Finding a Stomping Ground

To be honest, I was hoping that the base would be in a more mountainous region of the country, but as luck would have it, the Air Force was able to find one of the few spots in Korea without an abundance of craggy peaks.  Additionally, Korea does not really build "western" style parks, with bike paths and running paths and such.  Instead they go to temples and palaces left by their ancestors to do those kinds of things.

Unfortunately, the area of Songtan is lacking in the important palaces department as well.  I guess the Joseon Kings did not find it as appealing as the 7th AF.  However, after running into dead end after hiking dead end, I ran across a picture online of a pagoda on one Burak-san (-san in Korean means mountain), from the blog of an Airman that served here, and said that this mountain was only about 2 miles from base.

Well,  after frantic searching, and a very pleasant and productive conversation with my Korean librarian Mr. Pae, I was headed off to find this mysteriously difficult to locate mountain. I grabbed a cab to hopefully use his local knowledge, but either my Korean phrase book is not accurate, my pronunciation is terrible, or he just wasn't familiar with the park, because Burak-san signaled very little to him, so I asked for city hall instead, which according to Google maps is somewhat nearby.  With a shout and finger pointing, I signaled to the cabby that I had spotted the trail entrance from the road, thanked him and headed off.  Now, this is not quite Apex Gulch of Mt. Falcon, but the trails on this mountain are very well maintained, and heavily used.  And, despite it being a relatively short mountain, only about 600', there are no switchbacks, which can make for some steep uphill climbs.

For a Sunday Morning, this place was PACKED.  There were hundreds of locals out in their top of the line hiking gear, for a stroll and some exercise.  Unlike in America, it seems that the Koreans take full advantage of the amenities the local government provides for outdoor activities.  There is an entire one mile stretch of the trail basically lined with different exercise stations, including bench presses and some machine that you stand on and twist side to side.  These seemed to be more comical than useful, but it still saw heavy usage.  I was a little surprised by all of the stares I kept getting, though.  I kept thinking "These people live right next to a big US Air Force Base, I shouldn't be that odd to them.", then I realized that it was not ME, but my legs, my very hairy, very un-Korean legs, catching all the stares LOL!

Throughout the trail I kept running into these Cairns.  I am not really sure their significance, but they are obviously a living tradition, and can either be stand alone, such as this one, or be at the base of some "significant" tree.

Also, the Koreans traditionally buried the nobles in modes, such as these, and can be found in varying sizes throughout the country.  In fact I plan to travel to those of a few kings, as I read that they are great parks and even UNESCO World Heritage Locations.

It is a four mile trek to the summit of Burak-san, and makes for a pretty rewarding 12 mile round trip walk from the gates of the base, there and back again.  I am thrilled that I was able to find something like this within easy walking distance of the base.  It is a great exercise location, and also a good way to escape from the concrete jungle of the base, and the neon nightmare that is the downtown area just outside the gates (more to come in this phenomenon).

After my hike I stopped in a place recommended by a cabby for lunch.   There are basically three internationally famous dishes from Korea: Kim-chi, Bulgogi and Bipimbap.  I had a version of Bulgogi (short ribs) here.  It was a very good soup of light vegetable broth, cabbage scallions, mushrooms, dumplings seaweed, and the meat of a short rib.  I have to say, these string-like white mushrooms have come in just about every soup I've had here, and they add a GREAT texture that is a strange combination of crunchy, squishy and chewy.  Also, the dumplings were of rice, in the shape of two small connected mothballs, and were kind of chewy and sticky, mostly tasteless.  I quite liked them.  The ribs of course were very good, tender and succulent, but not very flavorful.  This aspect was added by a green tangy dipping sauce that accompanied the soup.

In addition to every meal, a variety of side dishes are provided.  There is always Kim-chi, which I liked in very small quantities, but am not in love with.  Of a similar flavor but more interesting texture, were the cubes of radish, that were very crisp and spicy, in the upper right corner.  A bit more pungent and less pleasant mouth feel were the dried minnows with peppers, in the center of the table.  Lastly, there was a slightly bitter blanched green served plainly with toasted sesame seeds.  I enjoyed this, but was not swooning for more.  Overall this was a great, filling lunch, and you can't beat the portion or quality for $7.50.  I will definitely be back ;-)