Bieumsan Mountain (Jillye Fortress)

Thursday 21st April, 2011

True to her word, Joy rang me at around 11am to say she was taking me hiking around Changwon University. We confirmed the details and I would be waiting for her at 2pm.

In the morning I did a bit of study as I'm completing my TEFL certificates. I ate a good lunch before we left, which was a good idea. When Joy told me we were going hiking, I thought it was going to be a leisurely stroll around nature. But I was wrong. This was a full on, we're-going-to-climb-to-the-top-of-a-mountain type of hike.

The drive to the base of Bieumsan Mountain is about 15 minutes from my hotel. The afternoon was getting a bit chilly but a good temperature to hike. When we arrived there were many other hikers. Hiking in Korea is a major hobby and you see both individuals and groups going on trails. They also have all the right gear to do it. Bright clothing, professional hiking boots, hiking poles- They definately make this seem to be an Olympic sport!
The start of our hike

The start of our hike

Part of the trail

Part of the trail

Resting hut

Resting hut

We started off walking amongst the cherry blossoms, which sat along the rocky trail. We came across the first set of bridges to cross over. In total there are 11 bridges you have to cross in order to get to the base of Bieumsan Mountain. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. You could hear the birds chirping and the sounds of the wind gently breezing past you. The lakes were quite dry as at the moment there is no water. Summer is meant to be the Korean rainy season, so we should see the lakes fill up in the next couple of months.
The first bridge

The first bridge

The beautiful scenery

The beautiful scenery

As we walked along, I started realising how I had underestimated the difficulty level of this hike. My body is not used to do this sort of exercise and I don't think my fitness level is up to what it should be, but I kept going. I wanted to reach the top of that mountain!

I asked Joy how often she does this hike and she told me atleast once a week. She does other hike routes within the same mountain, but they are the easier trails. She wanted to do this one with me because of the view when you reach the top. I was grateful she wanted to show me the view, but I wish there was an easier way of getting there... maybe an elevator?? hahaa

When we stopped at bridge 5 to take a rest, to my surprise I saw a chipmunck sitting on one of the rocks. It looked at us then jumped on the other rocks, until it disappeared. I was lucky enough I had my camera on me at the time, so I was able to take some really good, close up photos. Never in my life had I seen anything like it! It was way too cute! Korea has too many cute animals I've decided.

We were soon joined by a group of hikers, who shared some cucumber snacks with us. They asked us how Joy and I knew each other and why we were friends??? Apparently in Korea, if you are of different ages, you can't be friends. So by Korean rules, Joy and I can't be friends because there's a 10 year age gap between us. I just think this is ridiculous, but anyway! We thanked them for our cucumbers and continued on. As we walked along we saw that there were azaleas in bloom. Their purple colour looked amazing amongst the dull, grey background of the rocks. I loved it. I never imagined this was so close to the city, yet feeling like you were a million miles away.
Chipmunck!!

Chipmunck!!


Trail with azaleas

Trail with azaleas

Stepping stones

Stepping stones


Fellow hikers that shared cucumbers with us

Fellow hikers that shared cucumbers with us

Taking in the view, the trail lead us to a dinosaur fossil site. It was of Triceratops and it's footprints can still be seen marked in the rocks along the lake. I was just amazed that something like this still remained here to this day, undisturbed.
Triceratops lives here!

Triceratops lives here!

Triceratops footprint

Triceratops footprint

We continued on and there were many resting points where a lot of hikers were taking a break and having a snack. Joy turned around to me and said "OK Tahnee. The easy part if finished. Now we go up" and with her hand, showed me how steep 'up' was. I was now committed. The top of the mountain was 800 metres away and it was killing me. I was tired, my legs were feeling stiff and at this stage I couldn't understand why people do this for fun. What amazes me is that older people do this. You hardly ever see young, fit, young adults do this. No. You only ever see 30 year olds and up ages, around 60's I'm guessing, hiking. We finally reached the halfway mark where we took a quick break. You couldn't really see the view as the trees and shrubs were blocking the sight.
Beautiful sight..

Beautiful sight..

Cherry Blossoms...

Cherry Blossoms...


Me and the Cherry Blossoms

Me and the Cherry Blossoms

With a long drink of water, I pushed myself on to finish this. We kept going and as we climbed the last set of wooden steps, we made it. We reached the top of Bieumsan Mountain and the view was spectacular. You could see the whole of Changwon city. I was so glad Joy had brought me here. I would never have seen this if it wasn't for her. I said to her 'I know I whinged and complained, but thank you' We both had a good laugh.
Joy and me before we reached the top of Bieumsan Mountain

Joy and me before we reached the top of Bieumsan Mountain


View of Changwon City

View of Changwon City

Mountain view

Mountain view


I have reached the top of Bieumsan Mountain!!!

I have reached the top of Bieumsan Mountain!!!

View from the top

View from the top

We stretched our muscles and breathed in the fresh mountain air- Life was good. After a while of resting, it was now starting to get late and we started heading down. We went a different direction, but it was a lot easier this time as it was all down hill.

It was now close to 5pm when we reached civilization. The hike had taken a little over 2.5 hours. I couldn't wait to get home to tell Daniel what I got myself into! One of Joy's friends has a little shop hut just before the mountain trail, so before we left to go back home, we went in for a feed. Her friend served us a Korean pizza with a traditional rice drink. It was delicious and exactly what we needed after a long walk.
Joy's friends food hut!

Joy's friends food hut!

Eating delicious Korean pizza

Eating delicious Korean pizza

I really enjoyed the hiking and it's something I've never really done before, so I'm looking forward to going again in the coming weeks. I'm going to be making the most of this hiking business!!!

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