Gwanak San, Ice picks at the ready.

Hello, my dear readers. Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. But here is the update. While Matt's family was visiting, we went on a hike up Gwanak Mountain to a Buddhist Temple at the top. The hike was only about 5 km, but most of those were vertical meters.

Here we are at the beginning.
There is a rather nice park at the bottom. Andrew is standing by this traditional Korean hamster. That's right, traditional hamster.


The mountain was beautiful.



We ran into this monument on our way up (and yes, my posturing does make sense because the translation of the Chinese is thus: the Rock of the Zealous Woman):

Many stone cairns littered the trail, marking the path we should go. We added a stone and made a wish, as that is what you are supposed to do.
Art imitates life. . .
. . .or life imitates art?
After much toiling (though it really wasn't too bad) we reached the top (where someone had set up a shop with cold drinks, ramen, and other snacks) and the Buddhist Temple.

Here are some pictures of the Temple:


After reaching the temple we had to return to the bottom quickly because the light was starting to fade and we were starting to get hungry, not to mention that Mom was waiting for us at our apartment. On our way down the mountain. . .
. . .we saw some cool things like a helipad. . .
. . .and this cool rock that we climbed under. . .
. . . like slugs. :\

Yes, like slugs. :)