Mount Mudeung

We had a really nice day today. We got ourselves up and organised and walked the two minutes down the road to the bus stop. Bus 54 is the only bus that we know how to get (we can't read any of the bus stop signs or timetables) as it's the one that goes to downtown Gwangju. One of the teachers at our school told us that she had heard a vague rumour that if you stayed on the bus the whole way, it went to Mt Mudeung. We decided to give it a go and about forty minutes later we were getting off and joining the other Gwangjuites, dressed in their full hiking gear, and heading towards the mountain.

All along the road there were stalls selling hiking gear and picnics consisting mostly of rice and kimchi. At the foot of the mountain we found a big Buddhist temple called Jeungsimsa. You can check out the photos to see how beautiful it is. There weren't many other people around other than a couple of hikers praying in front of the golden Buddha and a monk playing with a stray dog. Tucked away in a corner was a massive bell with a very satisfying ring. When we left the temple there was a guitarist playing on a little stage outside, who surreally started playing Rivers of Babylon and Take Me Home Country Roads. There were also volunteers selling food, so we sat down at a little table and had noodles and Korean pancake (not very easy to eat with chopsticks), served with the mandatory side dish of kimchi.

After lunch we picked a trail at random and hiked up beside a little stream, having to stop to occasionally let Koreans past, who seem to take their hiking very seriously indeed. A few people tried to speak to us on the way, fooled into thinking that we could speak Korean by our ability to say "hello". Everyone is very friendly and I love the fact that they seem to get very excited every time we speak to them, or wave to them, or sometimes even when we just look in their direction. One girl gasped as she walked past, we're not sure why but my theory is that she just couldn't believe how hairy Alan's chin is. 

The bus ride home was also quite entertaining as a drunk/crazy woman got on and started shouting at people, of course we have no idea what she was saying but it certainly seemed to be causing some offense. This evening we used skype for the first time and called England for free... woo!