Have Your Kimchi And Eat It Too: We Climbed a Mountain (a Big Ass Mountain...not really. But big to us.)

So get ready for a lot of green. These pictures we collected from our hike last weekend aren't as interesting as some of the other pictures we've posted, but they were hard earned. I may not have mentioned it, but we have moved to mountain country. Which is pretty much all of Korea, but it's pretty majestic for us Florida folk. Since we're short on cash until we get paid on the 20th (Almost 2 months without a full paycheck, and three since our last paycheck from SDA will do that to you) we've been enjoying the freer attractions our area happens to have. So that means climbing mountains. It means almost dying while doing it and wanting to turn back half a million times, but dammit you've come this far and you're going to see the top! Each time we neared the top, each time we felt like we had made it, there was another flight of stairs lurching perilously to a bottomless drop off the mountain. So. Many. Stairs. Stairs so steep you thought you might as well crawl up them. To add insult to our altitude-sickness-induced injury, we kept being overtaken by old people. Hiking must be the national sport in Korea (it certainly makes up a lot of their everyday fashion choices) and I think it must be one of the only thing old people here enjoy. Coming from Florida, I know a good bit about old people. When we get old in America we go fishing, play golf and tend to our perfectly-manicured-best-on-the-block lawns. Its what we do. Here, they climb mountains and make foreigners feel bad about themselves. We also visited a nearby beach and collected sea glass. A much favored activity to climbing big ass mountains. Though there are probably more big ass mountains in our imminent future.

This is the view from our apartment. We are surrounded by rice patties.

Lance on Malipo beach

Malipo beach

Malipo

Fishermen on Malipo

Cute Korean Baby in Rain Gear (Traditional Korean Beach Clothing)

Hottie

Me and Malipo

It came as a pretty big surprise to me that not all beaches are made up of soft white sand, but here we are. I'm pretty sure the people here a digging for shell fish.

Mountain meets Ocean

Me at the beginning of our hike. Notice how I don't look like I'm about to die. The peak behind me is where we hiked to.

The gentle path is very deceptive.

Majestic. Like a Unicorn.

tree

leaf

We're getting closer to the elusive summit. Just up this last flight of stairs...dammit.

These are burial mounds. People in Korea bury their dead on Mountains in semi private plots. We come across a lot of them as we go hiking.

Look how high up we are! The village below is where we started.

Just as small sample of the ajumma (middle aged) ladies who out hiked us. I don't think we're to fault though, they came prepared with sun visors and hiking sticks.