Dobongsan

(Dobongsan -->)

Here is a wee look at Mount Dobong, northeast of Seoul. I hilariously climbed the wrong peak (one favoured by rock climbers), then screwed my timing up and had to descend in the dark, on my own. It was great. At least it was sunny, albeit a chilly -20C! No crazy old ladies on this peak, only a friendly cat! I know most people aren't as excited as I am about mountains, so I'll limit this to captions, some pictures and videos.

(To reach the mountain I had to take an annoyingly huge U-shaped subway journey for an hour and a half. I heard rumours that the airport bus ran to nearby Uijeongbu, but decided the subway would be more reliable, considering I was on a timescale requiring me to be home with a drink in my hand by 6 p.m. Anyway, there are the very dramatic and steep peaks of Dobongsan. This area is the northern section of Bukhansan National Park.)

(As usual, the trail started near a Buddhist temple, but there wasn't really anything noteworthy about this one apart from this picture. It reminded me of playing with the kids at school when I first arrived in Korea looking like a blob.)

(Glancing across from the first trail, these peaks looked ominously steep!)

(Possibly one of the reasons I enjoyed Dobongsan more than Bukhansan, is that for the duration of this hike you are gazing out AT Bukhansan, which is a slightly grander sight. That highest peak in the distance is Baekundae, the peak I previously climbed and posted with all the fog and the chanting granny.)

(Even with the fantastic weather, Dobongsan was much more dangerous than Bukhansan. Actually, it was more of everything. More climbing, more potential falls to my death, more ice, more snow (only the side that didn't get any sun), more beautiful scenery, and generally more exciting and interesting. A good tactic is to let a Korean hiker go ahead of you at the treacherous parts. That way you locate the black ice and loose rocks whenever he falls on his arse. Infinitely useful. That said, I still screwed this part up and near fell off. Twat.)

(A closer look at Bukhansan in the distance.)

(The people of Uijeongbu fled in terror from the gigantic Spam sandwich. Spam is quite popular here, bizarrely. It is actually one of the main ingredients in Budae Jjigae. Apparently this is due to it being one of the staple foods given to the Korean people during the war, and many have remained loyal Spamites ever since. And now, I've decided a Spam sandwich is fucking superb when hiking, regardless of how crap it is.)

(This was taken just below my first destination, Uiam. A group of Korean hikers asked me to take their picture, and then did the same for me. They also gave me an orange. Bonus.)

(Next I decided to take a detour to some peak called Obong. I figured going straight to the main peak wouldn't result in a long enough expedition, so wanted to make things harder. Halfway there, I stupidly tried to jump down off a huge ledge to get a picture of a mid-slope frozen waterfall. Misjudging almost waist deep leaves for the ground, I managed to crash to the ground and almost break my wrist. Well, you live and learn. Leaves are not to be trusted. When I got to the top of Obong I was very thankful for the detour, as it held some of the most captivating views of the whole day. I absorbed it all with my feline friend here, who had followed me for around half an hour! No idea where he lived, even the nearest temple was a good 3 hours down the steep mountainside.)

(Nice easy trail isn't it. After climbing up sections like this all day, I felt like I'd been hit by a bus for the next few days.)

(As I mentioned, one side of the mountain must receive very little sunlight, as it was completely covered in snow. This meant that all the North Face sponsored Koreans overly concerned with my footwear were inexplicably slipping everywhere, while I soldiered on steadily in the trusty Superstars)

(THE hardest thing I've ever climbed up. It was total fingertips and toes stuff, with a massive drop to my back. A Korean guy, who I had informed that this was the only visible route, helped me up, and we both had a laugh to see a big sturdy rope off to one side. Dammit!)

(When I finally got to the highest point, Jaunbong, it was with a mixture of delight and apprehension that I saw how close the sun was to setting. Oops. Perhaps that detour to Obong was ill-judged after all. I've never thought I gave much of a shit about heights, but when I first got up there, the area is so tiny and jagged, and the railing so low, that I actually felt sick and had to sit down! I concentrated on Spam sandwich number two and composed myself. You probably can't tell why my nerves were rattled in the video below, but bear in mind this is a very narrow, steep spire, with no flat area whatsoever to stand on! It was tempting to stay for the complete sunset, but checking my watch, I realised I was going to be screwed badly enough for getting down again before dark.)

(AND YES I REGRET SPEAKING INTO THE CAMERA. NEVER AGAIN!)

(The sun hitting all the huge granite outcrops made things feel very alien, like a Mars landscape or something)

(About one hour into the journey back down, the sun had disappeared completely. I hadn't seen another person for about two hours, and wouldn't see any more for the rest of this adventure back to the park gate. It got dark fast!)

(This was fleetingly tempting. 0.2 Km to the Mountain Relief Squad and potentially a lift home for free. Or 2.7 Km further in the pitch black forest with potentially rickety knees, followed by a journey home of almost 2 hours. I should add, the plan was to be home and drinking by 6 p.m, and this bloody picture was taken at 6.30pm. Aaaargh!)

(AH! Finally got a taxi home from Uijeongbu, which cost about 30x what the subway would have, but my wrecked body craved alcohol. Me, Lynne, Denis, Aneta, and Dr. Oh (not to be confused with the James Bond villain) went out for numerous beers and squid nibbles. After discussing some Korean swearing, Dr. Oh found it hilarious to keep saying "Cheot'ga" to Denis. This means something like "I circumcise your dick", and is considered EXTREMELY offensive by Koreans. Dr. Oh is hilarious in general actually, and a very nice guy. As you can see from this fairly camp picture, he appears to enjoy Denis twisting his arm more than any man should.)

(After a while, Lynne, Aneta, and the Doc, retired from the proceedings, and we were joined by Denis' friends June and Hong Gu. Hong Gu, the guy on the right, was at one point 2nd best Muay Thai fighter for his age in Korea, but after retiring from fighting to look after his family, now trains other folk, including Denis and June. Despite my aches and pains, this turned into a ridiculous drunken epic, and I managed to get home at 10 a.m. then fall asleep on the toilet until noon. Result.)

On a similar note, I just returned from Wonju and Chiaksan, which makes Bukhan and Dobong look like practice runs, which was always partly my intention anyway. Chiaksan is 60 metres shy of Ben Nevis, almost double the size of Dobongsan. It was magic. And had around a foot of snow all over it. Anyway, not to overdo my new found hobby, I'll be blogging some drunken nights out before I get around to that bollocks. Hope everyone is well. I should probably blog the current events that have lead to us never getting paid and threatened with eviction, due to the boss never having paid our rent like he should. It's a pretty interesting little nightmare! Til next time....