Ocean Toes & River Legs

This is what happens when you rent a car on a beautiful day in the springtime.

 Entering Seoraksan National Park 

 Starting our way up Seorak Mountain 

 Buddhist Temples decorated with colorful lanterns 

 First viewpoint -- with fellow foreign language
 teachers in Yanggu (from left to right:
 Canadian, American, Japanese, Chinese) 

 Gaining elevation, losing leg strength 

 Summit!  That's the ocean below the sky.  

 The cameraman told us to do this...
 He climbs up here every day and sells cups of
 juice for $5 a piece...  I wasn't quite that thirsty.  

 Back down, it's "giant bacon" for dinner. Cook it yourself, then cut it
 with scissors and put a piece on a fresh lettuce leaf. Add a little rice
 and  some red  pepper  "sauce." Roll it up and eat it all in one bite.
 That  red  stuff  in the front is kimchi, and no, it's not bad grilled.  

 The beach that we saw from up top 

And this is what happens when you get home and realize that you booked the car for two days but it's only been one.

 Late breakfast, early lunch -- Buckwheat green onion
 "pancake" with red and white kimchi as sides 

 The main dish was these buckwheat noodles with red pepper
 "sauce," cucumbers, boiled egg, and a bit of dried seaweed. Pour
 in some cold "broth," stir it up, and find yourself full until dinner.  

 Just below North Korea, in the very north-easternmost corner
 of South Korea lies this less travelled, bright blue beach. 

 We soon realized we were the only ones in the tide pools
 not looking for food. 

 See there in the center? A blue and orange starfish! 

 And he thinks he's the one catching things... 

 Rock, sea, sky 

 Rock, tree, me 

 Who needs a shade umbrella when you could have a whole
 shade tent? I guess that's what people's logic is anyway! 

 Left the ocean in the afternoon and went to this shady river valley. 

 We drove out when evening fell and saw fish jumping --
  their silver bellies sparkling specks all over the place.  

* * * 

Put your toes 

in the ocean, 

Rinse your legs 

in a river,

Let your soul awaken 

to rest. 

* * *

Thanks for reading :)