The theme for this weekend has been

climbing. I honestly can't remember the last time I climbed this much in a two day period. In the end tho, I saw some pretty spectacular things that you can only reach by climbing.

On Saturday a bunch of us went up to Gurye, about an hour's train ride from Yeosu. We were going to see a waterfall that was supposed to be pretty cool. Too bad we were there in the wrong season. Our waterfall was actually a little trickle of water that dribbled down from a cliff. The cliff however, was spectacular. After hiking the dry riverbed and scaling rocks we finally came to the end where the fall was supposed to be. There was literally a wall of rock that went straigt up. It was awesome. We also saw some rock climbers at the waterfall. This was no had grip stuff. I'm talking clips hammered straight into the rock. I wish I had the skill to climb a 50 foot vertical rock face.
On the way down we found the trail that we were supposed to take. It made the trek 10 times easier walking down a trail instead of climbing all up and down rocks. At the start of the trail there was a little restaurant with some dogs. One of the dogs was a brown and black dachsund mix that I wanted to take. It was still a puppy, it could've fit in my backpack haha. After the hike we went to Suncheon for some Outback Steakhouse. As much as I like the healthy spicy Korean food, it was phenomenal to eat some greasy fatty cheese fries. Sometimes you just need something unhealthy.

This morning we made the journey to Dolsan Island to go to the Hyangiram Buddhist Hermatige for the sunrise. My co-teacher said that Hyangiram was one of the top 3 places in Korea to watch the sun rise over the water. I met everyone at 4:15am for the 45 minute scooter trip to the hermitage. I really need to get a scooter ASAP. Its convenient to walk to nearby places in Yeosu-dong and I am getting more and more familiar with the bus routes, but there are some places that are just more accessable by scooter or motorbike. It would be nice to just be able to go down to Odongdo or the beach without having to wait for the right bus or pay for a cab. Geoff is selling his bike when he leaves, but thats a month away. By then it'll almost be November. I want to have enough time with the bike before it gets too cold to ride. Enough about transportation. Back to the sunrise.

Once we got to Hyangiram we had to walk up a wicked steep hill before we got to the entrance. Good thing I walk up such a steep slope everyday for school. From the entrance we had to climb 291 steps to the top of the hermitage. These were not your ordinary steps. Some of them were pretty steep. The first 100 or so were like a normal staircase. After that, things got tricky. The trail got progressively more narrow. At one point we were walking in this natural rock tunnel/fissure where there was less than 5 inches between me and the rock on either side. When the leg workout of the century was done we found ourselves looking over the Eastern horizon on a ledge with a small temple and a standing statue of Buddha. We got there at about 5:40 so we parked it on a rock and waited till the sun came up at 6:14. Man was it worth the wait. I have seen experienced few things in my life that rival the rising of the sun over the East Sea to the sound of Buddhist chants in the background. It was awe inspiring.

We kicked around Hyangiram for a bit after sunrise to see the hermitage in the daylight. The wole place had a turtle motif. Many of the rocks had lines and textures that made them look like turtle shells. At the bottom of the mountain, the village was situated on a rocky outcropping that looked like a turtle's head sticking out into the water. It was a pretty cool place. I bought a bracelet with an Ohm and a carving of my Chinese zodiac, a tiger. When I went to put it on, the bead with the carvings opened to reveal a little gold Buddha. It was 7000 won well spent. The walk down from the hermitage was just as epic as the way up. Instead of taking the stairs, we took the back way which was a path but no stairs, just a hill. At the bottom, the village of Impo was just waking up. Vendors were making their kimchi and people were buying fresh produce to use for the day's meals. It was probably the most authentic thing I've seen since coming here.

When I got home at 8am, I felt like what I had just seen took place days ago. Its strange how time and daylight can change your perception on things. After my naps (yes multiple) I ran some errands around town to get some things, mostly groceries, for my place. I also picked up my bus ticket to Incheon Airport. My bus leaves in just about an hour from now. At the marktet I tried to find some sheets for my spare bed. And by spare bed I mean traditional Korean sleeping mat. Koreans apparantly don't use sheets so a comforter will have to do. At least I can plug in the mat and turn up the temperature. I also found the elusive Shinae. I took the bus to the market, turned a corner, and found myself on cobblestone streets with shops (some big names, North Face, Puma...etc) and cafes. I explored a bit and when I got to the other side of Shinae, I was at the Jinnamgwan. Nice!. I see the Jinnamgwan every day from school but never up close. There's something humbling about being next so something that has existed for hundreds of years.

Time to pack my bag for Incheon and pick up Scranton!