Hiking

The surprising thing in Korea is the popular pass time activity of hiking. Hiking in Korea is the most popular activity for middle aged and up Korean citizens. When you go to the popular mountains there are crowds and crowds of people. It's pretty crazy. They also bring mini gas ranges to cook ramen in the mountain or even old grandpas drink makgoli (Korean rice wine) at the top of their climb. Nowadays they are trying to regulate that for obvious safety reasons. But it is no lie, any old Korean can whip on by me as I hike the mountains. This weekend my destination was the top of Godae Mountain (고대산)

Godae mountain is located in northern South Korea. At the top, you are able to see the distant land of North Korea. It is not a heavily trekked mountain, but it does have trails you can easily follow. I would say the hardest part is how steep it was. A lot of the trail was rocky with some rugged stairs along the way. 

Starting the hike, I didn't actually have much of a breakfast which was my mistake!!! Started out fine but quickly became quite dizzy.... I was soooo dizzy I told my friend to go ahead and I would come at my own pace. There was even a time I felt so nauseas I didn't even want to try anymore... BUT that is not how I live life. If you start something, there is always the possibility for success! It's all in the mindset. So I started taking frequent long rests and also snacked on my sandwiches I packed. The sandwich saved me and gave me the motivation spurt to go on. After a couple bites and enough resting, I swiftly went up the mountain to the finish line. It was the best feeling everrrr!!! I knew no matter what, if I failed, I'd feel very disappointed. 

In the fall, it is very popular for Koreans to go hiking to see the color change in the trees. Such a beautiful red!

I call it: burnt broccoli tops

After my spurt of determination, I was almost to the top!!! "Started from the bottom now we here"

A couple had saw me sitting waiting for my death as the passed by. (I kid... Partially) I later passed them after the spurt of determination. They gave me these to eat. They had texture similar to styrafoam but tastes similar to an apple.

Mission: complete! It was weird. This top landing area had millions of bugs flying around. Quite nasty...

My hiking buddy. She's a lovely Canadian.

Overall a great climb. The weather was lovely, the sandwich saved my life, and I got to somewhat see North Korean air. In the future maybe I can hike there one more time... But not gonna lie, it was quite a long and steep hike. The overall trip for me was 5 hours with many breaks in the beginning and at the top, we had a relaxing snack break.

Lesson learned: always eat a good breakfast before a hike!