The first hike

One of the amazing things about the Geumgang Mountains is how they rise from the plains. Around the mountains the ground is largely flat and close to sea level. There are stark and impressive rock formations (it feels a bit like pictures of Arizona, with less red) but there are no real foothills. Then the mountains themselves rise straight for the sky. I met a couple from near the Alberta Rockies, and they told me while hiking that the Geumgang mountains (although much much smaller) were in some ways more impressive for their sheer cliffs and thousands of jagged sharp peeks.
The tour took us by bus part way up the mountain to where the trail began. From the very beginning the hike was incredibly steep.



Stairs had been cut into the mountain for much of the hike. Without them certain stretches of the trail would have been beyond inexperienced hikers. There was one part of the trail where the stairs we climbed allowed us to ascend about 250m almost straight up. The mountain was too steep for a simple path. The hike was only of moderate length, but it offered some of the most incredible views I have seen in years.





As we neared the peak, the views got better and better and I had to resist the urge to stop and take pictures every time I rounded a corner. But when we reached the top it was well worth it. Unfortunately, since this is Korea, there were many other people hiking the same trail behind us and we didn't have a long time to stop and savor the moment.



After we took some pictures we headed back down the mountain. Since this was to be a short trip, the tour company was cramming as many things as possible into a single day. As we reached the bottom of the mountain it started snowing. It was a real pleasure to feel the snow on my face. Although I managed to go snowboarding a few weeks ago (which I might post about later) this was the first time I had really been in a proper snowfall this year. I love how dry and pleasant Busan is in winter, but once you leave the city it's nice to experience real winter. The following pic was taken at the bottom just as the first flakes were beginning to fall.



By this time we were running behind schedule. So, when we were all back on the bus we were given a choice to either go back to the hotel, to relax and have lunch, or to go on to the next hiking area. Keep in mind that I had left Busan at 4:30pm the previous day and we started this hike at around 8:30am (with my only breakfast being a sandwich I had saved from a rest stop on the way to Bukhan) after only 3-4 hours of sleep on an uncomfortable bus. However, I didn't want to miss anything and elected to go on the next hike with most of the group. Thankfully the next course was supposed to be more of a leisurely stroll around a beautiful lake, rather than another mountain hike.
We soon arrived at Samilpo lake (back in the lowlands it was drizzling instead of snowing) ready for the next walk. This picture from the beginning of the walk will give you a small sense of how the mountains rise straight from the plains.



Thankfully, the walk was easy and restful as had been advertised. But it was well worth it since it also offered some beautiful views.



The lake course was barely over an hour with a brief respite at a North Korean restaurant. Which you can see in the pic below, nestled on the shore of the lake.



Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't able to cope with the sudden deluge of customers and I had to satisfy my hunger with a small snack of Dubu (tofu) and a Heineken. In the picture below you can see three North Koreans. The waitress, the cook and a man watching the cook. On the coats of the waitress and the man watching the cook you can see little red dots. These are pins showing the face of Kim Jong Il.



Almost all the North Koreans we met were wearing them. One of the people on the trip pointed at a button and asked about it. The North Korean whose button was being pointed at clapped their hands over the button in horror at the desecration of a finger pointing at the dear leader! After our quick snack we headed back to buses, which returned us to the hotel with time only for a very brief corner store snack before we had to head off again to see the North Korean circus!