Commando-style hiking in Korea

The leader of my hiking club, Chang-dae, decided to put us through gruelling training before our trip to Jiri-san, the second largest mountain in Korea. He decided to do "2-in-1" - basicallly to squeeze two normal hikes into one day of hiking. On April 30th we hiked on Chonggaesan and Gwanaksan, two neighbouring mountains in the southern part of Seoul.

What was planned to be an 8-hour hike turned into a 12.5 hour commando style exercise in endurance. We managed to get lost on Chonggaesan! This is a mild wonderfully green mountain that we go to when we feel lazy and want an easy day. Everyone was more worried about Gwanaksan that is quite rocky and have some dodgy spots. But to get lost on Chonggaesan? Unheard of and unthinkable.

To cut the long story short: our leader was not really paying attention where we were going and before we knew it it got dark and it was difficult to get orientated. As everyone was hungry tired and edgy, angry words and angry looks were exchange. We had a big time cultural misunderstanding at work: our Korean leader wanted us to go through a firing range belonging to the U.S. army while we could hear shots being fired. This in spite of huge warnign signs everywhere: hikers, danger, do not enter. Western people refused to go any farther, Koreans, who were all younger and had inferior positions in our club in relaiton to the leader would have followed. In the end we found an alternate route. When we sat down to dinner of delicious sundubu (soft tofu seafood stew) and dong-dong ju, apologies and explanations were flying everywhere. At the end things were smoothed over. Now, looking back at that day, I can say with certainty that I am very glad I participated in this hike. It's amazing to feel a special bond with people who were there with me sweating, swearing, but ultimately in the end smiling. The following pictures are from that unforgettable hike: Chonggaesan/Gwanaksan.