A weekend hike


At long last, after nearly a year of longing, I finally climbed Buramsan. I may not have mentioned this mountain in my blog posts but from the moment I saw it on the bus coming into Byeollae that very first day I have been wanting to climb it.



The peak on the right is  불암산 


I went with one of the bilingual teachers from my academy. We started out by taking a bus as close to the mountain as possible. From there on we had to walk to the trail head, uphill no less. Both of us enjoyed taking in the view as often as possible.

At the top of most mountains, there is an 아저씨 (ajussi) or 아줌마 (ajumma) who sells ramen or some such food to the hungry adventurers. However, because the top of 불암산 is pure rock, the rest spot is around 500 meters from the top. Grace and I were having a wee rest on a small boulder when an 아저씨 with a small dog came up the trail. The dog was very friendly and as we pet it Grace and the 아저씨 made some small talk. Eventually, he moved on for a talk with the rest stop 아줌마 and we started the last 500 meters.


About halfway through, low and behold, the 아저씨 from earlier shows up with his dog. This time he did not go away, opting instead to show us the way up and talk a lot about the different mountains and places you can see from up the mountain. To make a long story short, we spent the remainder of the hike in his company as well as the return. On the way back, he showed us a new route down that was slightly easier all the while talking about the different plants on the trail, the different hikes he had been on, and his family (not that I understood even 5% of what he was saying). Then, he insisted on buying us iced americanos from a cafe and then continued to chat as he headed down the rest of the mountain with us into town. Somehow, in the conversation, he told Grace he really wanted to share some of his garden lettuce with us and took us to the apartment complex’s communal garden space and loaded us up with a massive bag of lettuce. He parted company with us at his apartment and Grace and I headed home to drop off the lettuce and then go get some 치맥 (chicken and beer) for dinner. 

At the trail head



There were some battles on this mountain and some soldiers died in these caves


                 
                        태극기 (Taegukgi Korean Flag) at the top
















On the way down we came across a maple tree with the tiniest maple leaves


This stick is doing soooo much for keeping the boulder standing

                                       A very welcome dinner



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