Fenlason - Pineda: Korea 2017

Toothbrush holder.

Local flowers.

Middle Eastern food truck!

I guess the males just die in place.

Save that pine tree at all costs!

A quick cab ride.

To Apsan Mountain . . . again!

Map of the cable car . . .

. . . and the temples.

The cable car.

Matcha latte . . . Matcha, Matcha, Matcha!

Cool light fixture.

Cool cable car.

Very cool passengers.

Destination.

A peek at the city.

Docking station.

The mountain.

The scared giraffe.

Great view of Daegu.

It's steeper than it looks.

But carpeted!

Dumber than a pile of rocks.

The city with a view of the cable car station.

And someone finally showed me how to use the panorama feature on my camera.

Jiraffita needed to rest on the steps.

Dirty Dancing boardwalk?

So, THIS is what is where the TEMPLE was supposed to be. 3 1/2 MILES into the hike!

The view was worth it.

We were at the top of this mountain.

Chillin' in the sunshine.

We kinda left him up there. He'll catch up, I promise.

NOW there are signs . . . after we've gone past where the temples were SUPPOSED to be and weren't.

Some fun lichen.

The WHOLE city of Daegu.

And we happened upon this Cave of a King (Wang Gul.) I'm still researching the specifics, but I do know that Korea is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world with over five thousand years of history. According to the original creation myth, the world we live in today is the work of the Heavenly Prince Hwanung, whose father was the King of Heaven. The Heavenly Prince asked his father to give him some land to govern, so the Father sent him down to Mount Taebaek (the Taebaek mountain range ends in the area of Daegu - also known as Taegu.) With him the Prince brought the Minister of Clouds, the Earl of Rain and the Chancellor of Wind. They also brought three thousand helpers. Under the shade of a sandalwood tree the Prince founded a holy city called Sinsi, the City of God. He put his Ministers in charge of three hundred and sixty areas of human culture, teaching them to grow crops and to make laws concerning what is good and what is evil.

A tiger and a bear living in a nearby cave saw this city and desperately wanted to become human. Every day they came to the sandalwood tree at the center of the city to pray fervently for becoming humans. Hwanung saw their devotion and gave them instructions to remain in the cave and fast for one month, eating nothing but garlic and mugwort. The tiger was too impatient to stand the long and boring days in the cave, so he gave up and left, but Bear maintained the fast. At the end of the month she was transformed into a beautiful woman who became the mother of the Korean people (Remember the tiger and bear mascots from the airport??) Her first son was Don-gun, the First King of the Korean people. When Don-Gun passed on the throne to his own son, he became a Mountain God. Mountain gods are still worshiped in Korea today.

Everyone claimed that I was leading them down a trail that didn't exist. I could CLEARLY see it, but wondered if, perhaps, they were right. It DID look like a snow runoff. The cavalry scout came through, however. It's OBVIOUSLY Trail 9!

And what better to happen upon than a REAL pile of rocks!

Rumor has it that there are trail markers showing where to turn to see the stone tower, but we approached from the UPHILL side. It is said if you toss a small rock up onto the tower and the rock stays on the tower you will have good luck. It doesn't appear if as if anyone was using SMALL rocks.

Jiraffita needed to rest.

Before we began ANOTHER climb UP.

And up, the stone steps.

Rumor has it that I'm competitive. Ramos and I were the first ones to the top.

Even with a break to check out the mushrooms.

Another chance for Jiraffita to rest, waiting for the others.

To get to the Observatory.

Almost EXACTLY the trail that we hiked.

And another sit down. She's so brave.

Locks like those at the top of the mountain in Seoul, reminiscent of those at the Pont des Arts in Paris. See my Seoul post at: http://fenlason.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-summit.html

Panorama.

BIG balcony jutting out toward the city.

Toilets for people with really long legs.

Determined to see a temple, we hiked up AGAIN once we got to the base of the cable car. About a mile up a different road, we found this. Sadly, it looked like a picnic area in Baxter State Park.

There was a tiny worship area outside.

And some nice flowers.

And more mushrooms.

And a toilet for people with NOT long legs. Complete with a splashguard!! Yes, this photo is a view of the FLOOR.

And the new temple that we passed at the entry. Looking very much like a Church of Scientology.

And the fountain at the entry that looks as if it's a ride at Disney. By this time, I was OVER IT.

In time to meet some folks for Korean barbecue!

We chose seating that was a little more public than this couple.

And Jiraffita was STARVING.

Korean barbecue (고기구이, gogi-gui, "meat roast") refers to the popular method in Korean cuisine of grilling meat, typically beef, pork, or chicken. Choose ALL of them.

The grilles are typicall built into the table and have moveable exhaust hose that takes away the fumes, but not the cooking aromas!

Load up the meat and gather a LOT of sides: lettuce, kimchee, onions, soy, sesame oil, chili paste and so on.

Now here's the KEY. Find someone who's never had Korean barbecue before and convince them how much FUN it is to cook the meat. They'll be at it all night, because Koreans take their time!