Back to the Mammoth Bakery this morning – when you find a palatable cup of coffee in Korea it is definitely an experience to repeat. A chocolate croissant this morning with two cups of coffee. A group of tourists came in. One of my games when I’m travelling is to see tourists and try to guess their nationality from their dress and behaviour, and then get close enough to hear what language they’re speaking. These tourists didn’t even give me a chance- they were extraordinarily loud and their German could be heard throughout the entire cafe. It seems to me that sometimes people speaking in their own language get confused; thinking that just because other people can’t understand them means that they also can’t hear them, so there is no need to keep their voices down.
Our plan for the day was to visit Mungyeong Mountain and the weather was incredibly co-operative, cool and sunny. We walked about halfway to the top before we gave up and retreated. The Korean name is Mongyeong Saejae, which translates into something like mountain too steep or too high for even a bird to climb. It was the highest and most dangerous mountain pass when the original road was built in 1400 or so. It was fortified when the Japanese invaded in 1592. There is a walk to the top built on the site of the old road, and it travels beside a mountain stream. The water is the clearest I’ve seen in Korea, and the fish can be seen clearly. There are myths about various ogres and things that lurk under various rocks. The leaves were just starting to turn colour and the path wandered among wonderful shades of red and yellow, with the occasional tree with leaves that were almost purple.
At the bottom of the hill people were flocking to begin the climb. As is the norm in Korea, they were specially kitted out in their hiking outfits: brightly coloured jackets, backpacks, spats, boots,walking poles and scarves. The scarves are co-ordinated to show which group or club you are from. Clearly, in our jeans, running shoes and t-shirts, we were woefully under dressed. At the other end of the spectrum, about halfway up the mountain we met two young women walking down in short skirts and high heels. We didn’t see even one foreigner on the mountain, which meant that there were lots of people looking at me, and several asked Youngik how tall I was. One kindly older woman expressed to him her concern that it would be hard for me to find a husband since I was so tall, but he was able to reassure her that I actually had a husband who was taller than me.
Mungyeong is also the place where the best apples in Korea come from, so we had to buy some. They are really delicious, but not like any kind of apple that is familiar…crisp, juicy and a little tart. The other specialty here is five-flavour tea which seems to be a syrup made from 5 different fruits and sugar. You then mix it with hot water and float pine nuts on top.
As we were wandering back down the mountain I heard music playing out of the forest. I imagined that it was some kind of classical music but it was amazing mixed with the fresh air and the colour of the leaves. We found a small path leading in the general direction of the music and decided to follow it. Imagine our surprise when we stumbled on a small cafe, and there was a woman on the balcony playing a saxophone. She had a small computer that was accompanying her. The music was mournful and wound its way through the trees. We sat and had tea at the cafe, and listened and listened.
As we kept on down the mountain I noticed that many of the people coming down seemed very jolly – laughing loudly and slapping each other on the back. When I remarked on it, Youngik told me that all of the people we had see drinking out of thermoses were probably drinking soju, the Korean drink that is approximately vodka made out rice, and drunk straight. Just what I would want in my water bottle for a day of mountain climbing.