where we enjoyed cable TV and internet before deciding to get to the small island of Cataduanes, just off the coast of South Luzon. This meant a van trip to Tabasco, an overnight in a hotel, and an early (7am) ferry ride to Catanduanes. I had arranged for someone to pick us up through the Majestics Beach Resort, where we hoped to stay for a week. The "resort" is actually a main house with the kitchen and dining area and a small library. The guests stay in small, bamboo huts behind it, all encircling a small lawn of nice, green grass. The huts are very basic- a bed, mosquito net, fan, and toilet, with a faucet and bucket for washing! We also had a small porch and hammock where we spent most of our afternoons.
Our days here started around 6am. We'd eat breakfast (whatever Irene made-usually an omelette with toast or pancake), then go for a snorkel. The snorkeling was very nice, notwithstanding the loss of my mask and snorkel in a wave on our first day. I ended up renting snorkel gear from Lacy, the guy who owned another resort nearby (this one was a real building with a/c, cable tv, and an actual menu). After our snorkel we'd wash. Then, we'd read on the porch until lunchtime. After lunch we'd stay in the shade of our porch until 4 or 5, when we'd go snorkeling or Froody would go try surfing and I'd snorkel by myself. After that, we'd visit Lacy and check our email. We used that time to organize our final stage: the trip home.
We were lucky enough to book passage aboard a huge container ship bound for Long Beach, CA from Pusan, South Korea. This shortened our stay in the Philippines (ok by us) and allowed us a quick visit to one more country!!
During our stay we got to talk with some of the other guests. Many come here for the surfing. The coral reef we liked to snorkel around made an excellent wave break and in the mornings and afternoons you could find everyone, including Irene and her brother Alan (those who run Majestics), grabbing their boards and heading out. One such guest was a 58 year-old man from Japan who has been surfing for 40years!
Maybe I should add that Froody and I drank a lot more soda and beer than we're used to.
After Catanduanes (yes, you could call it a tropical paradise) we realized we have time for only 1 more big site- the rice terraces of the Cordillera, in Northern Luzon. We took a ferry from Catanduanes to Tabaco. From Tabaco we caught an air-con van to Naga. From Naga we boarded an all-night bus to Manila. After one day and one night in Manila (in the smallest room we've been in this trip) we got on one more all-night bus for Banuae...
...We arrived in Banuae butt-early, as Froody would say- 5:45 am. Luckily, we were able to check in to our room at the Banuae View Inn. We were greeted on the bus by Lolita who was politely if determinedly trying to get us to hire her as a guide for one of the many walks and trips to and through the rice terraces. (Because that's why tourists come here- for the rice terraces.) We were able to leave her at the door of our inn, both of us too tired to really commit to anything or anyone. Once in our room, the innkeeper brought us towels, soap, and Lolita's business card.
Anyway, Froody and I got to sleep for a bit. After showers and breakfast, he decided to give Lolita a call and she ended up meeting us at the inn. We decided to do the short 3 hour walk from the viewpoint back into town. This time, we all got into a tricycle (operated by Salvador, Lolita's husband) and had a pleasant ride up to the viewpoints where we took some pix. Then, Lolita and Salvador lead us up and down the rice terraces, following the irrigation canals downhill. Again, Froody's pictures capture only a part of the quiet beauty of this place. Having spent almost my whole life in SoCal(really the best place to be in the world), I could not get over the green of the young rice plants, the furry green of the mosses and ferns that covered the mud terraces, built by hand over many generations. I also loved the sounds of water that just fills the terraces.
Really, you should come here. The only thing to remember is to not have any hight expectations of the food.
Well, I sure am enjoying my time here, especially once we're out of Manila. Don't get me wrong- Manila has it's historical quarter, modern and old sites, food, etc. But in the end it's just another big city and we've seen a lot of big cities on this trip. They all have their own vibe, but life seems better for the budget tourist outside of the city.
Anyway, after hanging out in Camiguin we headed out to Donsol, on South Luzon. Since we're short of funds we thought it best to NOT FLY. That means taking it in short bursts of 3-4 hour bus rides and one-night stands in hotels before boarding another bus or ferry. Fortunately, we've got the time to travel slowly, and it's allowed us to see just a little bit more of regular life in the Philippines.
Donsol is known as the whale shark capitol of the Philippines. We're so fortunate to be here during the right season! Froody made a bunch of text messages to a guy named Taks who organized a place to stay, two trips out to see the sharks, and one evening on a river to check-out fireflies. He was a very relaxed guide and happily answered our questions about himself and the island.
He picked us up at sunrise and we all hopped onto his motorbike, stopping for breakfast before boarding our whale sharking boat. We spent about 3 hours on the water and had 7 "encounters" with the beautiful animals. I wish Froody's pictures did justice to the awesomeness of the experience.
After that, Taks took us to his uncle's house, who was having a party for his entire baranguay. It was nice relaxing, eating authenic filippino food (complete with scary red and awful tasting hot dogs. But it wasn't all bad.), and drinking warm beer poured over ice. That afternoon, Taks again picked us up and brought us to the river where we all loaded onto a small fishing boat--me and Froody, Taks, and the two young men who ran the boat. We stopped at a piece of land owned by Taks's family on which another family was living. We all relaxed in the shade of coconut palms and Taks asked that someone climb up and bring us all some young coconuts (buko). Froody and I had one and a half coconuts between us, water and meat. Young coconut is a bit different from the mature fruit we get at home. As evening approached, Taks (Froody) bought a fighting cock off the family. The young men and Taks then killed it about 3 yards away from us and gave it to the wife to clean and cook up for our dinner. Froody and I agree that while this chicken was tasty and flavorful, it did not taste like chicken. This took a while to prepare and it was full dark by the time we were served rice and chicken. I think Taks was a bit embarrassed and very hungry by the time it arrived. Anyway, when all of us were done eating, we slipped and slid down the mudbank onto the small boat and found the fireflies. Seems there are a few trees where hundreds-up to 1000- of fireflies congregate. It was beautiful,the tree outlined by silent, moving light.
The next day we did another whale sharking boat trip! We had another 8 encounters with about 6 sharks. One shark Froody and I had to ourselves, as the others on our boat couldn't keep up with it. :-) Of course, Froody didn't have his camera for this, but it's a good thing. I don't think he'd have been able to keep up with it while worrying about his camera.
Well, after that we thought it would be cheaper to stay on the island of South Luzon. So, it was off to Legaspi- the biggest town on the island- where we enjoyed cable TV and internet before deciding to get to the small island of Cataduanes, just off the coast of South Luzon. This meant a van trip to Tabasco, an overnight in a hotel, and an early (7am) ferry ride to Catanduanes. I had arranged for someone to pick us up through the Majestics Beach Resort, where we hoped to stay for a week. The "resort" is actually a main house with the kitchen and dining area and a small library. The guests stay in small, bamboo huts behind it, all encircling a small lawn of nice, green grass. The huts are very basic- a bed, mosquito net, fan, and toilet, with a faucet and bucket for washing! We also had a small porch and hammock where we spent most of our afternoons.
Our days here started around 6am. We'd eat breakfast (whatever Irene made-usually an omelette with toast or pancake), then go for a snorkel. The snorkeling was very nice, notwithstanding the loss of my mask and snorkel in a wave on our first day. I ended up renting snorkel gear from Lacy, the guy who owned another resort nearby (this one was a real building with a/c, cable tv, and an actual menu). After our snorkel we'd wash. Then, we'd read on the porch until lunchtime. After lunch we'd stay in the shade of our porch until 4 or 5, when we'd go snorkeling or Froody would go try surfing and I'd snorkel by myself. After that, we'd visit Lacy and check our email. We used that time to organize our final stage: the trip home.
We were lucky enough to book passage aboard a huge container ship bound for Long Beach, CA from Pusan, South Korea. This shortened our stay in the Philippines (ok by us) and allowed us a quick visit to one more country!!
During our stay we got to talk with some of the other guests. Many come here for the surfing. The coral reef we liked to snorkel around made an excellent wave break and in the mornings and afternoons you could find everyone, including Irene and her brother Alan (those who run Majestics), grabbing their boards and heading out. One such guest was a 58 year-old man from Japan who has been surfing for 40years!
Maybe I should add that Froody and I drank a lot more soda and beer than we're used to.
After Catanduanes (yes, you could call it a tropical paradise) we realized we have time for only 1 more big site- the rice terraces of the Cordillera, in Northern Luzon. We took a ferry from Catanduanes to Tabaco. From Tabaco we caught an air-con van to Naga. From Naga we boarded an all-night bus to Manila. After one day and one night in Manila (in the smallest room we've been in this trip) we got on one more all-night bus for Banuae...
...We arrived in Banuae butt-early, as Froody would say- 5:45 am. Luckily, we were able to check in to our room at the Banuae View Inn. We were greeted on the bus by Lolita who was politely if determinedly trying to get us to hire her as a guide for one of the many walks and trips to and through the rice terraces. (Because that's why tourists come here- for the rice terraces.) We were able to leave her at the door of our inn, both of us too tired to really commit to anything or anyone. Once in our room, the innkeeper brought us towels, soap, and Lolita's business card.
Anyway, Froody and I got to sleep for a bit. After showers and breakfast, he decided to give Lolita a call and she ended up meeting us at the inn. We decided to do the short 3 hour walk from the viewpoint back into town. This time, we all got into a tricycle (operated by Salvador, Lolita's husband) and had a pleasant ride up to the viewpoints where we took some pix. Then, Lolita and Salvador lead us up and down the rice terraces, following the irrigation canals downhill. Again, Froody's pictures capture only a part of the quiet beauty of this place. Having spent almost my whole life in SoCal(really the best place to be in the world), I could not get over the green of the young rice plants, the furry green of the mosses and ferns that covered the mud terraces, built by hand over many generations. I also loved the sounds of water that just fills the terraces.
Really, you should come here. The only thing to remember is to not have any hight expectations of the food.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Blehh for Blogging
I've been putting off blogging because I'm pretty much tired of blogging. I'm also tired of writing in my journal. Froody is very good. He blogs about every place we've been and includes info on hotels, guides, etc.
I just feel like I'm done with it all.
However, Froody does remind me that if I don't write or blog it, then I'll regret it later. I'll be wondering where we did that cool thing and not be able to search for it here or in my several journals. :-(
Anyway, I think I'm going to read my Google Reader for now instead of blogging some more. :-P
I just feel like I'm done with it all.
However, Froody does remind me that if I don't write or blog it, then I'll regret it later. I'll be wondering where we did that cool thing and not be able to search for it here or in my several journals. :-(
Anyway, I think I'm going to read my Google Reader for now instead of blogging some more. :-P
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