Juwangsan National Park

 After our adventure of getting lost, we pushed on to Gyeong-ju, where we rented a car with the help of a translator app.  We listened to a lot of Fellowship of the Ring in the car as we sought out Mountains.  Wilson had wanted to see Juwangsan National Park and boy was it special.  We saw pictures online of the place teeming with tourists but the walk was almost devoid of anyone.  I panicked a little with the heights but we made it through with a little help from a Wilson photobomb.

Korea- Travel and Getting Lost

 We booked it back to Seoul after our adventure in Danyang.  For some reason renting a car on a trip where we returned it at the original location wasn't bad, but taking it one way was hundreds of dollars.  We decided we had to try the KTX high speed rail to Busan.  Some Americans may know the great movie Train to Busan.  Wilson had a park he wanted to see so we had planned to get off in a little podunk town.  Unfortunately for us, Korean towns have a little two to three letters at the end of a city name.  We wanted to head to Gyeong-Ju.  We accidently bought a ticket for Gyeong-San.  This was the equivalent of going trying to make it to Charlottesville and ending up in Waynesboro; aiming for a city full of historical sites and ending up in a working class neighborhood with no hotels.  Since we had been on the last train, the station manager was sweet and let us sleep in the station.  Wilson made a fort with chairs to stay off the cold floor and I used children's books as a sleeping mat.  We eventually made it to our destination, which, its fair to say, didn't have many tourists since we were often the only people anywhere. 

From Movie Train to Busan, total badass Ma Dong-seok

Wilson and I locked in the train station,
see the clock above the door

Our sleeping location, Wilson used that chair and the string
of books was my sleeping spot

Our usual experience when finding a place to eat

Korea- Dodamsambong Peaks

 Danyang continued to impress, we saw the famous Dodamsambong Peaks which rise from the river.  Its supposed to be a man with his concubine and wife although neither Wilson or I saw it.  The peaks around there are beautiful and our photos didn't really do it justice.  Also, the symbols on the bathrooms were really quite different than anywhere else we saw

Korea- First Hikes

Our adventure started with troubling news.  The park we had planned to visit, Seoraksan, had experienced the worst forest fire in South Korean history the day before we expected to head out.  Our plans quickly shifted to the lesser known Chiaksan.  We headed out to see this amazing Park Ranger logo before heading up to a rather small waterfall.  Spring was just springing, but this far North the forest was still relatively dormant.  Prior to this climb, Wilson and I ate at the first place we encountered with no English menu or English speakers, we managed to say "2 of something good" in Korean and the dish that was brought was one of the best dishes we had the whole trip.  I'm sorry to say I have no idea what we ate...just know that Koreans can cook!

Korea-This time, the North

A train destroyed during the Korean War that sat in the DMZ
for almost 50 years.

Many Americans forget how brutal the division between North and South Korea currently is on the minds of the people of Korea.  We visited the DMZ which contains many items were were not allowed to photograph.  It's a stark reminder at how militarized and how brutal the conflict still is today.  We forget so often how much hardship the people of South Korea underwent even under the supposed democracy of the country.  Many South Koreans blame the United States, as there was a treaty in place to leave American troops and equipment in the country, which was pulled out.  The American pull out led to the North believing they could conquer the country (which they almost achieved).  The suffering of the civilian population combined with the American puppet government, still causes much sorrow in the collective memory.  It's important to remember the cost to civilians during American intervention. 

The famous tallest flagpole in the world.  I would not want
to change that flag.

The closest guard station to the South Korean Border.  It later
turned out to be the entrance to the 3rd infiltration tunnel.

Notice how few trees are on the mountaintops.  Intelligence
believes each mountain is hollow and filled with artillery
and other military units.  

Korea Part 1!- Seoul

Looking out over 1/10th of the city of Seoul, its a big city

My buddy Wilson and I had a million airline miles to use.  We decided to go off the usual travel road and see beautiful Korea (South).  We started our journey in Seoul which is wayyyy bigger than you think.  It's filled with just about every single thing you could possibly want.  Here's just a sampler of photos from the area.  Wilson took the majority and my phone would run out of battery fast!  Of the oddest adventures was we decided to take a nature trail.  Halfway along the nature trail, the military reviewed our passports and then we had 2 hours to finish a pretty grueling hike.  We had no idea why until we realized the prime ministers house is just below this hillside park and had been the site of an attack in the 1960s by North Korean commandos.  It was quite an incredible scene.

My year of the Zodiac, the boar and I.  Representing clan Nightingale in Korea

Maybe 1/10th of Seoul

You end up walking a lot, sometimes you get tired.