Take A Hike

        These past couple weeks have brought more typhoons, which has been mostly bad news for me.  Sure, I got to miss a day of school, but it also meant that at various times I’ve been without Internet, hot water, and power.  At first, I was just kinda bummed, but then I started thinking to myself- maybe it’s a sign.  Maybe this is some higher power’s way of telling me it’s time to get off my computer and start exploring Korea again.  It’s time to return to nature.  It’s time to go hiking.
        The thing is, I’m not exactly an “outdoorsy” person.  I’m happy to go out for a jog or something, but you won’t find me huddled around a campfire cooking a can of baked beans.  That’s because camping sounds like an activity for a homeless person.  Hiking is also something I would expect homeless people to do.  But me?  Probably not.  On the rare occasions that I have gone, I always have these nagging thoughts in my head: We’re climbing up just so we can go back down.  This makes no sense.  My legs hurt.  I’m hungry.  I’m tired.  It’s basically that on repeat.  So then what's the real reason I've gone hiking these past two weeks?  Because all my friends were doing it, of course.
        The first hike we went on was at a Buddhist temple outside Gwangju.  About five of us were there, and the first thing we noticed was how the Koreans were dressed.  They all have these bright neon hiking outfits, and they have enough gear with them to climb Everest.  I showed up in a t-shirt and shorts.  Anyway, we started climbing, and it wasn’t too bad.  We stopped about ten minutes in when we came to a stream, and decided to wade in.  It was only about 70° outside (21°C for all you foreigners!) so the water was pretty chilly.  The water also happened to be moving very fast, which meant I had about 6,000 instances of losing my balance and nearly getting swept away.  It was fun.

Trying not to die while also taking a picture.  Multitasking!  

        The Buddhist temple was about another fifteen minutes up, which wasn’t too bad either.  The temple was...alright.  The place had been burned down about twenty different times over history, so I think most of it was a reconstruction.  Just from looking at it, I could tell a lot of it wasn’t authentic.  I watch Pawn Stars, so I know a fake when I see it.

Outside the temple

And inside

        Anyhow, hike number two was in the city of Boseong.  Boseong is a smaller place, about 50,000 people, and it’s famous for green tea.  So this time we got a group of around ten to go hiking at some mountain.  And let me tell you, this was not our little half-hour Buddhist temple hike.  This was the Trail of Tears at a 45° angle.  Thanks to all that typhooning, the ground was also smooth and slick, which made it almost impossible to get a foothold.  About thirty minutes in, we passed by some Koreans who were stumbling down the mountain.  They said something to us, and a girl in our group who spoke Korean translated.  “One more hour to the top.  Very difficult.”  I’m pretty sure I started crying right then and there.
        And yet, we climbed on.  Eventually, I found a hiking stick (also known as a tree branch) and that helped quite a bit.  Still, I was pouring sweat, and we had to take a break about every ten minutes.  Our group ended up splitting in two, and I stuck with the slow group.  Finally, after what felt like a century, our group made it to the top.  I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures.
        “Wait,” someone said.  “Where’s everybody else?”
        “Look, they’re up there.”
        We looked over to see that the fast group was way higher and way up ahead, scaling some rock face.  So this wasn’t the top after all.
        “Do you want to keep going?” someone asked.
        It took me about 1/100th of a second before I said, “No.”  One other reasonable person agreed with me.  If I wanted to go any higher, I’d rent a freaking airplane.

        The way down was just as treacherous.  I was basically swinging from tree to tree and praying I wouldn’t fall.  I kept taking these really awkward steps which resulted in me rolling my ankle, stumbling, and catching myself.  If having good balance is being able to recover before you fall, then I have great balance.  Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that’s not the definition.
        In the end, I only fell once (on my butt, so it didn’t hurt) and had one really bad stumble where I hurt my knee and ankle.  Any time you can describe a weekend by saying, “Well, at least I didn’t get seriously injured,” you know you had a good time.
        Our third and final hike took place at the green tea fields.  That’s what Boseong’s famous for, so we figured we had to check it out.  The crops are on hills in rows and rows that wrap around the landscape.  I have to say, it looks really awesome.  Hiking it?  Not so awesome.
        It was a rainy day to begin with, but the second we started going up, it turned into a torrential downpour.  It wasn’t so much of a hike as a walk-up-a-thousand-steps, but the result was pretty much the same- I was exhausted.  This time, though, I actually made it to the top.

Tea fields

Getting higher

At the top!

        After that, we headed inside for some lunch (green tea noodles, which were delicious) followed by a little tea party.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had green tea before, and it wasn’t bad.  I had some green tea ice cream to top it all off, which I’d describe as strangely decent.  Soon enough, it was time to leave and go back to my city.   I had to start the recovery process, after all.

A few more pics from the weekend.  Boseong at night.

        Now, I’m back in the peace and quiet of my own home.  So what have I taken away from all my hiking adventures?  Have I been transformed into an outdoorsman?  Did I gain a new appreciation for nature?  Not really.  I’m just glad the power’s back on.