Hiking Chilbo Mountain

Today is my first Saturday in Korea. I've decided to venture to Seoul some other time as it is rather rainy and overcast, though this will by no means prevent me from venturing out into the fascinating countryside. I'll have my revenge transit system! My neighborhood is close to Chilbo Mountain and Ms. Huh told me that it's possible to walk there. Mmmm....it looks kinda far but whatever, not like I have anything better to do. So after some eggs and spam I threw together a pack with an extra sweater, some granola bars, and water. Then donning my trusty jacket and IPod I walked out into the cold, grey morning. I didn't have directions to the mountain, but that's half the fun really. I just got on a main road, kept the target in my sights, and pressed forward. The first stage of the walk was through agricultural land and I took this cool picture of a tractor.
Yeah I know it's nothing special but I think it looks nice. And it's my blog so deal with it. So after walking through these fields you eventually get to this small little stretch of town. It's only like another mile walk before you're back out in the fields again but the little borough was interesting in that it seemed to blend the opposing qualities of quaint and fast paced. You can try to imagine the urban aspects of Suwon as paint splattered on a canvas of agricultural land. Most of the urban area is concentrated in the middle but there are specks and blotches of city life away from the primary mass, separated by fields and farmland. I hope that helps you understand but if you can think of a better metaphor e-mail me and I'll revise this.


The walk continued past abundant acres of cultivation and when the entirety of the mountain was in view I manged to take this cool panorama shot. It looks better if you click to enlarge.
Nearing the base of the mountain things began to get a little confusing, as the area was populated with small businesses and homes and I didn't want to trespass through anyone's property in order to get up the mountain. I spent some time walking up and down the wrong roads trying to figure out where to go. The area was interesting in that it seemed to have been an older village at one time, but when new businesses and homes were built they didn't bother to tear down any of the condemned dwellings. Here and there you would see these wood and dirt constructed shacks, crumbling under their own weight and in disarray.


I spent a good half hour trying to find an entrance or access road to the mountain but was without luck. Again, another instance when it would have helped a great deal to have been able to read. Eventually I came upon a map positioned on a corner where I saw that damned Bus 13 coming to a stop. I was able to determine that I was near access point B by it's relative closeness to some apartment high rises within view a couple hundred yards away. I then conceived a system for navigating up the mountain. Though I could not read I could recognize symbols so I decided to pick one symbol that looked promising and every time I saw it I would take a picture with my camera. This would help so I wouldn't get lost. I picked the symbol right above points B and C on the map. In my head I remembered it as, "Two Circles on Top of Each Other, Guy With a Hat, and Atari Logo." Following a road I came to a fork with a sign and sure enough there was the symbols pointing to the right.
Success! I kept following the rural trail and was eventually greeted by yet another sign directing me again to follow the road to the right.
Moving along the road I noticed that it had begun to incline and the foliage was noticeably more dense. I was sure that I had found an access road to Mt. Chilbo and my suspicions were confirmed when I came upon this beautiful temple.
It was really quite astounding and I wished that I understood it's significance. There are so many things that I am ignorant about here. As people left the temple I noticed that they turned and bowed to the entrance before going on their way. There was also this giant metal bell with intricate artwork that was really quite impressive. There were various people praying at shrines but I choose not to approach them as I am ignorant to their customs and did not want to offend anyone. As I was climbing the steps to the mountain path I happened to see the symbols I had followed and if I had to guess, I would assume that they are the name of the particular temple.
I choose the most secluded path up the mountain and did not encounter another person the entire way. It was really quite peaceful. I would have to say that the foliage is not very different from that of Pennsylvania and for a few moments I could actually imagine that I was hiking a section Worlds End State Park. There were these beautiful purple flowers growing along the trail that I had to get a picture of.

Nearing the top, the tree cover broke and standing on a rocky outcrop I could see all of Suwon down in the valley, as far out as the next set of mountain ranges which must be miles away. Though it was cloudy and humid the view was spectacular and humbling. I stood there for several moments in awe, thinking about how small I am on this world, how magnificent an opportunity it was to come here, and other profound sentiments.

Approaching the summit, the dirt trail gave out and I was forced to shuffle over a smooth and arguably precarious rock face. I reached the top with a huge smile on my face and a feeling of satisfaction. Perched on the summit was a wooden pagoda and I sat and took out some water. As I pealed an orange I thought about Rachael and wished that she was here to see this. If she comes to visit I'll drag her up here to take in the scenery. On the summit it's possible to see the country for miles in every possible direction. To the north there is a radio tower but you can't get close to it because it's fenced off and guarded by the military. There are foxholes all around the perimeter as if awaiting an eventual attack. It must be important.

Hiking the ridge there are cool little work out spots and places to just meditate. I met a lot of people both coming to and hiking the mountain and I had time to practice my foreigner greeting. I found that if you try to say hello to anyone other than kids in English they usually just give you a dirty look or ignore you. However, if you keep your foreigner mouth shut and politely bow you more often than not receive a bow in return and a polite smile, sometimes even an approving word or two.

Hiking down was just as fun as hiking up and I found a natural mineral spring where I couldn't help filling up my water bottle. It was so crisp and delicious. I took a different trail to get down the mountain and at the base I passed some very expensive looking houses, even by American standards. They were completely walled in compounds and appeared to be self-sustaining. Most had solar panels on the roofs and a few also had wind turbines. Additionally, they all had tanks that appeared to collect rainwater from the roofs.

So that's my adventure. As I sit in the library typing this today I was approached by many interesting people. One gentleman introduced himself as Charlie and his English is pretty good. he said that he's an English teacher at a local high school and we agreed to have dinner together tomorrow. I've come to expect thus far that it is the youth who primarily speak English around here so I was surprised when a man who appeared to be ninety years old came up to me and said with an almost perfect English accent, "Hello, I am Dae Quen Lee. I live in Suwon and I am at your service." I was just as flattered as I was astounded.

Well that's loyal readers. Going to be busy with school over the next couple of days so give some time for another update.