설 악 산 국 립 공 원 - Seoraksan National Park

I am much faster at typing in English, so I think I will stick to that for the remainder of the post.

Friday was a good day. We got reimbursed for our airfare over here, which we paid for out of pocket. That was really nice. It was also nice just because it was Friday.

설 악 산 국 립 공 원 (cut and paste) was awesome. We left right after work (9pm) for Sokcho. Public transportation here is way nicer and cheaper than the states. The bus system is bitchin'. Think first class airplane seat that does not stop until it gets to your destination. We made an under the table deal with two nice ladies at the bus station at two in the morning. They lent us a room built on the back of their house for a nominal fee. In the morning we looked at the other side of the Pacific and headed for the park. There we met a few thousand Korean tourists and joined them for a hike. It was quite nice hiking with such a large group of friends.

We spent the night at a mountain hut with 12 dudes that snored really loud and another couple dozen that didn't. They all got a freakin' early alpine start and then they didn't start, they just hung around outside in the sub-freezing weather for a long time. We got up last and left first for the summit of Daecheong-bong. After climbing stairs (both granite and metal) for three hours we made it to the top. At another mountain hut near the summit we joined some Koreans for beer, snickers, popcorn and ..... dried shredded squid. I had to try the dried shredded squid and immediately realized it was a bad choice. At least I had the beer to chase it down.

Four hours of hiking through beautiful fall colors, granite box canyons, and gorgeous crags got us back to even bigger crowds. Form there it was a nice long bus, taxi and subway ride home to my bed.

Today's blog is sponsored by the letter ㅎ (h as in him).