April 9- Igidae

Last Saturday Dorrial, Amanda and I set out for a walk to Igidae National Park. It’s about 40minutes walk away from my apartment and it’s a mountainous area just on the cost of Busan. We had all heard great things about the place and it was a beautiful day outside, so we decided it would be the perfect place to go.

We set out on our adventure and when we got close to the entrance of Igidae we stumbled upon what I thought was a market. When we walked closer we found that it wasn’t a market, rather it was a bunch of little seafood huts where they had tanks and tanks of live fish (and eels, octopus and other creatures). They’d cook the fish up right in front of you. The whole idea is fairly interesting but I don’t think I could eat something that was just wiggling around. We noticed that people would just stare at us when we walked from vender to vender and they would often shout “Meeguk” which translates to American. It was an interesting experience but I don’t think something that I would ever want to eat.

When we made it to the park I was overcome with a sense of joy. It was so beautiful and scenic. The combination of rigid rocks with green grass and bright blue water reminded me of the Bondi costal walk in Australia… it was such a nice escape for the day! One of the nice things about Igidae is that it is built up a bit but still maintains much of the original natural beauty. I was grateful to the fact that there were little paths, bridges and steps because they assisted greatly in getting around.

While we were walking we came across this little path which had systematically placed stones. We looked at the sign and realized that this was a reflexology spot. People would remove their shoes and sometimes socks and walk across these stones. I didn’t try this, but I would imagine that it’s not particularly enjoyable… many of the stones were fairly high and pointy—ouch!

These kids were playing a game where you stand on one foot and try to knock the other person over... their parents and siblings were so into it-- cheering them on! It was hilarious to watch!

The day was filled with beautiful scenery and sights looking out at the ocean—it’s breathtaking and very relaxing. After about five hours of hiking, we decided to start heading back and grab dinner. I decided to splurge on cheesa-dunkasuh, which is basically pork schnitzel with cheese in the middle, served with rice (very heart healthy!)

That night we had planned on going out to a bar for drinks, but after over six hours of walking, I laid down for a quick nap and didn’t get up until the next morning.