ukraine: lviv never gets old...and a day trip to rava ruska

I will never get tired of spending time in Lviv. I think this was my 9^th or 10^th visit, and I loved it, as I always do. I booked a place to stay and quickly found out that the owner (it was a private flat,) didn't speak any English. Thankfully, the front office manager at school was able to help me out with arranging a check in time. At least, that's what I thought. The man called me back Friday evening before I got on the train, and through a difficult (almost impossible) conversation (with my limited Ukrainian) I was able to change the check in time to one that suited me better. Note: if you know the person with whom you're speaking doesn't speak your language, use simpler words and speak more slowly.

For the first time, I was on one of the newer night trains, and it wasn't immediately obvious how everything worked. The other people in my area didn't know either, much to the amusement of us all.

As usual, I arrived in Lviv before dawn, and wandered around the city as I usually do. I got to the location of my accomodation just as we'd arranged. I got to check in at 0800, which was awesome.

Even more awesome was the flat itself. It was a studio flat, but it was big. There was enough room for a big bed, and a sofa/tv area. I didn't watch the tv at all, but I loved the area in terms of being able to have something separate from the sleeping area.

After settling in, I looked at my watch and realized I needed to get back to the train station really fast if I was going to make my train. I alternated between running and speed walking the entire way, arriving at the front of the train station 3 minutes before my train was supposed to leave. Since Ukrainian trains generally leave on time, I kept going. I ran through the station and out to the track I needed. Thank goodness I was able to buy the ticket on the train, otherwise I would've been out of luck. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest person on the train by a couple decades, at least.

Under three hours later I arrived in Rava Ruska, Ukraine. It's not quite on the border with Poland, but it's only a couple kilometers away. It's not a tourist destination in Ukraine, but most of the places I've visited in the country wouldn't be considered tourist destinations.

The train station in Rava Ruska is totally different from the other train stations I've seen around the country. It is small of course, but seemed much more homey, as opposed to the grand classical look I'm used to seeing.

Another thing I noticed was that it said the name of the town on both sides of the station (track side and outer side,) which isn't normal. I'm used to seeing the town name on the track side and the word Vokzal (train station) on the outer side.

From the train station I could see the gold domes of a church, so I started walking in that direction. Eventually I got there, finding a Greek Catholic church. It was painted dark yellow, and the front door was locked. On the same property was a much smaller church, this one made of wood. It wasn't open either. I got the impression I was looking at the old and new versions of the same church.

As I walked through town I found heaps of old, abandoned looking houses and buildings. I couldn't tell if they were lived in or not. Some of the properties had chickens running around, so I assume those were inhabited. I also saw a number of wells, so not everyone has running water in their home.

The sidewalks in Rava Ruska were lacking in that they weren't complete. I would walk for a little bit on a sidewalk then it would disappear. I'd switch to the other side of the street, then it would disappear after a little while. Weird.

My first sight was something that looked like a war memorial. I'm not sure what specifically it was honouring, but I admired it anywho.

As I was leaving the memorial an older gentleman started to talk to me. As he was speaking Ukrainian and missing a few teeth, I had no idea what he was saying. I kept saying I don't understand, over and over again. I said it in English, Ukrainian, and Russian; he didn't seem to care or didn't understand.

I think at one point he might've been inviting me to his place for coffee, but I turned that down and tried to walk away. He seemed determined to communicate with me, but I wasn't very comfortable with the situation. I'm all for getting to know locals when traveling, but there has to be some sort of language in common, whether spoken or charades; this wasn't the case with this conversation.

At a few points he took a step closer to me, as if that would fix everything. I don't like strangers getting close to me when there is plenty of space available, so I took steps back. He noticed this and laughed about it, which I did not appreciate. Why do men think it is funny when a woman is clearly not comfortable with their behaviour? Argh.

Eventually I just walked away, even though I felt rude.

I followed this street, past another memorial, to a main street in town. On one corner of the intersection was a small chapel, quite pretty.

Further down the main street I found city hall. Its a unique looking building, definitely not what I would've expected in a city hall. City Hall was located next to the fire station, which was really good looking.

Not too far away I found a bakery with a tasty looking eclair. I was right, it was tasty.

I turned around and walked back in the other direction on this main street. At one point I noticed a small local market, so I wandered through there. Nothing special, but still nice to see. All the vendors I could see were older folks.

At another intersection I found another park area with a much bigger war memorial. I'm sure this one was dedicated to WW2, and it had the same Soviet realism I've seen all over the country.

I kept walking down the street and found a church. This one was painted a dark yellowish orange, as was the outer property wall. I found it quite ugly, but I still wanted to see the inside of the church. I walked through the outer gate, and immediately noticed that the bell tower wasn't on the church itself. It was a lot small, and looked more like a mini aqueduct, with three arches and a bell in each arch. It was also painted the horried yellowish orange colour.

I walked into the church, I was the only visitor at the time. A couple ladies inside were cleaning, and only glanced at me. I wasn't a big fan of the interior, though I don't know why. The ceiling was a turquoise kind of colour, and there was a low hanging chandelier. The carpet was patterned red, and the iconostasis was painted wood.

I got back to the street and wound around some smaller streets to a Polish Catholic church. (Since this was western Ukraine, I expected to see Catholic and Orthodox churches.) Unfortunately, not even the front gate of this one was open.

When I started walking on the main street again I could see the top of an abandoned monastery. I love abandoned places, and after not getting to see the abandoned monastery in Sokal I hoped to change that this time around.

I ended up walking almost all the way around the monastery to find the entry. It turned out there was a motel on one side of the property, which seemed a little strange to me. I found an open gate and walked through. From there I circled around the church, which has definitely had better days. There was rubbish all over the property, as well as what seemed to be building materials. From the outside appearance I couldn't tell if renovation work was being done.

The front of the church didn't appear to be open, but there was an open door to the building next door. Of course I went inside.

This building must've been the cloister and living area for the monastery when it was active. I walked down the halls and up the stairs and down more halls. I peeked into small rooms off the halls, but there was nothing except abandonment.

Falling down and peeling paint. Not a speck of furniture anywhere. I found the remains of one fresco painting on a wall, that was it.

In the hall next to the church I was able to peek into the church, but the door that allowed me to do so wouldn't open far enough to let me in the sanctuary. Argh.

In one of the upper hallways I found a window of sorts that I was able to climb through and get to the balcony of the church. Awesome. I loved it.

When I got back out to the yard in front of the church I noticed there was no lock on the church door, it was just one of those sliding doohickeys.

Since it hadn't been moved in a while I had to rock it back and forth, but it did open. Then I was on the ground floor of the sanctuary, yay!

This church clearly hasn't been used or taken care of in quite a while. I could see the remains of frescoes all over the walls and ceilings. There was a bookcase of sorts at the front, behind where the iconostasis would've been I couldn't identify anything else in the room.

Eventually I went outside again, and walked back toward the city center. As I walked, I looked at the city on google maps and noticed a mass grave marked, of course I made my way in that direction. I made my way up the street and first stopped at a cemetery.

It was a typical cemetery with a variety of styles in grave markers. In one corner was a Soviet memorial of some kind, I don't know what it was for specifically. Soldiers, maybe? Next to this memorial is what used to be a stone chapel.

When I got to the mass grave sight I immediately saw the sign describing the sight. The sign was in three languages, Hebrew, English, and Ukrainian. It said that the grave held the remains of 3000 or so people who had been massacred in the area during the war. The sign also said that over 10,000 people had been deported from the area during WW2, not many had returned afterward. (Sadly, this is typical of much of Eastern Europe.) During the war over 1 million Jews were murdered in what is now Ukraine.

From there I started walking back toward the train station. Along the way I went through a park and saw another statue. I think this one was of Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet. For a reason I don't know, there were also statues of bears in this park. Weird.

The train back to Lviv departed on time, and three hours later it arrived. I was cold and uncomfortable the whole time, there were no heaters on this train. Argh.

After returning to Lviv I walked across the city to dinner. Along the way I picked up goods from a bakery I hadn't visited before, and ate some before getting to dinner. They were good, and I really ought to stop eating dessert before dinner. Ooops.

I slept well in my flat that night.

The next morning I woke up and actually got moving earlier than normal. I'd arranged for checking out at noon, but I wanted to go for a walk before then. When I got outside I realized it was colder than I'd expected, and it was really windy. Really really windy. The clouds above the city were rolling by quickly.

I walked to the square around City Hall, enjoying the lack of people. I saw a couple lions (one of the symbols of the city,) in one area, each had been covered with locks. I suppose this is the local version of locks of love.

Even though I've done it before, I decided to climb up the tower of City Hall again. The entry fee is only 20 griven, so less than $1. You get to climb plenty of stairs to get up there, it's a workout. As soon as I walked out the door my hair felt like it would be ripped off my head it was so windy. From the top there are great views over the entire city. Beautiful.

I came back down all the stairs, and walked toward my next destination. picking up breakfast along the way. Two filled croissants, yum. I ate them as I walked, I'm never very good at holding onto food.

My next sight was another place I've seen before. This was the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of Occupational Regimes Prison at Lonsky.

It was originally a prison, and was used as a prison by several different governmental organizations of the Polish, Nazis, and Soviets. It was last used by the NKVD as a prison and torture facility. When they left in the early 90s the building was left as is. Nothing has been changed since, except to arrange specific exhibits.

It's an intense place to visit, especially knowing the history of what happened. Out in the yard is where mass executions took place on six days of June in 1941.

Along the main wall is a temporary exhibition of sorts. There are photos of several Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Canada, originally built when Ukrainians fled the country.

Many of those churches have since been abandoned, but they're still photogenic.

I wandered through and took in the information, then left. While I was wandering I avoided the tour group of Ukrainian soldiers.

After the museum I tried my luck at entering a couple churches in the city. Lviv has so many, and it seems like they're all quite beautiful. Not surprisingly, many of them are full of people in services on Sunday morning.

I went back to the flat and checked out. That meant I had to carry my backpack with me for the rest of the day. Not fun, but not too bad. I can't wait till summer when clothes take less space.

My next stop was a museum I'd never seen before. It was a branch of the Lviv Historical Museum, also on the old town square. The specific displays were all about Ukrainian culture and history in this specific area.

This particular branch of the museum was on several levels of the building, with three or four rooms on each level. I went through all the rooms, I really liked the money display. It seems I have a knack for noticing docents while they're at their best, I saw one dozing off.

After leaving the museum I went back to churches, they're such an important part of the city. Even though I'm not a fan of worshipping in churches with complicated decorations, I do appreciate the art and thought put into the decoration.

After several churches I went to another branch of the Lviv Historical Museum. This one was on the other side of the old city square. This one had a photo fee, which I generally hate but paid anywho. Why aren't these extra fees just put in the ticket price? It's not as if anything is that expensive.

I really liked this museum, as it had a few rooms arranged as they might've been during the lives of various people. They were fancy rooms, of course. Beautiful. I also liked seeing the fancy jewelry that used to be owned by rich folks.

When I was back out on the streets and walking along the area in front of the opera house I noticed one street had been blocked off to cars.

It was jam packed with people, all of whom were processing along. I figured out it was a religious procession, but that's all I could figure out. There was no holiday, so I really don't know what it was. There were a LOT of people crammed into the area that was blocked off.

I changed my route and continued walking to a place I'd never seen before. A large park on one edge of the city. I've seen it on maps before, but never remembered to come out and explore it. It's called Stryski (sp?) park and is mostly woods and trails. I loved walking through, even though there wasn't much green to be seen. In one area of the park I saw a couple university buildings, but I didn't know what they were for specifically.

I also saw a couple empty fountains and abandoned buildings.

I finally saw the giant WW2 memorial I'm used to seeing in every Ukrainian city and town. How had I not seen this before? It was as big as I expected.

Back in the city I went to the same restaurant as the night before (remember what I've said before about eating the same food again if I like it) and enjoyed my meal. I killed time there for a while, then went back to the train station and caught my train back to Kyiv.

Another successful weekend in a city I love.

argentina: ushuaia...fin del mundo

it took three buses, and two countries to get from el calafate to ushuaia...the first bus (which departed at 0300, ugh) took me from el calafate to rio gallegos...i was lucky enough to find a plug with which i was able to recharge my iphone while waiting in the bus station in rio gallegos...the second bus wasn't nearly as nice as all the other buses i'd ridden around argentina...i was in the front seat, but it didn't give me a view...unless you count staring at a curtain behind the driver a 'view'...ugh...this second bus took me through chile, which was NOT a fast part of the journey...we stood around for what seemed like ages...

crossing into chile involved everyone getting off the dust and queueing in a office of sorts, i think it was a security check...we walked through a metal detector, and our carryon bags were put through an x-ray like you see at the airport...i don't know if they checked any of the luggage carried under the bus?
after getting back on that bus, we traveled along a semi paved road through chile...exiting chile was fine and dandy, there were a couple stalls selling snacks...(i didn't buy anything, but i presume they accepted monies from chile and argentina)...several kilometers down the road was the immigration office to argentina...since i was probably one of just a few americans coming back into argentina, i had another adventure with my visa reciprocity receipt...

this second bus took us to rio grande, where i got on my third and final bus...i think i left my hat on the second bus, boooo...this last bus took us to ushuaia, arriving 4 hours later than i had been told it would arrive,  (this didn't surprise me at all) at 2200...since it was so late, i walked to the first hostel listed in the guidebook and took a dorm bed...
ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world...fin del mundo; end of the world...it's WAY down there...(seriously, get a map out, take a look to see how far south ushuaia is located)...some people ride a bus all the way from buenos aires, which must take ages and ages and ages...

breakfast was included in the price of my hostel, it was awesome!! the best part was the egg station...i got to cook eggs howeva i wanted :) ...sunny side up, in case you were curious...
it was windy and snowy that day...ugh...not really what i wanted, but not horrid either...since it was sunday, not a lot was open...ooops...it's hard to wander around a town when the weather is driving you crazy and nothing is open except for expensive cafes...i did find an open souvenir shop, there were HEAPS of postcards, and just about any other souvenir i might possibly want...

this is a town from which soldiers headed to the islas malvinas depart, so there was a memorial dedicated to those who gave their lives during that ill fated mess...
i only wandered around until mid afternoon before calling it a day...i found a place to eat an early dinner, then hung out in the common area of the hostel...my big accomplishment was turning in laundry to the hostel...it was sooooo nice to have clean clothes again :)
the next morning i gorged on breakfast (again) and packed up my stuff...i left my pack in the hostel, then walked around town again...the weather was a lot better, there was some sun, and i was in a better mood...i stocked up on postcards, wandered around the port area, and generally enjoyed the colours of the city...

since ushuaia is bordered on one side by mountains, there is a lot of skiing...in other words, there are a lot of outdoor activity shops in town...i looked around a lot, it was soooo tempting to buy a new winter jacket, and snow pants...
i returned to the hostel and picked up my bags, then walked 2 kilometers and checked into another hotel...i wanted a room to myself for my last night in ushuaia...after checking in, i spread out postcards everywhere...i wanted to make sure everyone on my list was going to get at least two...(i know, i'm crazy)
i woke up to a hotel with no power...that wasn't terribly fun...it came back on soon enough, thank goodness...

what was not turned on was hot water in my room...i had to go to the front desk to ask for the hot water to be turned on so i could take a shower...ugh...
i used my last couple hours to walk around more, finding areas i hadn't seen...it was sunny and lovely, and i wanted as much vitamin D as i could get...the taxi to the airport cost me more than i expected, and i also had to pay a departure fee...since i'm american, i had to pay more for that fee...argh...i had to exchange some money to do that, at least i was able to do so at the blu market rate, not the official rate...i was really annoyed, and i'm sure it showed in my behaviour...i hate these surprise fees...

i had two security checks before the flight (don't know why)...the flight hurt my ears, a LOT...it's a three hour flight from ushuaia to buenos aires...
i would love to return to ushuaia, and explore more of that province of argentina...there is a (reportedly beautiful) national park close by, i want to see it...ushuaia is also where many ships heading to antarctica depart from; antarctica is definitely on my bucket list...

argentina: el chalten

el chalten is another town entirely based on tourism...it's actually located inside parque nacional los glaciares...it's on the other side of a lake from el calafate...you don't have to pay the park entrance fee when you take the bus to town, thank goodness...
i took an early bus from el calafate to el chalten, the ride was only three hours...as we approached el chalten i was stunned by the scenery...who doesn't love driving close to big mountains? beautiful...before taking us to the bus station, the bus stopped at the park office, where everyone was able to get maps and information about hiking routes in the area...

the bus then dropped us at the bus station, from which i walked down the main street of el chalten to find a place to stay...since i was visiting in the middle of winter, not much was open...i walked into one hostel, but couldn't find anyone inside...the door was unlocked, and the radio was playing, but there was no one there...strange...
the only open place i could find was almost at the end of town, which turned out to be rather convenient...i paid for a dorm bed, and ended up being the only person in the room...(one of the benefits of visiting in winter:)...the wifi signal didn't reach all the way to the bedroom, but that was okay, as there was a nice big communal room in which to spend time...

the weather was AWESOME!!! i followed my map, which showed that the start of the hike i wanted to do was at the edge of town...it was very well marked, easy to follow, full of expansive views...this hike was called the cerro fitz roy...i kept stopping for photos, there were just so many amazing views...i took a short break at a lake (totally frozen over, yahoo!! i didn't have the guts to walk out on the ice, not knowing how thick it was) to take it all in...from there i kept walking to a turnaround spot called poincenot...so many colours in the landscape, beautiful mountains, etc...it was amazing...
i had steak for dinner that night at my hostel, it wasn't great...booo...

the next morning the weather was awful...crazy windy...so windy that i had to lean forward in order to make forward progress...i was really glad i had my hat!
the hike i'd chosen for that day was called cerro torre...it would've had more fantastic views, if only everything hadn't been covered by clouds...completely covered...then the rain started...so not only did i feel as though i would be blown off the hiking trail, i was getting wet...ugh...photos were out of the question, i gave in mentally and decided to just be wet...i didn't walk the entire trail, as it became water logged and i didn't have waterproof footwear...nothing was dry...

back at the hotel i killed 2 hours by writing postcards...(i still had a lot to write!)...then i walked back to the bus station to catch my bus back to el calafate from which i'd booked another bus ride...
i wish i'd had more time in el chalten...there were so many other hikes i wanted to do, and the scenery was brilliant!!! someday i will go back!!!

 

wellington, christchurch and queenstown

when i told people i was going to wellington, they all said i should take the overlander..it's a train that takes the entire day to go from auckland to wellington..it's supposed to be really scenic, and allow you to see beautiful areas of the north island..so i signed myself up for the train, it left at 0725 on a monday morning..the ride itself was okay, nothing spectacular..new zealand is pretty, but i felt as though i had already seen prettier areas than what i saw during that train ride..it didn't help that mt ruapehu was completely invisible when the train went by, but it's supposed to be an awesome view most of the time..i couldn't even tell there was anything there, the whole area was enveloped in a mist..anywho, as i was walking out of the train station, i noticed that someone was busking in the lobby area of the train station..i liked the music, he seemed pretty good..there were lots of people standing around watching, and cameras filming the whole thing..i stayed until he was done playing, but didn't know who it was, and felt too stupid to ask someone..(later on in the week i found out it was john mayer, doing publicity stuff for his concert that took place the next evening in wellington!)..
i found a hostel, and elected to put myself in a girls only dorm room..new zealand has a really good system of hostels, the infrastructure of backpacking is set up well in the entire country..
during the next three days i walked all over..unlike auckland, a visitor can walk all over wellington and see just about everything..it's the capital of the country, but only has about 150,000 people..(the biggest city, auckland, has over a million)..the nickname is windy welly, and i figured out why pretty quickly..the wind never seems to stop blowing!! i walked through te papa, the national museum..its really well done, and huge..it takes hours if you read and look at everything..the displays are put together well, and some of them are interactive for kids..i walked through the botanical gardens, which i didn't think were all that great..i took the cable car up to the top of a nearby hill and was able to look out over the city..i walked to the parliament area..the prime ministers office is in a building called the beehive, and it's UGLY..who knows why they chose that particular architect's design..it's awful..i took the guided tour as well, which i enjoyed for the informative aspects..it was neat to learn about the different areas of the building, what different rooms are used for..my favourite was the room where the queen sits when she visits..(which is practically never)..i was stunned to learn that there are rules still followed about who gets to walk where when the queen is sitting..if a member of parliament walks across in front of the queen he/she will be thrown out of parliament and forced to resign his/her seat!! i thought that kind of stuff was done with a long time ago, but this is a country far different from the US..technically, the head of the country is the queen of england..strange..i also walked to a monument that has something to do with antarctica..i'm not sure on the details, but there is a line where if you look at a particular angle, and could see that far, the next land you would see is antarctica..nifty..
my next week trip was to christchurch..in the canterbury area of the south island..it's home to the international airport of the south island..wine country, for the most part..lots of farming in general i think..the international antarctic centre is near the airport, i really enjoyed that visit...there is sooooo much i don't know about antarctica..they have displayed the new zealand history in antarctica, among other information..there is also a room where you can experience a blizzard..before going in the room you put on boots, and a winter jacket..when the "storm" starts, you can feel the wind picking up and the temperature dropping..it's not the temperatures that get you, it's the wind..it's awful!! but it was a neat experience..coming out of the room i felt like i was in the tropics:)..christchurch has nice gardens as well, and i found a yummy chocolate/fudge shop..who knew gluten free truffles could be so tasty? one afternoon i took the bus over to lyttleton, a small town near christchurch..it's picturesque, and has a building with a big ball on a pole...(think times square for new years eve, when the ball drops to mark the exact start of the new year)..this ball used to drop to let ship captains know exactly what time it was..that way they were able to make sure the clocks on their ships were right, and that way they knew they could properly figure out navigation..inside that building there used to be a family, it's now a museum..they used to live like early settlers lived in the US..christchurch has a number of churches, and old buildings that look distinctly british..i found a rugby store that had jerseys from every team imaginable..i ended up buying a jersey for the antarctic rugby team..fun:)
my last trip was to queenstown..when it was built, it was w/out a name..someone came, and as it was being finished, they said it was fit for a queen..hence the name..not big on originality, hee hee..it's the outdoor activity capital of the country..you can spend a LOT of money in queenstown..that's where bungy jumping originated, and you can still go with that company if you so desire..you can also go canyon swinging, skydiving, spend an hour on the shotover jetboat, etc..i took the cable car up to the top of one of the nearby hills that looks out over the city..as queenstown is farther south than anywhere else i visited, it is farther along in the season change than anywhere else..the leaves were beautiful, all colours of the rainbow..up at the top of the hill i rode the luge that's been built up there...that's my idea of fun, i could've spent a few more hours up there..i walked through the botanical gardens, which didnt impress me much..i found a british lolly shop, which was fun..i took a day trip to milford sound, which was beautiful..the bus drive to and from was long, but really pretty..we drove through a one lane tunnel, and on a steep, turny road..the boat ride up and down the sound was really pretty..(on a side note, a kayaker who had come from australia across the tasman sea lost his life just 30km outside of the sound just a couple years ago)..i loved being outside all day, i definitely wasn't impressed with the lunch that was part of the tour..but i rather expected that..one of the most disappointing experiences of queenstown was when i discovered that my atm card from the states wouldn't work..when i finally managed to ring my bank, i was informed that there was no atm card registered to my account..it turned out that it had been so long since i had used it that it had been kicked out of the system..argh..which left me with almost no cash, and no access to any cash..i had credit cards, but no way of getting any cash..ugh..in queenstown there is a restaurant called fergburger..i had heard about it from another traveller in christchurch, who said i had to eat there, so i did..BIG burgers, and BIG servings of chips..YUMMY!! the worst part of my experience in queenstown took place the day i was scheduled to fly back to auckland..apparently the domestic airport in auckland was completely socked in by fog that morning..completely..it was shut down..no flights going in or out..which meant that many flights to and around the rest of the country didn't go either..i ended up stuck in queenstown an extra night, which really upset me, as dan and i had planned an evening out that night, and i had only a limited number of nights left with him before leaving the country..queenstown isn't an international airport, and flights can't go in or out after sunset, which is pretty early..by the time the fog cleared in auckland, flights all over the country were disrupted..lots of flights ended up being cancelled, which stranded a lot of people..the airlines put people up in hotels, but i was really really really disappointed not to be back in auckland that evening..i did get back the next day..

KUMGANSAN, KOREA (AGAIN)

Monday, November 06, 2006
NORTH KOREA (AGAIN)
i'm sure that most of you reading this think i'm completely crazy for doing it, but i went back to north korea...the same program i did back in march, but i did different hikes this time around...
i'm not going to rewrite the first part of the trip, (the bus from seoul, picking up IDs and visas, going through south korean customs, going through north korean customs,) as it was essentially the same (only a few minor differences) as last time...
after going through north korea customs, we got back on the bus, and drove to our hotel...we didn't get to check in, but we did get to drop off our bags, which was nice...it meant we didn't have to find them on a bus later in the day after hiking...this time we stayed in hotel oekumgang...a new hotel, it opened in august...it's staffed by chinese mostly...they speak korean, (i don't know how well, but enough to run the hotel) but if you look at them, it's not difficult to see that they aren't korean...my travel partner later discovered that they are hired to come for two years at a time...we decided that would be crazy boring...it's not like there is much of anything to do outside of work...they can't just go hiking on their own, and night life is nonexistant...after dropping off our bags, we got back on the bus for the 30 second ride (we later found out we could walk it, as it was so close, unlike the hotel last time, where walking was NOT an option) to the shopping area...we bought tickets for lunch and the acrobats, and after only a little discussion, dinner tickets so we could eat north korean food...more on that later...
after the ticket purchases, we got back on the bus and headed toward the hike for the first day...it was the same hike as the last trip, so i'll spare you most of the details...howeva, this time the weather was very different...beautiful fall weather...the leaves were all sorts of colors, it was beautiful...it was nice to have secure footing too, instead of slipping quite a bit on ice and snow...we hiked up to the temple, same as last time...howeva, on the way down there was a little turnoff that i didn't get to do last time...(after hiking it, i know why...it would've been fairly dangerous with the ice and snow last time)...not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we decided to do it...we saw some steps going up, but figured "how hard can it be?"...20-25 minutes later, after going continually UP, we finally got to the top...absolutely beautiful, and we got to take a couple pictures that were the same view seen on a couple of the postcards available...awesome...after coming down all of that, both of us ate some of the food we had brought along...let me tell you, i've never had an apple taste so good...
lunch was the same lunch we had the last time...bibimbap as the main course with a number of side dishes...
after lunch, we got back on the bus, and went back to the shopping area...we decided to go see the lake (samilpo) as that was an option we hadn't had last time...it was pretty, and this time there were two north korean ladies (at different spots) talking about the lake, it's history and all that...one of them sang a couple songs, they were neat to hear...i really wish i had been able to understand what they were saying...after the walk around the lake, it was back on the busses for the ride back to the shopping platz...when we got back, we even had time to go to the hotel, check in, and "freshen up"...(brush our teeth, take off sweaty undergarments, revel in the fact that we got to stay in a suite!!!!!!!!!)...
we went to the acrobatic performance, which was slightly different this time...i suppose they have to mix it up, since they do the same thing every day...they didn't drop any of the trapeze artists this time, it was impressive...
dinner that night was at the hotel we stayed in the first time...we thought we were buying tickets for a buffet...but it didn't work out quite that way...we were seated, and they started bringing out food...small plates with just a bit of everything, so it didn't seem like a lot...but it just kept coming...by the time they brought out the soup and rice, we were both stuffed...tofu, a roll with meat in the middle, rootlike veggies to put into lettuce leaves, acorn jelly, fish nuggets, sweet potato, rice, chicken soup, little meatballs, mandu, and finally, tea to finish the meal...after eating, we wandered outside, and i looked at the mural that was in front of the hotel...the last time we were in north korea, it was a picture of kim il sung on a park bench, reading to kids...(or something like that)...they had changed it...this time, it was a picture of father and son...kim il-sung and kim jong-il...(kim jr was painted to look a lot more slim than he is in real life)...though i don't know if i was supposed to, of course i took a picture...
back to the hotel, just chilling and relaxing, watching a little tv...(a luxury most north koreans don't have...if they do have it, they don't get to watch the channels our hotel has, like cnn)...i ended up falling asleep around 9pm...my traveling partner wanted to see the bar in the hotel, called the sky lounge...it was on the 12th floor, and apparently was almost the entire floor...i fell asleep long before he got home...the next morning, when we got up, i asked him about it...turned out he was the only guest up there, and hadn't gotten back to the room until midnight...this was when he found out that the staff is mostly chinese, not south korean...even though he and the staff didn't really have any language in common, they communicated as well as possible...ivan asking details of their work, them asking him about his life...
the next morning our alarms (and wake up call) went off at 630am...so early...same deal as last time, checking out at 730am...only this time, instead of doing the walk around the lake and the seashore, we chose to do the hike called manmulsang...the bus ride to the starting point was 11 km, mostly switchbacks for the last 10km...i've gotta give credit to the bus driver...normally i get very carsick on those sorts of drives, but i didn't feel a darn thing...we got out, and started the hike, with all the craziness that comes from people sorting themselves out...the people who mosey...the people who want to do the hike in world record time...the older ladies who hike in dress flats...(i saw several women who fit this description)...this hike was much like the second part of the previous day's hike...going up up up...only it went on for a lot longer...great views though...going up could basically be divided into two halves...the second half was rather windy...in a couple pictures ivan took, my hair is nearly straight up over my head...i did have some fear of being blown off the mountain...howeva, when we got to the top of manyeongdae (a cliff) we were able to see the shore in the distance...it would've been even better if there hadn't been any haze...definitely worth all the wind and steps...going down ended up being tougher for me than all the going up...my legs just weren't used to supporting me going down down down down...a lot of the way down was uneven, making my footing not so good...ivan was great at it though, he didn't seem to have any problems getting all the way down...
after the hike, the routine was the same as the last trip...shop a bit, kill time for several hours, then do everything backwards...north korean customs, south korean customs, then the bus ride back to seoul...
another great trip, even though it was short and i didn't understand nearly everything that was said by anyone other than ivan...the next time i go back to north korea (and i really hope there is a next time) i want to go to a different area, see another part of the country...here's hoping that works out sometime:)