Korean drama - day 14: Disappointment at Jiran National Park (7.12.11)

Looking forward to the peak!

It was still so dark at 5am!

Woke up at 4:27am. Packed up. Decided to leave my laptop in the backpack since I have a lock. Regretted not getting a travel insurance before I fly.  I left the room exactly around 5:05am. Reached a junction but it was too dark to know which way. Went ahead and saw the temple ticket counter, thought it would be the other way. But it seemed to be some housing area and the dog was barking as if he was telling me "No! No! Not this way!"
  

I should have been at the
peak instead!

Went back to the ticket counter, the staff was asleep, obviously. Just in front of it, I saw the big sign showing a map of the trails. Perfect!  Based on my understanding of Korean Hangeul language that I saw on the board, the direction to the right should be going to the waterfall. Couldn’t figure out about the left direction though, so I walked a bit further up to find out it was actually going towards the school.  So, I came back and took the right path to reach the temple entrance.  So far so good!  Saw a sign saying “Buril waterfall 2.4km”. I walked towards that directions and noticed a Hanguel sign. After a few minutes on the road, I returned to capture the signboard so that I could refer the Hanguel for Buril waterfall as well as the Sambibong peak. 

Waterfall... (before)

Waterfall... (after)

Already I could see a monk at 5:30am! The 2.4km was really strenuous!! It was all uphill continuously. I had to stop many times but I tried to keep them within 2 to 3min so that I don't waste too much time.  It was still dark and I saw warning notice about bears!  Although I thought what was the chances, but at one point I was really worried to meet one because I could hardly see anything clearly. I just moved on without trying to think about it. 
 

Typical note from fellow hikers. 
Translation anyone please?

Soon I reached the Buril shelter which was closed.  1.2km more to go.  Struggled further and finally reach the junction where Buril waterfall and Sambibong peak meets. It was around 6:30am and still pretty dark. I left my bag at the junction and detoured downwards to the waterfall which was a further 300m away. I was almost at the bottom but wanted to save some energy and didn't go all the way down. Anyway, I couldn’t get a very good view of the waterfall since it was still very dusky.  Around 6:55am, it started to get brighter that I could stopped using my headlight.

My expression said it all!

The disappointment signage!

Lunch at the riverside..

The way back to the junction was a quick 7minutes hike but next was the disaster. I turned to the peak direction but the road was closed!!  I walked to a temple near the waterfall and tried a couple of paths there. One of them led to a farm field while the other to a river where there were no more path to proceed further as well!!  I was so so so disappointed.  Had some snacks at the riverside and attempted to calm myself down.  It didn’t help at all. I was day-dreaming my sunset and sunrise experience at the peak.  I tried one last option to see if there were paths from the waterfall but no luck as well. Backed to the junction, I met two middle aged ladies on their way to the waterfall. I had no other choices left but to descend!  It would be too late for me to ascend from another trail. Jirisan would have to wait for me on my next visit!! 

Red tree at the temple

The stairs coming down from the
hiking path

I reached the minbak again around 8:40am. Showered and packed up. I found out that her room charge was indeed W40000 when I saw the price list inside the room.  But still, I decided to sneak away secretly and short-changed her, the additional W10000.  Shame on me!  I hoped the owner felt better for doing a “charity” to this poor chap!  After all, I really didn’t know where to look for her because my room was a standalone container deserted somewhere in the town!  Moreover, I would have to go to Hake to withdraw the money and return to Ssanggyesa, not to mention if I could even find an ATM there.

What You See...

... is really What You Get!

I returned to the bus stop where I alighted yesterday. Asked a restaurant owner for the next bus and was lucky to have a bus to Hadong 10min later. So, I was happy the wait was not long.  It came much earlier but departed just as what the restaurant owner said.  The cleaner was doing his job inside the bus before that. I asked the driver for the fee and he told me that I was supposed to get the ticket from a specific restaurant, which I suddenly recalled that it was actually mentioned in the Lonely Planet!! No wonder I saw one of the old lady passenger walking into the restaurant earlier. I quickly got my ticket and dashed back to the bus. Luckily, it was just a short walk to the restaurant.

One of the many bus trips

I reached Hadong about 50min later. Unlike my trip yesterday, it took longer because there were more stops for boarding passengers. I saw an ATM immediately. Crossed the road over but my ATM card didn’t work.  Asked the bank staffs if they know of any bank/ATM that works with Plus. They didn't seem to understand.  They directed me to another bank.  It was the same problem.  Saw a 3rd bank as I walked but it was still the same problem.  Then, I thought maybe the ATM at the post office would work, just like in Japan. So, I asked for the direction to one and the shop owner was very kind to offer taking care of my huge luggage at his shop while I walked over.  It was easy to find, but unfortunately, I still could not withdraw my money!  Since the bank cards didn’t work, I tried the credit cards instead.  I had two of my Singapore cards and one from Malaysia with me then, but not of them helped.  Started to feel a little panic by now, I walked around the 3 other banks to try them all although I knew the chances were very slim especially when it didn’t work on the first bank.  Feeling more panic now, I repeated the process on each bank asking for money exchange but unfortunately they only accept US dollar, Euro and Japanese Yen!!  Wished I had brought my Yen then.  After an hour and half, I had no choice but to move on to some bigger town. Since my next planned destination was Yeongam which was an hour away and then Mokpo, I decided to go there as the counter staff said the fare could be around W5000 but I needed to transfer at Gwangyang.
I started to do the maths of my remaining cash for the various trips.  The bus to Gwangyang departed at 12:40pm. The driver said so many things to me and of course, I could understand none at all!  Meanwhile, I realized that all Korean old ladies had only one hair style!  Curly short!

Samsung promoter dancing
in front of the street

We passed by Jisan, Sanggeum, Okgok station, Wonjeok, Yonggok, Seonyu, Sagok, Changduk apartment and many more. I still couldn’t find name of the station that the counter guy wrote to me. Then, came Gwangyang Nonghyup. That seemed like it! True enough, the bus driver's friend alerted me to alight and cross the bridge to the bus terminal! Saw the road sign stating 42km away from Hadong. The bus ride from Hadong took about 50 minutes.

At the bus terminal, I was shocked to find out the fare was W16000 to Mokpo!! Even Busan was nearer at W10500. I saw the schedule to Jinju and remembered the bank said their branch at Jinju might be able to change my Singapore Dollar. I was thinking of going there at Hadong as well but too bad I chose to come here instead!  A student happened to buy a ticket to Jinju.  I wanted to check out the town if there was any bank that works for my card, but Gwangyang looked pretty much like Hadong and gave up the idea.  I didn’t see any buses to Yeongam as well and made my last bet on Jinju for a W4800 trip!
There was still some time to kill at the bus terminal and couldn’t resist having some hot food.  Glad to find onden just outside the terminal. I gave her W5000 but she did not return any change yet. I think she probably would like to see how much I ate. When I was done and asked how much, my W5000 was gone with nothing left.  I really didn’t expect it to be used up, especially when I was really cash tight at that moment.

I was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus wondering what would be the consequences if I still could not get any money before dusk!  An old guy sitting next besides was so eager to talk to me!  He just kept talking and talking although I could only nod.  He was probably a teacher because he kept showing me his various text books!

With only W4480 left in my pocket, Jinju was my last chance!! It was a gamble still because I could have catch the bus to Busan where I would definitely be able to change my money.


It took about an hour and 15min to reach Jinju bus terminal. I looked around but didn't see any along the way. Met a policeman and asked for one.  I was directed to the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the bank said they could not accept at their branch.  The teller wrote me something on a piece of paper which turned out to be a bank name. I tried to ask a shop owner for it.  Somehow, I managed to understand his direction given, so I walked three junctions and turned right. It was already 3:30pm by this time. I really could feel the panic button now.  If I couldn't get any money before the bank close, I would have to sleep on the street!!!

My savior!

Saw the huge bank and reckon this should be the one that could save me from being a street beggar! Went in and saw a few ATMs. And to my greatest relieve, one of them had the "Plus" logo on it! That was a global ATM and my savior!!

With enough cash on hand again, I was a very happy man once more. I walked back to the bus terminal to check out the schedule for my desired destination, Yeongam. I asked the lady, but she said there was no such bus to the town!  Luckily I managed to tap on a wifi access and found out that I could go from Gwangju!  However, the next bus to Gwangju was only 2 hours later at 6:30pm! And the journey would take 2.5hours.  So I did some research to see if I could get a lodging there easily. The city is the 5th largest in South Korea with train station and subway, and there should be some motels around the bus terminal.
Had a wonderful late lunch and waited patiently for the bus.  The buses here were really punctual. They won't come when it was not the time yet, and they will go on the dot when it was time to go!

"Bouncy" bed at the love hotel

I reached the Gwangju city at 8:30pm.  I could see hiking shops everywhere!  Together with Ulsan, there was a World cup stadium at Gwangju as well.  Another 15 minutes later, I was at the huge bus terminal at Usquare.  I hopped over to the information centre and was attended by a not very helpful guy. Anyway, glad I managed to get the schedule for my bus tomorrow.   Also found out the schedule for my next destination at the ticket counter.  After the important tasks were done, it was time to pamper the stomach.  But, unfortunately there were only cafes around and no food was sold after 10:30pm in the building!

I walked through a few dark lanes and found my motel and wondered why it wasn’t brightly lighted.  Even the reception counter was dim as I walked in.  Only when I got into the room that I realized it was a …oh la la… love motel!!  I was busy for the rest of the night browsing through the “interesting” TV channels!