"All Up In" the Clouds

Okay, so Me and Weez are hooked on hiking around Korea, now that the weather is warmer. We headed out saturday morning with only a little info on our destination: Geumsansa. We took a bus from Kunsan to Kimje. From Kimje, we found out we needed the #5 bus to Geumsansa. Once there, we walked up toward the Park Gates and bought our tickets.

They must be proud of it covered in snow.

Blossom's surround this cool building.

Mireukjeon, National Treasure No. 62. Built in the year 766, it houses three huge statues; Maitreya Buddha, Pophwarim Boddhisattva and Taemyosang Boddhisattva. It was destroyed during the 2nd Hideyoshi invasions and restored in 1635. From the outside it looks like a 3 story structure, but inside it's an open, unpartitioned space. The 3 statues inside almost reach the roof. Check out the woman at the front to understand how freakin huge this hall is!

Weez reads about Chokmyol Pogung.

Cool fountain

The Plan: Since this was drawn, a few more antenna's are on the top of the mountain, called Moaksan.

Here's a shot of where we are headed from near the park's entrance. I threw an arrow in to point to our destination.

I'm finally getting the hang of waterfall pictures. Weez waits up on the trail for me.

A lot closer to the top, but still quite a ways to go...

Just below the main antenna at the top. We were "all up in" the clouds.

Me and Weez at the top. The clouds were very low this day; we were only at 794 meters (2600 feet). We missed a lot of scenery because of the clouds. According to 100 Noted Mountains in Korea, "it's called Moaksan (Mt.) because there is a big rock which looks like a figure of a mother having a baby in her arms on the peak of Moaksan (Mt.)."
The next mountain me and Weez plan on hitting is Jirisan Mt. Its 2.5 times taller than this one, the tallest mountain on the Korean Peninsula.

Looking down

Mt. Mushroom

The sides, going clockwise from the lettuce:
1. Zucchini and mushrooms in vinegar.
2. What we thought was potato salad turned out to be hardboiled eggs and banana salad, honestly. A little on the sweet side.
3. Steamed octopus with cucumbers, carrots and onions in vinegar.
4. Steamed spinach and shiso leaves.
5. Big-ass kidney beans.
Dead Center: fresh garlic cloves and bean paste; Giddyup!


Weez likes the grub.

The restaurant pet, we called him Uncle Jesse.

The trees in bloom

More trees in bloom

Two weekends in a row, it was raining when we left Kunsan, but the weather turned out excellent and the trip kicked ass!
Photos By Tokyo Slim