Music: One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey
I know I haven't written much about what I've been doing here, but truth be told, I've actually been to sooooo many places around Korea in the past 7 months. I think its high time I chronicle them all. I'll start with my most latest excursion, i.e. my hiking trip today.
We went to an area called Yeongnam Alps, which is just about 45 minutes drive from my university. The peak we climbed is called Shinbulsan (san=Mountain/Hill). The pressure vessel and reactor design course professor organized it as a class trip (nothing to do with the subject though haha), and I sort of went on a free ride since there was an extra space in the car. I'm not enrolled in that course. So off we went at 7.30am, and I honestly thought it'd be a short hiking outing that I'll be back by lunch time. Instead, we came back at 5.30pm, totally exhausted from one of the most rewarding but tiring hikes I've ever done so far.
One of the best things about hiking is the gorgeous views that you'd almost always get from high on top. Why would anyone want to wake up early on a weekend and go punish your legs and knees if not for that? The hill was one of the steepest I've ever hiked on, and we went all the way up to the peak at 1200 meters. It took us a little under 4 hours to reach the top, and once we were at 1000 meters, we were presented with a magnificent meadow of tall grass. It only appears during the fall season, hence this festival, which is only held once a year. The vegetation is also very colorful all around the top, I loved it so much. Sempat la aku rasa jiwang2 sikit sambil hiking tu hahahah.
To quote a friend of mine, "Orang kat Korea ni pi hiking macam pi theme park". There was sooooo many people its ridiculous really.
One of the things I like about hiking is the peaceful feeling, because in other parts of the world that I've gone hiking at, including Malaysia, not that many people hike. The rustling leaves and sound of rivers flowing (if any), the chirping birds.. etc. But its pretty much impossible to get that in Korea. Hiking is the nation's favorite past time.
Anyway, I didn't eat breakfast except for 2 tiny croissants, a cup of coffee and a small box of milk. Usually I'd buy a couple of snickers and a bottle of isotonic drink to get some sugar in me for that extra energy. Works for me the whole time. But i didnt have those this time. I didn't know it was gonna be a super long hike. On the way down I got a severe migraine for being so hungry, my legs were wobbly and the muscles were tired, and i started feeling so cold so I wore a jacket (temp was between 17-21 degress celcius and it was quite windy too). I took it really slowly, all the time thinking, I've gone through much worse than this (OBS=Outward Bound School came to mind). My friend was really kind to always wait for me everytime I started to fall back really behind. In truth I could have gone faster to get the hike over and done with, but then the degree of agony will be greater, and I don't want to put too much pressure on my legs and body, I have at least 30 more years of hiking to do all around the world hahahaha (that's the dream anyway).
By the time we ate lunch it was 3pm. My friend said, "Hey Kirah, eat now (pointing to the food served), then you can smile again". True enough, my headache went away as soon as I got fooooooddd!! All in all, the hike was a really good one, I slept almost throughout the ride back, and my legs also managed to recover by then (they're getting used to all the hiking I've been doing around here, so I don't get sore legs for too long).
Here are some pics out of 100+ that I took:
I know I haven't written much about what I've been doing here, but truth be told, I've actually been to sooooo many places around Korea in the past 7 months. I think its high time I chronicle them all. I'll start with my most latest excursion, i.e. my hiking trip today.
We went to an area called Yeongnam Alps, which is just about 45 minutes drive from my university. The peak we climbed is called Shinbulsan (san=Mountain/Hill). The pressure vessel and reactor design course professor organized it as a class trip (nothing to do with the subject though haha), and I sort of went on a free ride since there was an extra space in the car. I'm not enrolled in that course. So off we went at 7.30am, and I honestly thought it'd be a short hiking outing that I'll be back by lunch time. Instead, we came back at 5.30pm, totally exhausted from one of the most rewarding but tiring hikes I've ever done so far.
One of the best things about hiking is the gorgeous views that you'd almost always get from high on top. Why would anyone want to wake up early on a weekend and go punish your legs and knees if not for that? The hill was one of the steepest I've ever hiked on, and we went all the way up to the peak at 1200 meters. It took us a little under 4 hours to reach the top, and once we were at 1000 meters, we were presented with a magnificent meadow of tall grass. It only appears during the fall season, hence this festival, which is only held once a year. The vegetation is also very colorful all around the top, I loved it so much. Sempat la aku rasa jiwang2 sikit sambil hiking tu hahahah.
To quote a friend of mine, "Orang kat Korea ni pi hiking macam pi theme park". There was sooooo many people its ridiculous really.
One of the things I like about hiking is the peaceful feeling, because in other parts of the world that I've gone hiking at, including Malaysia, not that many people hike. The rustling leaves and sound of rivers flowing (if any), the chirping birds.. etc. But its pretty much impossible to get that in Korea. Hiking is the nation's favorite past time.
Anyway, I didn't eat breakfast except for 2 tiny croissants, a cup of coffee and a small box of milk. Usually I'd buy a couple of snickers and a bottle of isotonic drink to get some sugar in me for that extra energy. Works for me the whole time. But i didnt have those this time. I didn't know it was gonna be a super long hike. On the way down I got a severe migraine for being so hungry, my legs were wobbly and the muscles were tired, and i started feeling so cold so I wore a jacket (temp was between 17-21 degress celcius and it was quite windy too). I took it really slowly, all the time thinking, I've gone through much worse than this (OBS=Outward Bound School came to mind). My friend was really kind to always wait for me everytime I started to fall back really behind. In truth I could have gone faster to get the hike over and done with, but then the degree of agony will be greater, and I don't want to put too much pressure on my legs and body, I have at least 30 more years of hiking to do all around the world hahahaha (that's the dream anyway).
By the time we ate lunch it was 3pm. My friend said, "Hey Kirah, eat now (pointing to the food served), then you can smile again". True enough, my headache went away as soon as I got fooooooddd!! All in all, the hike was a really good one, I slept almost throughout the ride back, and my legs also managed to recover by then (they're getting used to all the hiking I've been doing around here, so I don't get sore legs for too long).
Here are some pics out of 100+ that I took:
Huge field of tall grass.. In a couple of weeks it will turn golden
The small city below. I have no idea what's the name.
So pretty..
Magnificent colors...
Never ending view of hills
Massive amount of Koreans hiking on a Sunday. So where's the theme park?
3 comments:
cantik sangat kirahhhhh. nak nangis tengok. You are so lucky dear.
scrolling down the pictures i went "pretty. tranquil. tranquil. so peaceful. tranquil" and then the last picture, bamm!! so many people! i read about traffic jams in national parks because people love hiking so much.
hahaha.. tu la pasal! gila org Korea ni. healthy terlebih. so when hike kat sini nanti, make sure start early!!
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