Chuseok Vacation

Justin and I both had a 6 day vacation for the Korean holiday Chuseok. Chuseok is a major 3 day holiday to celebrate good harvest. We were planning on taking a trip to Bejiing for the holiday but it turns out EVERYONE travels during Chuseok. We waited too long to book our tickets and by the time we started processing our Chinese visas, tickets were rocket high! But it was bitter sweet because we ended up going to Seoul for a few days and then went on an "Adventure Korea" trip and we had an amazing time.

Justin received a Chuseok gift from the students parents at his school (a gift set of tuna and canola oil). Spam and tuna are common Chuseok gifts.

We flew to Seoul Wednesday morning. There was not a lot going on being a National Holiday and all. But we were able to go to the International Design Fair at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul. Then we ended our night with a delicious meal at "On the Border" Mexican grill. I drag Justin there every chance I get! :)

Thursday we took a bus, the wrong bus thanks to the Lonely Planet. Well, I guess not really the wrong bus just the bus that takes much longer to get there. We have now found a few mistakes in the Lonely Planet Korea book! Anyways, we went to Heyri, a charming village of small-scale contemporary buildings less than 10km south of the DMZ. On the bus ride there we saw Korean guards armed guarding the river. It was very interesting arriving in this small upscale village with armed Korean guards not to far away. Strange place! Also, it was interesting looking over the river into North Korea. They have clear cut the mountains to be able to spot invaders more easily!

Tasty brownie from the Chocolate Design Gallery!

One of the main attractions in Heyri is the cartoon character Dalki. They have devoted a whole section of the village to her and children. Above is the restroom sign for the children! Think they will get the point!

Friday morning we got up bright and early to meet our tour group. We booked a trip to Seoraksan Mountain with a tour company "Adventure Korea". The first day you could either go on a 4 hour hike or a shorter hike and take the cable car . We opted for the shorter hike/cable car since we decided to do the 11 hour hike on Saturday, we wanted to save ourselves.

We hiked to Biryong fall. We were unable to take the cable car due to poor planning.

We stayed in Osaek Valley. The hotel had a hot spring in the basement that we never did end up getting in. For dinner both nights we had wild boar. It was actually quite delicious!

Friday night we had a meeting with the tour guides. They were warning everyone about Saturdays hike. The actually had me so scared and worked up I almost decided not to go. They were checking everyones shoes and really emphasizing that only experienced hikers should attempt the hike. After some deliberation we decided to give it a go. Saturday morning we got up bright and early! We made a few PBJ's (and for some ham..eww) for breakfast and lunch and off we went. We literally got of the bus and headed for a massive stair case and for the next 5 hours we headed straight up hill. There is no such thing as zig-zagging up the mountain in Korea, it is just straight up! We hiked up the Hangyeryeong Pass that offered a spectacular view of the south Seorak area.

It was a bit foggy in the morning but cleared up towards the afternoon! Made for some neat photos.

After about 4 1/2 hours we could finally see our destination!

Resting at the top!

Heading back down for the next 6 hours! I must say the whole way up I was like I can't wait to be going down, but downhill was much harder and by the end my legs were shaking like jell-o.

These girls were awesome! We really got to know each other after 11 hours. We started playing 20 questions to pass the time. It was a lot of fun!

Serious Korean hiker coming through!

Getting close to the bottom. When we were about 2/3 of the way the guide says "we only have 1/3 to go" and Eby says "Are you joking?" thinking we were much closer and he says "Yes, I am joking" with a huge smile on his face. Turns out he was not joking we still had 1/3 to go! The hike ended up taking much longer because one of the guys on the trip knee was really bothering him and we were all trying to stick together. The guide even tried to call 911 to get him a helicopter but it turns out the helicopter could not land. We ended up getting down just as it was getting too dark to see. I was so happy to see the bus. Let's just say for the next week I could hardly walk or get up and down the stairs but it was well worth it!