ArtsyFartsy - part1

I've really enjoyed taking photos ever since I arrived in Korea. (I've never been a really big photo person before this, I swear.... on our Honeymoon, Shannon and I had to make a resolution, yes, a resolution to take at least 1 photo together (as a couple) every day, in Hawaii! We still missed 1 day I think. Still, that shows how much we're not typically picture people. We both are usually like, "You take pictures" "No, you take pictures, I don't want to carry the camera" "Meh, guess we're not getting any pictures". But since we've been here I've pretty much monopolized the camera, with Shannon occasionally saying "make sure you get a picture of that!" Ok, side story over.)

Since I've been so enraptured with temples and mountains and cherry blossoms and ocean and all the beautiful stuff around me, I've actually taken the time to tweak some of my more awesome photos. This is just part 1, I have so many awesome photos I'll have to blog more after I edit them.

Gwangalli Beach at night. I was told the words being projected on the sand was a poem.

Haeundae park.

Jin-ha Beach and Island (10 minutes north of our apartment!)

Early spring, flower barely peaking out!

Valley on the way to Moonsoosa.

Mountain view with pine tree.

Cherry blossoms outside our apartment.

Wind-swept tree on a mountain. 

Approaching Moonsoosa.

Path down.

Moonsoosa bell tower coming down from the peak. 

I couldn't decide which one I liked best, with or without color. Gwangan beach.

If you're wondering how I edit my pictures, I swear it's just Microsoft Picture Editor. I don't own any sweet editing program (though I wish I did). This is just cropping, enhancing color (or getting rid of color) and playing with shadows and highlights.

I've actually taken so many photos at this point, there might be a part 2 tomorrow or later this week, just so I can catch up. :D

Feel free to use my photos anywhere you want to. Just please link back to my site if it's on the web, and let me know... I'd love to know you liked my photos enough to use them somewhere!

Godangbong 801.5meters above the ocean

Sunday, we hiked to the peak of this mountain- Geunjeongsan. Though I didn't blog about it, a couple of weekends ago we went to Beomeosa temple. It's a very large temple and a very busy tourist attraction. It's on the Geunjeongsan mountain, but we didn't hike up the mountain last time. There are a lot of hiking trails behind Beomeosa, but we really wanted to go to the peak - Godangbong.

Why? There were lots of reasons, it's the highest peak around, it's all rocky and cool looking, it overlooks a large fortress, and it has a golden spring - Geumseam.

Geumseam is a naturally formed cavity on top of a granite boulder standing off a cliff. According to the legend a golden fish came down from the world of Brahma on a 5 colored cloud and took residence in the golden fountain. The fountain is said never to run dry and the color of the water is always gold. The name of the mountain and the Beomeo temple [Beomeosa] originated from that legend. - Wikipedia

Shannon checking to see if it's really gold. Conclusion- not really, just dirty. Maybe on a less cloudy day it reflects gold or something.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. First, we walked about 3 very steep km until we saw this: 

It was .3km to the top at this point. This wasn't just hiking, we had signed up for a little bit of rock climbing while we were at it. You can barely see it in this picture, but there are platforms and steps up there. But not to get up to the rock. We have no idea how they built the platforms on the top of the rock without building an easier method of getting up the rock. By getting up the rock, I mean there were points where ropes were attached to the rocks to help you climb.

It was rough, especially for me as I have never claimed to be in shape, but it was totally worth it.

For this gorgeous view. That's the huge fortress wall front and center and Haeundae beach and the Gwangan bridge at the upper right. It was a little hazy that day, dang China Yellow Dust.

For anyone here in Korea, looking to do this hike. Go to the Beomeosa temple, continue to walk up hill (follow the other people), then you'll see signs, stay on the main path and follow the signs to Godangbong, the peak. Once you're at the peak, you can actually go a whole bunch of different ways. Make sure you keep track of the way back to Beomeosa, or you could end up hiking to the fortress or somewhere else instead. There are picture signs pointing the way to the Gold fountain, Geumseam. If you're slow like me, but faster then a lot of the Koreans (they like to take breaks and picnic and stuff, I'm jealous, I can't bring myself to stop for more then a couple minutes at a time), it will take you about 1.5 hours to reach the peak. Bring some water and plan on working hard, this is not easy walk!