A Swingin' Place Called Palyongsan Park - October 20, 2018
“C’mon, Elaine. It will be fun, Elaine!” said Laur and I to our somewhat skeptical daughter.
We were in Changwon, South Korea, visiting daughter Elaine and her sweetheart Alex. And Laur and I got this grand idea. We would introduce Elaine to some gentle hiking, and she’d get hooked.
Elaine wasn’t so sure of this. She knows us well enough to know that there is what we plan and then there is what happens. And they are often not even remotely similar.
Ah well. We met up on a sunny Saturday morning in Changwon and we went for a juk lunch. Juk is comfort food – it’s rice porridge with whatever filling you’d like. It could be meat or vegetables or sweets. These days S. Koreans tend to only eat it when they are not feeling well or think they might not be feeling well. Perhaps there was a hint to be caught here already.
Next, off to the bus stop to catch what can only be described as a speeding bullet. The bus drivers in S. Korea see busing as a mix of an extreme sort of sport and a video game. When they stop at your stop, if you are not standing up, they whiz by you. When you get on the bus, you immediately tap your T-Card and the split second the beep is heard, the driver takes off. You may or may not be near a seat. No worries – at least not for the driver. These buses go as fast or faster than the average car and they don’t stop or slow down for anything – methinks for fear of losing points.
Elaine, Alex, Laur and I got off near our destination – Palyongsan (Eight Dragon Mountain) Park. And in we started – a little later than we planned. Not a great thing since the sun starts setting early at this time of the year. But heck, it was going to be a short enough walk over fairly flat ground. Laur and I provided everyone with a water bottle and a hiking stick. Gotta look the part! S. Koreans take their hiking seriously.
The first step was to apply insecticide to our shoes and legs. No kidding. There was a pump-and-spray station and an older Korean man was insistent that we apply this. In Canada, we worry about deer ticks. I don’t think there is a deer left in S. Korea – Koreans love their meat – so I’m not sure what kind of tick we were fending off, but when in Masanhappo-gu do as the Masanhappo-gus do.
The first part of the hike was easy. We walked around a pond and looked intently for koi fish. This was because another gentleman hiker was insistent that we see the koi and we didn’t want to cause an international incident. And then we started climbing…and climbing…and climbing some more.
We assured Elaine that when she got tired, all she had to do was say so, and we would immediately take one of the many paths that sprouted off from the main path that would lead us back to the entrance. After more climbing than Laur and I had ever anticipated, Elaine read us the riot act. No worries! We’d head back down.
Only one problem – we were now so far along the path that it was shorter to complete the trail than it would have been to backtrack.
OK, there was this second problem. There were a few mountain peaks to go. In S. Korea, whenever you see ropes or stairs, you know you are in for a long, vertical haul. S. Koreans don’t do switchbacks. Poor Elaine. Fortunately she found a chocolate bar in her purse before our last big push. As she was hauling herself up, legs trembling and eyes almost tearing up, she said, ““Do people really enjoy doing this?” What she really meant – I know cuz I’m her mom – was “Is it just masochists who say they are hikers who enjoy doing this?”
(Alex, on the other hand, being a Whitefish boy who is used to scrambling around in the bush, felt completely at home.)
Still, even Elaine loved the view from the top. We could see the three cities that coprise the greater city of Changwon: Changwon proper, Jinhae, and Masan (Masanhappo-gu), with the harbour. Oh those wide open spaces, all the greenery with the leaves starting to change, and the blue, blue sky – which was actually starting to darken. Hmm.
And now the trip down. We could only see one trail and it wasn’t a trail – it was a downward drop with rope attached to poles and the occasional set of stairs. This couldn’t be right. A lovely Korean lad heard us murmuring and – thankfully – he spoke English. He assured us that in fact this was the way down – the only way down other than backtracking. And he offered to accompany us. He said he wanted to practice his English but we expect he was genuinely concerned for this doe-eyed group of foreigners. The sun would soon be setting.
We all made it down. It was not easy. What we thought was a beginner’s hike was actually an intermediate hike. Finally, we arrived at the end of the park and our friend strongly encouraged us to use this machine for blowing dust off your shoes. Koreans have this thing about “yellow dust” but what the heck is it?
According to Professor Wikipedia, “The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia, northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles.” Apparently, it’s none too healthy for the throat and lungs, though I kinda think that jet blasting it off your shoes might stir it up more than settle it down. Ah well, respect SK culture!
We thanked our lad for seeing us safely to our bus stop and then we were jetted back to Changwon where we sprawled out at our hotel for some time before going out for supper.
I don’t think we helped instill in Elaine a love of hiking. Actually, we did just the opposite. Still, this hike was a good warm up for our first “Yikes Hike” which Laur described like so:
From Chang-Bong Church to the Shooting Range, via Mt. Jeong Byeong (Jeongbyeongsan). 9.5 km, 6.5 hours. Mt. Jeong Byeong is 566 metres high, or 1857 ft.
Now that doesn’t sound too bad to somewhat experienced hikers like us. What we hadn’t predicted was that there would be a lot of going up and down (and up and down) and three mountain peaks to hit – cuz ya just can’t do two when a third one is beckoning you.
And we could not have anticipated that the trip from the top of the third peak to the bottom would be practically vertical. Steep stairs. And where there were no stairs – a rope to cling to, suspended on steel poles.
And, yes, we loved every second of it – but we did take a bus home from the bottom of the third mountain – and walking from our bus stop to our motel we speculated that this is likely how Elaine felt at the end of our Sunday hike. I’m not into “karma” – but hubris and ignorance can sure kick your behind!
We were in Changwon, South Korea, visiting daughter Elaine and her sweetheart Alex. And Laur and I got this grand idea. We would introduce Elaine to some gentle hiking, and she’d get hooked.
Elaine wasn’t so sure of this. She knows us well enough to know that there is what we plan and then there is what happens. And they are often not even remotely similar.
Ah well. We met up on a sunny Saturday morning in Changwon and we went for a juk lunch. Juk is comfort food – it’s rice porridge with whatever filling you’d like. It could be meat or vegetables or sweets. These days S. Koreans tend to only eat it when they are not feeling well or think they might not be feeling well. Perhaps there was a hint to be caught here already.
Next, off to the bus stop to catch what can only be described as a speeding bullet. The bus drivers in S. Korea see busing as a mix of an extreme sort of sport and a video game. When they stop at your stop, if you are not standing up, they whiz by you. When you get on the bus, you immediately tap your T-Card and the split second the beep is heard, the driver takes off. You may or may not be near a seat. No worries – at least not for the driver. These buses go as fast or faster than the average car and they don’t stop or slow down for anything – methinks for fear of losing points.
Elaine, Alex, Laur and I got off near our destination – Palyongsan (Eight Dragon Mountain) Park. And in we started – a little later than we planned. Not a great thing since the sun starts setting early at this time of the year. But heck, it was going to be a short enough walk over fairly flat ground. Laur and I provided everyone with a water bottle and a hiking stick. Gotta look the part! S. Koreans take their hiking seriously.
The first step was to apply insecticide to our shoes and legs. No kidding. There was a pump-and-spray station and an older Korean man was insistent that we apply this. In Canada, we worry about deer ticks. I don’t think there is a deer left in S. Korea – Koreans love their meat – so I’m not sure what kind of tick we were fending off, but when in Masanhappo-gu do as the Masanhappo-gus do.
The first part of the hike was easy. We walked around a pond and looked intently for koi fish. This was because another gentleman hiker was insistent that we see the koi and we didn’t want to cause an international incident. And then we started climbing…and climbing…and climbing some more.
We assured Elaine that when she got tired, all she had to do was say so, and we would immediately take one of the many paths that sprouted off from the main path that would lead us back to the entrance. After more climbing than Laur and I had ever anticipated, Elaine read us the riot act. No worries! We’d head back down.
Only one problem – we were now so far along the path that it was shorter to complete the trail than it would have been to backtrack.
OK, there was this second problem. There were a few mountain peaks to go. In S. Korea, whenever you see ropes or stairs, you know you are in for a long, vertical haul. S. Koreans don’t do switchbacks. Poor Elaine. Fortunately she found a chocolate bar in her purse before our last big push. As she was hauling herself up, legs trembling and eyes almost tearing up, she said, ““Do people really enjoy doing this?” What she really meant – I know cuz I’m her mom – was “Is it just masochists who say they are hikers who enjoy doing this?”
(Alex, on the other hand, being a Whitefish boy who is used to scrambling around in the bush, felt completely at home.)
Still, even Elaine loved the view from the top. We could see the three cities that coprise the greater city of Changwon: Changwon proper, Jinhae, and Masan (Masanhappo-gu), with the harbour. Oh those wide open spaces, all the greenery with the leaves starting to change, and the blue, blue sky – which was actually starting to darken. Hmm.
And now the trip down. We could only see one trail and it wasn’t a trail – it was a downward drop with rope attached to poles and the occasional set of stairs. This couldn’t be right. A lovely Korean lad heard us murmuring and – thankfully – he spoke English. He assured us that in fact this was the way down – the only way down other than backtracking. And he offered to accompany us. He said he wanted to practice his English but we expect he was genuinely concerned for this doe-eyed group of foreigners. The sun would soon be setting.
We all made it down. It was not easy. What we thought was a beginner’s hike was actually an intermediate hike. Finally, we arrived at the end of the park and our friend strongly encouraged us to use this machine for blowing dust off your shoes. Koreans have this thing about “yellow dust” but what the heck is it?
According to Professor Wikipedia, “The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia, northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles.” Apparently, it’s none too healthy for the throat and lungs, though I kinda think that jet blasting it off your shoes might stir it up more than settle it down. Ah well, respect SK culture!
We thanked our lad for seeing us safely to our bus stop and then we were jetted back to Changwon where we sprawled out at our hotel for some time before going out for supper.
I don’t think we helped instill in Elaine a love of hiking. Actually, we did just the opposite. Still, this hike was a good warm up for our first “Yikes Hike” which Laur described like so:
From Chang-Bong Church to the Shooting Range, via Mt. Jeong Byeong (Jeongbyeongsan). 9.5 km, 6.5 hours. Mt. Jeong Byeong is 566 metres high, or 1857 ft.
Now that doesn’t sound too bad to somewhat experienced hikers like us. What we hadn’t predicted was that there would be a lot of going up and down (and up and down) and three mountain peaks to hit – cuz ya just can’t do two when a third one is beckoning you.
And we could not have anticipated that the trip from the top of the third peak to the bottom would be practically vertical. Steep stairs. And where there were no stairs – a rope to cling to, suspended on steel poles.
And, yes, we loved every second of it – but we did take a bus home from the bottom of the third mountain – and walking from our bus stop to our motel we speculated that this is likely how Elaine felt at the end of our Sunday hike. I’m not into “karma” – but hubris and ignorance can sure kick your behind!