Psalm 23

Whoa.. what a manic week. Back to the madness of my world yet allll goood :) In a whole week I havent even managed to find the time to update this thing. Ive been back 7 days and I havent been still.Ive had a case of the ants in ze pants. In just a week I feel wrecked again and in need of a day of nothingness, of greys anatomy, of frothy coffee and my big cosy, queen sized bed.

My holiday was amazing. It was so nice to just get away from Cheonan and venture down the East Coast of Korea alone with my wandering thoughts. I woke up last Saturday and was OFF. There was no way I was hangin about in Cheonan. My mate phoned me on Saturday afternoon and I was already at destination number one. I was craving a serious change of location and I sure got it!

It was a whole 9 days of hardcore hiking a bit of rock climbing (slightly scary gotta admit considering the gradient of the peaks..I even wont go there Mum), sunbathing, relaxing in beautiful jimjilbangs overlooking oceans, walking, visits to ancient temples, ponds, grottos.. the list is endless. I went to the very tranquil and restful Namiseon Island first, over to the Jungdo resort, across to Sokcho, onto Seoroksan, from there onto Gyeongju then down to Busan. Travelling down the coast was really stunning and despite being by myself it was great. It was mentally restful. Which I think we all know, is what I needed :)

I could write an essay about the whole week but Im not going to. Despite my bag being stolen on my last day on Hyundae beach with my Bible (which meant the entire WORLD to me) and my Armani watch and some other stuff.. clothes..a memory card with lots of pics on :( nice knickers (which are well hard to get here in Korea unless you think ajuma pants are sexy...nnnaaaahhhh) yeh, anyway.. it was great.

Seoroksan was one of my highlights. Beautiful towering granite peaks, sparkling crystal waters.Id reserved a place in the tourist info box before I ventured up through the park to stay in one of the mountain huts. By the time I got there I was wet, hungry (but happy) and naturally exhausted. Id decided to climb up to a grotto hidden in one of the peaks. The directions stated that it was only 3.5K so I decided to do a detour and stop there before I ventured onto my hut. Although it was only 3.5k the hike was very steep, lots of stairs (and I mean lots) and it was extremely knackering.I got up there and the whole of the park was covered in a white fog so despite my efforts to get in a good view...I could only see this fluffy blanket of white. It was really nice up there though lol. Very tranquil, the monk clopping away cross legged overlooking this fog, hundreds of tiny tealights lit and a place for people to pray to the gold figurine of Buddah.It was interesting. By the time Id got down I think I had another 3-6K to walk before I came to my destination.I knew it wouldnt be a palace but it was just a little white hut hidden in the mountains and little did I know that I was to share it with a Korean family of pro hikers. It was fine though. They kindly adopted me for the evening, gave me clean, dry clothes, food, lots of soju ( like I wasnt dehydrated enough lol) and the mother of the group made sure I had a comfortable place to sleep with their two daughters in our hut before the other four male pro hikers came and bundled in with us. Only in Korea as they say.

The next day they took me on a hike which was harcore. It was really kind of them. Being pro hikers and knowing the guard of the hut we stayed in they took me across to the off limits section of the park across from our hut. We climbed the peak in no time using metal cables and our legs and arms. I was sore for days after lol. The view was stunning, the grandfather of the group yodled some Korean from the top and sung a song and we then ventured down.. also frightening at times but their 8 and 9 year old kids were doing it so so was I !

Sokcho beach & the East Coast were a far cry away from the city lights and heights of Seoul and Cheonan and Gyeongju was really as beautiful as people say. Unable to get into the traditional house I wanted to stay in due to my trip being so spontaneous in terms of when I moved on from one place to another I managed to find a lovely little hostel. It was so full of character and I could tell by the old pictures and stuff on the walls that once upon a time this really was the place to be if you wanted a place to stay in Gyeongju.

Maybe the funniest thing that happened during my hol was seeing a very tall and quite old Mr Jin in the garden stark naked one evening as I was going to read my Bible and have a glass of wine. He was completely unclothed bent over washing his clothes. I apologised in Korean, didnt really know where to look but just covered my eyes and sat down on the garden table my back him.I was worried Id missed some important instructions about not coming into the garden after a certain time at night or something but grinning he just said sonething along the lines of, anyo meeanhamneedah, kwen chanayo, meeanhamneedah (no sorry, its okay, me sorry) and after a few seconds he toddled back off into his living quarters (which is on full show from reception behind a huge glass window by the way). Quite the exhibitionist I gather. Again.. only in Korea. Lol boy did I nearly wet the chair I was sat on . The rooftop in the hostel was great to see the sun go down on and I met a gal from Yorkshie there so it was nice to hang out together for a day and have a bit of company.


The beaches were lush and despite the jimilbangs being lovely overlooking Gwangali Bridge in Busan, (in Sokcho overlooking the lighttower and sea) I had a near death experience almost being squashed by an obese lady in there in one of the overcrowded sleeping rooms. A little girls feet stuck in my face the big lady snored loudly like a wild boar for most of the early hours. The women were getting really annoyed. One ajuma sat up at one point in temper,sighing, her face was a picture and I couldnt control my laughter. I had to leave the room and get out.It was just too funny.
Although I was alone I definately didnt have a boring time I can tell you that for sure. An old, wrinkly, saggy bummed man in the garden and a near death experience arent the only laughs I had lol.

My friend Cara came down to join me on my last night in Busan. I took her along to the lovely Vesta overlooking Hyundae Beach. It was really relaxing. Cara..the poor girl. Her first night in a jimjilbang.. she had an uncomfortable night too and the temperature wasnt right that night lol. We roasted in that sleeping room. Im sure we looked like little wrinkled mandus when we woke up.

Despite me feeling quite sick on Busan Beach on my last day when a freaky old man selling chicken kept giving me free cans of beer and coke all day as an excuse to look at my ladees bits (yuk), feeling pretty obese with all the stick thin Korean women and getting my bag nicked I wasnt gonna let my holiday get ruined so me and Cara went off for a really nice meal together.

God was really good to me during my time away. He looked after me, provided for me, gave me company along the way in different people and characters I met. He never ceases to amaze me.

So Im back to my carwee barwee bo' ing kids. Im refusing to let myself be burned out though. Im craving exercise as I have another 10K coming up :) but making time for it seems to be impossible at the moment. Im honestly that busy its a joke. Anyway, I have my belly dancing lessons on Monday mornings Im making priority and still have Yoga so it not all that bad. Im trying to get in as much exercise as poss. Compared to when I first came here (three hours a day of exercise) Im literally doing nothing now. I gotta sort it OUT!

Anyway its just a five week countdown now till Chuseok, five days off (asssaaaa) then five weeks back and shortly after Ill be on that Boeing back baby.