I'm convinced that the closer you come to the end of a good thing (and the beginning of another good thing) the faster time goes. I have had a great time, and I cannot believe that in 5 days time I will be leaving Korea (possibly forever -- although I will probably be back to visit -- I know too many people here).
So in order to say bye I went out and partied on Saturday night, although sadly I am horrible at remembering to take pictures when I am out drinking -- so all I have is this one of Shannon and Liz enjoying the snow.
Shannon (left) is from BC and used to snow, Liz is and Aussi and this was her first experience with falling snow -- she has seen it on the ground before :)
Shannon (left) is from BC and used to snow, Liz is and Aussi and this was her first experience with falling snow -- she has seen it on the ground before :)It was a rather small group of people, between snow and sickness and other bad timing, but we still all had fun. So much so that by 5:30 am when the trains started, I had no idea what time it was. And not being fully with it I decided to head home -- even though I had to be back in the city for a hike at 1 pm. That doesn't sound too bad but the commute usually takes about 2 hours (from bar to home) and in the snow it took 3, so I got home only 2.5 hours before I had to leave for the hike.
So you know me, I slept 2.25 hours, woke up, got ready and made it to the hike on time -- just. It was really beautiful. The north gate of Seoul.
The south and east gates are really famous shopping areas (Namdaemun and Dongdaemun) but the north is basically unknown. That is because it is located on the edge of Bukansan (the mountain north of Seoul) and has been closed to the public since the 1960's. Apparently a North Korean spy was found there and so it was deemed a sensitive area and closed off. But this past spring it was opened to Koreans and in the summer it was opened to foreigners. You have to take a guided tour, which also means you have to submit all sorts of info about yourself -- Name, passport number, date of entry -- craziness.It is a really easy hike -- considering the other ones I have been on in Korea. But there is a great view of the city from the top. The first city picture is Gyeongbukgung -- My favorite palace in Seoul.
Also with all the fresh snow the whole hike was gorgeous. 
I assume that all the barbed wire around the outside of the old fortress wall was there to close off the area. You can see the wire at the edge of the fence in the picture.I went with a friend from Osan, and she brought 2 others. There were supposed to be 8 of us -- but Sunday is not a good day for waking up :) The 4 of us who did go had a great time. I was a little too dead to enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but it was beautiful, and looking back at the pictures I will not remember that I was a walking zombie.
The south and east gates are really famous shopping areas (Namdaemun and Dongdaemun) but the north is basically unknown. That is because it is located on the edge of Bukansan (the mountain north of Seoul) and has been closed to the public since the 1960's. Apparently a North Korean spy was found there and so it was deemed a sensitive area and closed off. But this past spring it was opened to Koreans and in the summer it was opened to foreigners. You have to take a guided tour, which also means you have to submit all sorts of info about yourself -- Name, passport number, date of entry -- craziness.It is a really easy hike -- considering the other ones I have been on in Korea. But there is a great view of the city from the top. The first city picture is Gyeongbukgung -- My favorite palace in Seoul.Also with all the fresh snow the whole hike was gorgeous. I assume that all the barbed wire around the outside of the old fortress wall was there to close off the area. You can see the wire at the edge of the fence in the picture.I went with a friend from Osan, and she brought 2 others. There were supposed to be 8 of us -- but Sunday is not a good day for waking up :) The 4 of us who did go had a great time. I was a little too dead to enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but it was beautiful, and looking back at the pictures I will not remember that I was a walking zombie.
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