Sunday Hike in Port-au-Prince

an old friend and i got out to stretch our bones and breathe in some fresh air today in Furcy.. right up the hill above Petionville... just past Kenscoff. aaaaah!   i should do this more often!

lunar new year

hooray for long weekends! yeehaw. i had no yoga on sunday. it was the lunar new year & st. valentine's day (hey, it involves chocolate & love, so i'm not knockin' it) in one fantastic weekend.


one of my favorite gals, trisha, and i took this oppor-tunity to bust outta the city and venture somewhere / anywhere new. we scoped some couchsurfing profiles in search of the quirky /cool/fun ones on the peninsula. sent out a few requests, got a few responses & went w/ a fella named will, from montana, who now lives near the coast way down south.

we arrived via bus, well prepared for a good time(instruments in tow) & bearing gifts: valentine chocolates (re-gifts from our students), a handcrafted card, oatmeal raisin cookies (which turned out to be the best cookies i've ever made), spicy veggie chili (a la trisha), 5 bottles of wine, some soju, two tubs of homemade hummus and some sugar & cinnamon for morning french toast.

saturday morning, will & his friend, wes, led us on a hike in jirisan national park. trisha & i had both hiked jirisan before, but not this part, and not in the dead of winter. we couldn't have asked for a better day. the sun was oh so kind, and the whole landscape was covered in the most perfect layer of sparkly snow.

the forest was quiet, aside from the faint crunching underfoot & the tinkle of crystalline leaves as we brushed by.
we pushed our way through snowy bamboo thickets, making the first tracks in the glittering crust of snow. crispy, red leaves cradled snowflakes in their curls and every brittle twig was dipped in pure, yet tasteless, rock sugar. a waterfall was still gushing with life while all else was frozen. and the view of the snowy ridges from our peak was pretty darn amazing.












after slipping and sliding in our cold feet part of the way down, trisha and i couldn't resist the urge to become mountain cats (she was an ocelot...i, a lynx) and we bounded down through the fresh powder in no time, leaving our hosts a ways behind. near the bottom, we came upon some manicured and seemingly sacred grounds dotted w/ primitive cave-like dwellings ... like the shire in hobbiton, or something. i suppose the place is usually alive w/ cultural ceremonies and what not for tourists on any other weekend, but this was a special holiday. the lunar new year. everyone was keeping warm indoors, somewhere, celebrating in tradition with their families.



so the guys caught up w/ us as the sun was starting to set. it was growing colder and we needed to find a place to sleep for the night. but everything appeared to be closed. we finally came to a small, traditional-style home w/ a light on so we knocked on the door. a small woman slid the door open and then a baby (with the most brilliant and genuine smile in the world) appeared in the door frame. we communicated in our minimal korean that we were looking for a place to stay and the woman briefly consulted a sweet-looking elderly lady before inviting us inside. they asked if we were hungry, which we were indeed, and they made us a big meal, which was served w/ pride by the grandma herself. the family was all together and it was obvious that we were imposing a bit on their holiday, but they were so gracious and friendly. we passed some time with the family, exchanging many smiles and head-bows, before we retired to the room that they had arranged for us.


that night felt like a high-school sleepover. the room was freezing and we had only few blankets, so we huddled together on the floor, sipping wine and eating cookies as we giggled over hours of silly stories before finally falling to sleep.


in the morning, after being served a complete breakfast including kimchi AND dongdongju (milky rice wine), we hitched our way to the bus stop back to will's place. we were all dirty & exhausted so, after showering, we decided to watch goodwill hunting while eating chili and hummus..oh, and lots of wine. later, we migrated to a neighborhood friend's place where we continued to drink and watch 80s music videos. i couldn't have asked for more out of a long winter weekend. smiles a-gogo. :) :) :)

walking in a winter wonderland

...well, not quite. but it snowed! =)

i told myself after the last hike in the bitter cold that i was done for the winter. i just can't hack the wind chill factor, or would rather choose not to. BUT, my friend and hiking trip organizer, warren g, put together a trip way down south to wolchusan national park. i checked out the photos and saw an amazing suspension bridge that stretched between two peaks, and the rock formations in the park also looked pretty sweet. i signed up immediately. and glad that i did.



it was another hike that began on zero sleep at 5:00 in the morning, right after a long and uncomfortable bus ride. that's one way to wake up. brrrrrrrrrr! we charged for the peak to catch the sunrise, crossing the suspension bridge along the way. the sun was starting to rise before we reached the highest peak, so we climbed up on top of a big steeple-like rock to enjoy. as soon as i pulled myself up onto the rock, snow flurries started to swirl up toward my face. the sun was rising through the thick fog behind the peaks in the distance, creating a heavenly glow all around, while the snowflakes danced across the landscape. i can't imagine a better way to experience the first snow of winter, and the first snow i've seen in years.



the remainder of the hike was a bit extreme, regarding weather. winding around and up and down the rocky terrain, we battled ferocious winds, sporadic white-outs and even miniature hail. at times we frolicked and times we just trudged on. but for the last stretch, through pampas grass and pines and back down among the streams, we galloped like antelope until we reached the grand temple at the end. a great time. and for once i was able to sleep on the bus on the way back. hello winter!

Hiking Jirisan

i went on another hiking trip outside of seoul last weekend. it's almost too cold for the likes of me, so i figured i might as well do at least one more good mountain before it's unbearable. jirisan happens to be one of the three most notable mountains in korea (the others being seoraksan, done that, and hallasan, which is on jeju island).
we left seoul before midnight and made it in time to start hiking in the dark, just before 5am. we caught a nice sunrise en route to the peak, and then it was a long, knee-jarring descent, but we made it back in time for a late lunch. unfortunately, the fall colors were past their prime, but it was a great hike w/ a sweet group of folks. we were pretty beat by the end, but a little soju and makgeoli took care of that. ;)


before heading back to seoul, we made a little cultural detour for some traditional music, and we also got to make our own jjango drums! we probably looked pretty ridiculous when we got back, though... about 40 foreigners w/ little toy drums walking the streets of seoul at night. haha. bap, bap!

corn makgeoli? what more could a cultured ohio girl want?

last weekend: another bus trip to the korean countryside. mindungsan in october. picture steep mountains covered w/ waves of dancing reeds, clouded in the morning fog. magical, mystical, and miserably cold. the other side of the mountain was shrouded in pines and colorful deciduous trees. oh so fresh & invigorating. i love the feeling of having moved through nature's calm for 6+ hours before lunchtime.
which reminds me ... lunchtime was, perhaps, the most satisfying bibimbap that i've ever had. oodles of bottomless side dishes, as usual, including fresh grilled tofu & veggies galore. it was here that the makgeoli (milky rice wine) started to flow & did not cease for the remainder of the trip.
after lunch, we scattered out in the old town of jeongseon. i fell in love with this place, set in a peaceful valley, gorgeous mountains all around, shining in their gold coat of dried reeds. we spent hours wandering through the lively open-air market & sharing food, drinks and dance moves with the locals in the market square. this town is known for their performance of arirang, which is one of the most popular korean folk songs. we caught a performance just as we arrived, and it was nothing less than a celebration. i've never seen so many smile wrinkles & i probably developed some of my own just from the few hours i was there. we danced and danced, and we drew quite a crowd. people kept bringing us bottle after bottle of the local corn makgeoli and trays of food, which would have been just plain rude to refuse. so, we indulged the crowd as we indulged ourselves. what fun! ....and the bus eventually dragged us back to seoul.

Trip to Andong

this past weekend, i went on a sweet trip down south to a town called Andong. it's always so nice to escape the hazy concrete jungle for a spell in exchange for miles and miles of green, the fresh scent of pine forests, a STARRY sky (it was gorgeous), glowing rice fields,clusters of tiny traditional houses & smiling people. while in the area, we broke through the clouds and hiked for about 5 hours in the lovely juwangsan national park,
visited a temple, toured the hahoe folk village, crossed a river by gondola (kinda),sampled the local brew (fruity makgeoli), ate the traditional food and watched an awesome mask dance performance. it was a lot to pack into one day, but everything worked out flawlessly according to schedule. *beware of the phallic totems. =P

hiking from dusk til dawn

in august, i went on a few cool hikes up and around the sprawling metropolis that is seoul.

midnight hike (overnight): gwanaksannight hikes: umyeunsan & naksan.

a sunset hike: achasan, where you'll find the largest hula hoop ever :)and a day hike up suraksan in bukhansan national park (where you can dine w/ your feet in the cool stream, and we did).

these mountain vistas are pretty darn gorgeous...and conveniently accessible by subway. oh, what a world we live in. :D