Taebaek National Park and rafting, July 4th, 2009

On the weekend of July 4th my friend Vanessa and I took a morning bus on Saturday out of Incheon. We left at 7:30 and went to Taebaek, where Vanessa's boyfriend lives. The bus went went well, we both slept and read and the 4 hours went by nicely. We got to the small town on the East side of the country and took a taxi to Nick's house. He made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, thanks so much Nick! Nick and Vanessa went to the sea to hang out on the beach and I decided to hike the cities mountain. Nick had a map of the city on the wall and I figured out where I was on the map and where the mountain was. I started walking to the main road to get up to the mountain. I walked about 30 minutes in the rain and found a bus stop on the main road. I realized I didn't have any small bills to pay for the bus so I went into a restaurant to get some change. A nice man eventually offered me a ride to the park entrance. A great find. I paid 2,000 won to get into the park and started my ascent towards the top. There are two ways of getting to the top, I took the first trail to the left. I only ran into 2 people on my way to the top. There are 3 peaks to this mountain and I hit all 3 of them. Two of the peaks were full of these giant rocks. I sat on the rocks on the first peak and no one else was there, for South Korea this isn't too common. I sat for about 30 minutes and went on my way to the second peak. Also, the rain had stopped as I was about halfway up the mountain, which was nice. At the next peak, about 2km away, there was a small group of people, who happened to be from Incheon. They were very excited about me being from Incheon. They shared their snacks with me and we talked for a while and then went our separate ways. They were very nice and welcoming. On top of this mountain there were 3-4 huge rock cones. 15 feet high cone made of rocks, pretty neat to look at. The third and highest peak had another rock structure where two people were praying, it was a big rock structure that you could walk into and pray on the top. Taebaeksan is the South Korea's most cherished mountain. There were times when I came across people who were praying. I headed down the mountain, and it started to pour down again. The walk down was okay, the rain wasn't the best, but my umbrella was nice to have. I got down, bought a beer and sat and watched the trees on the mountain and enjoyed the view. I started the walk out of the park, stopped the first car I saw and hitched a ride down the hill towards Nick's place. A nice Korean family gladly dropped me off and I walked back to Nick's place for another PB and J and a short nap. Nick and Vanessa got back, we drank some beer's, and went downtown Taebaek. Had some Panchi (sp?), a Korean pancake filled with kimchi, squid, and potatoes. It was real yummy. We also drank Makalee. Stacy and Ally joined the party too. Stacy is a friend of Nick's and Stacy lives in Daegu and is also a friend. We went to another bar and played some games and drank beer and soju and met some locals. It was a good time. Eventually we went home and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up for our day of rafting. We nearly missed the bus, it was an amusing morning. Took the bus to Youngwal, a big rafting town on the East side of the country. Had some lunch, got picked up by someone who worked for a rafting company. Drove up to get the rafts. Got all packed up and drove to the put in. There were lots of people there. The ride down was a fun one, we played games and talked. The rapids were pretty weak overall, but it was nice to be on the water for the day. Our guide happens to live in Incheon as well. It is crazy how that keeps happening. The water was low, and I think I would like to do it, when the water is high and the rapids are a bit better and we don't hit the rocks. We hit several rocks on the way down.... Just got on my bus towards Incheon. The East side of the country is very pretty, lots of hills, and such. Good air and friendly folks. Hopefully I can rent a raft next time and do it myself. Until next time, be well and in touch.

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