Since Korea has so many mountains, it is no wonder that a huge activity for everyone is mountain climbing. Not the kind of climbing where you scale sheer rock and rappel down (though I am sure some do), but trekking through the woods to the top of a mountain. Alot of the trails are marked and are organized . In fact, we have one just behind our apartment. Ken and I attempted it when we first got here. I should say that only I attempted it because Ken could have definitely gone to the top. I really haven't tried it again but I had been looking for an "easier" one to scale. The Koreans take all of this quite seriously and are usually dressed for it with the proper attire and walking stick.
Ken's office signed up for a hike on April 28th. The itinerary stated that there was to be a 1.8 kilometer walk up and a 1.6 kilometer walk down Mt. Daeguemsan , an area known for its azaleas. The walk was sponsored by the shipyard safety department to commemorate international labor organziation's official international safety day (I didn't write that - I copied it from an article written by the shipyard!). By reading the article, I also learned that about 30 shipyard employees and 153 clients and their families participated. So there were a far amount of us. We all met in front of the Admiral Hotel in Okpo and boarded 4 or 5 large buses to take us. After 20 minutes or so, we arrived to the hiking trail. I was all ready and began walking upwards. The first stretch was one of the hardest for me - my calves were on fire after awhile. As we progressed (or should I say some of us progressed) up the mountain, my position in the pack became further back each minute. Ken was doing great, I would tell him to go on whenever he started talking to someone he knew. However, he waited for me here and there. Sure, I was huffing and puffing a bit, but the main problem were my legs and then, lower back. I guess I should have stretched alittle before hitting the slope up. I finally made it to the landing, along with a few other people (mainly people with small children that had to stop for them). By then, we were lining up for a group picture.
Ken said that the picture showed everyone celebrating me getting to the top. Real funny. There were a couple of speeches about safety, including one from Ken. He did a really good job of it. There was a smaller trail that went up even further. I elected to just enjoy the view from where I was, luckily, I wasn't the only one. However, Brenda took some great pictures from the top.
Have I mentioned she is a good ten years younger than me???
The trip down wasn't too bad. The problem though with going down is that it plays havoc on your knees. Ken was hurting a bit by the time we got to the bottom. The buses were waiting for us to take us to another area by Hak-Som beach. There were tables set up and a buffet waiting for us.
I like how the article put it - " The lunch menu consisted of pig on a spit with a variety of fresh salads and cool refreshments to quench the thirst after a brisk morning walk."
Yep, that sums it up for me.
Note - I wrote most of this draft a week or so ago. I was waiting for some of the pictures Brenda took before I posted it. You will be happy to know that last Thursday morning, I went up the mountain behind us with two other women. It was rough but I will say I might even do it again this week!
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