Tell It Once: Dobongsan

Koreans LOVE to hike. My co-teacher pretty much goes hiking every weekend. All the ahjummas and ahjusshis are always decked out in their hiking gear on the subways, streets, restaurants, you name it. Since living in Korea, I've always wanted to try hiking, but I was always a little nervous. Also, I didn't always have time and the weather wasn't really on our side until recently. Since Michelle is here visiting with Sabrina, we thought what better time to go hiking. I could show them a little bit of Korean culture and check an item of the list.

Dobongsan is about an hour subway ride from my house. It's right where line 1 and 7 connect. Nick's been there before and told us that the trail is pretty difficult but we could do it in about 3 hours. It took us 5 =P! Some of us are just out of shape, others didn't wear proper shoes, whatever the reason was, it took us longer than expected. However, it was probably the most rewarding thing ever! The view was awesome! There was one part where Nick took us on a "detour" trail where we were pretty much perpendicular to the ground. We didn't have harnesses or anything, we just had to climb down the mountain by holding onto these fence/rope things provided. I actually didn't think it was as scary as I thought it would be. I was just too busy concentrating on not letting go and figuring out what my next move was to really think about being scared. It was so cool! Pictures can't even do it justice. If you ever go to Korea, make sure to go on a hike, maybe start with an easier mountain. I hear Gwanaksan is nice, not too hard and definitely not as far away.

Enjoy our pictures! You really have to be there to get the full experience. (PS None of these pictures are taken by me =P)