Ain't No Mountain High Enough

A couple weeks ago the lady who drives Beth to school on Thursdays offered to show us around the island and take us hiking, so on a bright Sunday afternoon we hopped in the car with her and her husband and son. The 15-year old obviously was not happy about spending his day with us. He slouched in the back seat and his parents said he is very angry and held up devil horns. Well this should be fun.

They showed us Guindol, the great dolmen that’s famous here, a large stone structure that was built some thousands of years ago. Turns out the island is famous for these dolmens and has around 150 total on the island. The one pictured below is the biggest.

They took us up Bongchun Mountain, a pretty good hike (we were struggling by half way up, but luckily they packed water and snacks), and from the top you can see North Korea. That part was kind of surreal, staring at this oppressed and isolated land, being able to view a small North Korean town just across the Han River.

From the peak you could also see all of Ganghwa - our apartments looming in the distance and the city and plumes of smoke rising from farmers burning the stubble and straw on the ubiquitous rice fields. We took the easy way down the mountain with stairs and a rope. We passed several mounds of rocks that are called prayer rocks. The structure at the top of the mountain is a religious monument built during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 – 1897) so there are many religious structures around the mountain.

After the hike, they showed us the waterfront in Oepori, a part of the island where crab boats were docked and you can catch a ferry to the other small islands to the west.

They took us to dinner and then back to their apartment for coffee and tea, and there they decided that we should hang out with them more and they grabbed a calendar and began planning more excursions for us. We politely declined the next couple of weekends, explaining that we already had plans with friends. But, we set a date for a couple of weeks later, and again are going hiking with their family. This time we are hiking up Mt. Manisan (1628 feet above sea level), which is the tallest mountain on the island. Apparently there are two trails up the mountain—one for experienced hikers and one for average hikers. Let’s hope they pick the latter.