Geumjeong Mountain

On Sunday, I hiked up a mountain. I had put an ad on a website for foreigners living in Busan saying that I was looking for friends to visit Buddhist temples with. A Korean girl answered my ad and said that her and her friends were going hiking this weekend on a mountain that had Buddhist temples on it, but that they might not visit them and just go hiking instead. So I said sure why not!

It ended up being this really nice group of people from all over Busan who have been studying Chinese together. So they were all ages, from younger than me to at least 60 years old.

We climbed up and up the mountain for at least an hour straight, and I thought that I was going to pass out. The Korean people could tell that I was out of shape and struggling, so they kept feeding me cucumbers and water and candy and whatever else they could find. Here is a picture of us taking a break. You can tell everyone is eating.


Then we finally go to a level part called the North Gate.


Behind it there were lots of people hanging around:


In Korea, everybody likes to go hiking. So when you go hiking, especially if it's on the weekend, it's going to be packed. Can you imagine this ever happening in America? The only time people in America gather outside in the wilderness like this, it's called a "festival" and people wear hemp necklaces and listen to alternative music.

Here's some pictures from the rest of the way up the mountain:




Then we got to a high spot on the mountain that is famous for it's magical well. It is said that a golden fish from the heavens came down into this well and that it never goes dry and is always golden in color.


I took a video of the view from up there:



Then we had lunch up there too. My lovely Korean hosts brought kimbap, which is like Korean sushi, but without the raw fish. They add things like cooked meat, or canned tuna, or fake crab, and lots of vegetables. It's pretty healthy stuff. Here's a video of lunchtime



Then we continued climbing to the summit. Here we are drinking water out of a... water place. I've never really seen anything like it, but I think it's a type mountain well or spring.


Then we climbed some more:


Then we took pictures at the summit:


Then we visited a small Buddhist temple that was somewhere on the mountain.


Then we walked through a village and I took a picture of these ladies taking the stems off of chili peppers.


Then we went back into the city and ate a giant famous green onion pancake.


While we were waiting for the food to arrive, one of my new friends decided that he wanted to burn me and I decided to let him. It's called moxibustion, and it's part of traditional Asian medicine. One takes a piece of mugwart (an herb, ssuk in Korean), places it on an acupuncture point, and lights it on fire. It's a very ancient practice (since BC times), predating acupuncture, and it is said that acupuncture evolved out of it. Anyway, he wanted to help my blood pressure, and who am I to say no to that. So I took a video of it. It's kind of hard to see, but look for the glowing orange ember on my skin. He did it five times to each arm and leg!



And that was the end of the night. I learned why Korean people are not scared of cliffs, and it is because they climb mountains every weekend.

I have to make a note though. I can't keep making really long entries like this. This one took me at least 4 or 5 hours, with editing the pictures and uploading the videos. Thinking about making another entry like that makes me feel burnt out and not want to make any entries at all. So expect shorter ones.

Last time I got obsessed with taking pictures and making photo albums, I got stung by two hornets and my leg swelled up like an old lady. I think it was a warning.