Small Victories

Well, I finally made it up the mountain. I have been climbing Apsan mountain almost every weekend, but I always turn around about ¾ of the way up. Yesterday, I made it to the top, and it was very cool.

I started by taking a different route. The one behind my house is the turbo route—it goes straight up the mountain, almost no looping. I chose a more popular, slightly gentler route a little farther down the road.

There is not a lot of looping on Korean mountain paths in general. My (almost) only point of comparison is the Appalachians, and the slopes are much gentler on them, but the paths also loop and meander much more.* On Apsan mountain, it's straight up the slope, no digression allowed.

Well, my weeks of not climbing the mountain have paid off, and I have some stamina to show for it. I passed several people on my journey up, some of whom remarked in Korean when I passed (Look at that white girl go! Or something like that.) About halfway up, there was a temple nestled in the slopes. This 1000 year old temple was a gathering place for the Korean resistance during the Japanese occupation. Here they planned the March 1 independence movement, which was mercilessly subdued by the Japanese but is celebrated now as an independence day. I understand why this was a good gathering place. You have to be determined to reach it.

There was yet another Jindo at this temple. Jindos are white fluffy Korean dogs, and there's one at almost every temple. I will have to ask why. There was also a plate of tteok—rice cakes-- at the entrance, though I don't know if it was an offering for people or gods. When we moved into our house, Mr. Pan brought us tteok to place in the bedroom for luck.

The rest of the climb was a rocky adventure, and there were less and less people the farther I went. I suspect that several people give up before they get to the top. Once I reached the top, I could see all of Daegu and some of the surrounding areas. To the right I could see the Nakdong river, the spot where the South Korean and US forces stopped North Korea's relentless march—the Pusan perimeter. There's a cable car that will take you to this place, but I have to insist that the view is better after the climb.


* I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Mount Snowdon in Wales, with weather so treacherous it was like the mountain was trying to throw us off. Mount Snowdon remains my most difficult climbing experience.


Tteok on the railing















The walls of the temple compound













Hello, Daegu!














The guardian jindo
















Speakers everywhere. North Korea apparently has propaganda speakers everywhere. South Korea has music coming from theirs.