Climbing Mt. Apsan

This weekend, Babehoney and I, along with Laotia and a new friend Leeds went to Mt. Apsan park. This park is only about 6 or 8 subway stops from our station, and maybe a half or three-quarter mile walk from the station to the park entrance. Although I wasn't certain how strenuous the hike would be, I packed 2 liters of water, brought my jacket and my large backpack which was big enough for both mine and Babehoney's coats. I've also learned that in Korea you should take toilet paper with you everywhere, as there probably won't be any in public restrooms should you need it.

We got to the park and began our trek upward. The trail went from a very steep, paved trail to a very steep, unpaved trail in a hurry. We stopped for a bit at one of the outdoor gyms where we had fun trying some of the funny fitness equipment. I found that I'm far too big for most of the equipment, so now I have a great excuse to not use it. After our short "break" we continued upwards where the mountain became much more of a vertical affair. As we neared the peak we found a staircase with rope railings and climbed our way to the ridge.

Once we reached the ridge we saw two signs, one pointed to Apsan Jeong Sam, which would be Apsan summit, so we headed in that direction. We found a peak and enjoyed the view for quite a while. I really find it interesting that the view of a verdant valley turns so suddenly into a city cradled in the valley. After a while we noticed that the wind had turned cold, and decided to head down the mountain. We found another trail down and made our way to the valley trail.

The valley trail led us along a lower route to the park entrance, and on the way I was happy that we passed a Buddhist Temple. I'm not sure the name of the temple, but it was quite smaller than the ones we visited on Mt. Palgongsan several weeks ago. It seemed to have people inside doing religious things, so we left them well enough alone and continued back towards the city.

By this point we were all very hungry. At the park entrance we found a place with street food. I tried the chicken on a stick (which I will buy ALL THE TIME now), Babehoney had grilled corn, which was interesting. The corn kernels seemed much more starchy than corn from home, so they were much chewier. Leeds also had the chicken on a stick, and Laotia had a corn dog, which she refused the sugar dip on (good move for her.) This was enough to tide us over until we could find a real meal.

We walked into town and the first restaurant we saw with happy cartoon animals on the window looked like a good enough place to stop. It had a chicken and a pig on the window, and I ordered the "Han ma li" which turned out to be sliced pork that you grill at the table, seaweed soup, kimchi, and vegetables. Not a bad meal. Especially since the four of us split the cost at exactly 5,000 won each. Nothing quite like eating a nice meal for less than $5 US.

We got on the train and Leeds headed the opposite way while the rest of us made our way back to Sangin-dong and Daegok-dong. When we neared our own apartment, Babehoney wanted to try one of the street waffles they sell everywhere here so we got 2 of them. They were really good, and filled with apple butter and whipped cream. We made it home, watched a few episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and called it a night.