Weekend Goings-On: Jirisan Edition

I'm so busy using this blog to write about the fun stuff I do on the weekends, that I don't have time to write about my day-to-day life in Korea. Stuff like my work, the food, Daegu, the culture, etc. just gets left out. I'm gonna have to work on that, but probably not anytime soon because I have too much to catch up on (sorry to get your hopes up, haha). Here goes:

My last post was about the Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival, which is sort of a prelude to Buddha's birthday. So Buddha's actual birthday was on Friday, May 21st; since it's a national holiday, we had a lovely three-day weekend on our hands. On Friday morning seven of us met bright and early at the bus station. We bought tickets for the two-hour bus ride to Jirisan National Park, only to find that the bus was full. Our options were to stand on the bus, or wait almost two more hours for the next one. We decided that it was all part of the adventure and chose to stand for two hours. We passed the time by playing Twenty Questions, trying to keep our balance and not topple onto any seated Koreans or annoy anybody too much.

We arrived in the town of Namwon and decided that the easiest way to reach the park was by taxi (traveling in groups like we do has its advantages, like splitting the cost of everything!). It was a beautiful ride into the park - curvy and hilly roads, trees and greenery, and the best air I've tasted since visiting Jeju Island (I think I probably complain about this a lot, but after living in Daegu I will NEVER take fresh air for granted again). Jirisan National Park is huge - the biggest in South Korea - and with over a dozen peaks it is famous for hiking, camping, waterfalls, several temples, and even a population of wild bears!

We were dropped off in a little parking lot and after a few minutes of hiking, found Guryong Waterfall. I think the original plan might have been to do some hiking that day, and even find a temple and pay our respects (it was Buddha's birthday, after all), but the weather and location were too perfect for us to resist. We ended up sitting at the waterfall all day, eating kimbap and drinking beer, playing games, soaking our feet, and exploring the area (which for a few of us included some awesome climbing - Mark, Dave, Jayson and I decided to explore downstream a bit, and it was so much fun to climb up and over all the rocks).

At the end of the day we made a quick detour to explore some of the nearby hiking trails, just for a few minutes, and it was SO beautiful. I didn't want to leave - I really like hiking and climbing, and the scenery was just breath-taking. I'd love to go back and hike the mountain properly, and even stay overnight in a tent or something to see the sunrise on the summit. Between the weather, the scenery, and the company, this was easily one of the best days I've had in Korea.


The first two photos here are mine; the rest are from the talented and generous Jeannine. To see the rest of mine, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/JirisanNationalPark?feat=directlink