And just like that, I am entering into the final phase of my Korean road trip. I have exactly 19 days until my trusty Honda and I must part, and still a whole half of the country to explore – let’s get to it!

While part of me is a little bereft leaving Namhae behind, I am still incredibly excited about what lies ahead and what else there is to see. Having happily and successfully completed my main road trip goal, everything from here on in just seems like a huge bonus to me. And of course, one can never tire of this view…

The constant sight of mountains wherever I turn here in Korea will always bring me joy, both while still here and as a memory when I leave.

Today we are bound for the city of Gwangju where I will be staying for three days. On the agenda – hiking, making a new friend (hopefully), and more hiking. Which means that I will need some sustenance along the way, right?

Mudeungsan National Park is our first stop before getting to the city, situated directly east on the outskirts of Gwangju, it’s a national park that I consider to be unique for its accessibility as well as being fun and enjoyable to visit. Mudeungsan was initially designated as a provincial park in 1972 before eventually gaining national park status in 2013, and I think it is probably due to its previous regional designation that the park is vastly different in terms of its use from other ones I have visited. Usually when you look at the maps for national park hiking, there are a handful of trails that are marked for use. The Mudeungsan map however is littered with trails. It looks like someone has taken a bundle of multi-coloured string and just thrown it in the air and let it land on the map and called them trails. You can walk pretty much anywhere through this park, and that is in stark contrast to most others.

It is also due to this plethora of paths that I pretty much throw my hands in the air when I arrive, and pick a random feature on the map to aim for. There’s just too much to choose from and everything here is interlinked anyway, if I don’t like where I am headed I can easily choose a different path and tromp down that one instead. And I like this idea very much. I don’t have to worry about one massive long slog to a peak; I can head here, there, and everywhere along nice short connecting paths for as long as I want before calling it quits.

Usually I would be loathed to hike today, for it is Saturday. And that means people. Tons of people. Even more people than usual given Mudeungsan’s proximity to Gwangju, this is the place to hike. But today, the atmosphere in the park is great. Yes, there are lots of people, but everyone is relaxed and laughing and strolling around happily. It’s not like hiking in the normal sense. This feels more like a community event. There’s even a really nice motivational banner as you walk in the entrance.    

Even before my feet hit the trail, there is a temple to explore and I really am a sucker for a good temple. This one is interesting for it contains two things I haven’t seen before: artwork that obviously tells some story related to Buddha, though unfortunately I have no idea what about, as well as a huge collection of statues which I can only assume are Buddhas (feel free to tell me if you know!).

The feature I am heading for this afternoon is the Dansan Tree. Now, I apologise if the translation of this is a little skewed (I’m using Papago on my phone), but I think the term ‘Dansan’ is referring to a tree that is deified, that is, it is thought to contain a god and is a village guardian. The tree itself is a Zelkova tree and is about 500 years old. Whatever the story behind it, it is an impressive tree and well worth taking a little rest under. Which is exactly what I do.

Once again, my foreigner magic is obviously switched on, for I sit down for no longer than a minute before I am approached by an older gentleman who wants to chat with me. It turns out he is a ranger here, he looks to be out on a litter picking round, and chats to me in English while I try to throw in a few Korean bits along the way. He is a happy and enthusiastic chap and asks me where I am hiking to today. I am a little vague myself given I am randomly winging it, and casually mention I might head for the peak. He then gives me a heads up on the summit height (just under 1,000m) and the path, and looks concerned if I would make it. I explain I am visiting all of the national parks in Korea and list some of the peaks I have already climbed to help reassure him, and he smiles widely and then gives me chocolate and tells me that I am obviously a strong woman and it seems he thinks this is a fine thing to be, so that makes me feel happy. He asks my age and I tell him, but then he goes on to tell me he thought I was younger which I will also take as a compliment, because the Koreans I have met so far seem to be very forthright with telling you what they think, so I assume he is telling the truth and I’m happy to lose 4 years by his estimate. He asks me to guess his age and I hesitate and hazard about 50 (in reality I wanted to say 60, but I am British and therefore must err on the side of caution at all times). He grins again widely and laughs, hands me another chocolate and tells me he is 70. Well, there you have it, a prime example of Koreans never looking their age.

The encounter makes me even more glad and grateful to be here today, and the ranger departs to his rounds and I head off to hike towards the peak amidst a rainbow of leaves.

I don’t reach the peak. I decide to follow a more enticing trail through the woods instead. Just cause I can. I pass a monument to someone (no sign to say who) and a ‘peak’ stone of sorts called Bonghwangdae.

I come across a black squirrel (I love the colour of these, so much prettier than our grey ones) who had quite a bit of an attitude problem and sat in the tree not far from the trail chiding the hikers going by. He really was quite cocky and I admired his pluck.

I see pretty trees, check out the distant mountains, and cross scenic bridges.

Finally, I decide I have had enough walking for the day and take a casual stroll down yet another path that will eventually see me delivered back to the entrance. I stop where I began my hike and look back. I take a moment to appreciate what a fun and light-hearted hike I have had today, such a different experience from the majority of the national parks and a real treat to have visited.

And despite the fact that I will shortly come to slightly dislike the city of Gwangju, Mudeungsan National Park does not disappoint and is well recommended for a visit.

Now I’ve mentioned it, I’m going to throw this out there right now; Gwangju is not my favourite city at all. This is for three reasons:

First and foremost, the drivers in the city of Gwangju are even more assholey than the other Koreans I have encountered on the roads so far, and also the city roads suck. An example of this is driving down a main stretch of road in the city, 3 lanes wide on my side, all lanes have arrows indicating you can drive straight ahead on them, but for those of us in the far left-hand lane going straight through the traffic light, you then discover the lane disappears. It doesn’t taper out, it simply does not exist once you cross the junction. There is a car lane you are in, and then there isn’t. There is no indication the lane ends, it just…vanishes. And so there you are, now stuck in the middle of the junction with no lane and no hope that the other drivers will take pity on your plight and let you in.

Have I mentioned recently how awful driving in Korea is?

Second, and this isn’t necessarily the fault of the city but it gets voted down simply through association, the Airbnb I stayed in was awful. I will clarify, this was a love motel, though that’s not necessiarily always an indicator of a rubbish place to stay, the love motel I stayed in while in Andong was really nice. This one was sleezy. The décor was icky, the bathroom old and stained, and it came with really trashy his and her bathrobes. And it was noisy, city noise, not ‘noise’ that you’d possibly expect in such a place. It was just trashy and I didn’t sleep well and also the car parking sucked royally. So, that all gets the city a down vote.    

And finally, though possibly not the fault of the city but maybe, I fell over here. I was coming out of the subway after my evening outing – which I will relay in a moment after I’m done whinging about Gwangju – and I tripped and went smack down on the pavement. Full face plant. Now, I really can’t remember the last time I actually fell over, but it must be at least a good 10 or 20 years ago. I am a pretty stable person in general and so therefore it all came as a bit of a galloping shock to fall over in the middle of the street at night in Korea. I certainly tripped (possibly the fault of my Crocs, maybe the pavement stones, could be both) and went down on both knees together and then straight down on my palms which skidded out from under me so I was literally face down on the floor. In shock. I lay there a couple of seconds and then manage to come to my senses (and check my phone that was in my hand, thankfully undamaged!) before assessing any broken bits I may have. My hands and wrist are scraped and bleeding a little, my knees definitely feel like they should be shattered but later discover they’re only a smidge bruised but hurt, and though I don’t immediately register it, the following morning (and for the next month and a half I might add) my ribs feel like they are poking me with sharp sticks every time I move (especially if I try to sleep).

So whether unfairly or not, I slightly don’t like Gwangju.

To even it out a smidge, I will say they do have a really nice laundrette here in the city. It’s nice and clean with a seating area where I was able to sit and blog while I waited for my clothes. 

They also have a cool restaurant called Dookki Tteokbokk (it’s a chain I am sure) which is a slight self-serve tteokbokki restaurant where you choose your ingredients and cook at your table. But more on that in a mo.

And finally, I came across two nice Korean women while in the city. One who was walking behind me when I fell on the street and she came to check if I was OK and seemed very concerned, and the second who helped me in the laundrette when I was trying to work out the self-serve machine for dryer sheets. So maybe the people here might be nice (except the ones who drive).

Right, mini rant over. And not really a rant, just a grump, and really the only one I had in the whole of three months in Korea, that’s not bad at all in terms of a country.

Anyway, let’s quickly do food.

I am excited this evening, for tonight, I dine out. I am especially happy to be doing this as I am not alone, which means a slightly less awkward dining experience in general as well as having someone to talk to. As in a proper, full conversation in English. My dining companion this evening is Courtney, a young English teacher here in the south of Korea. Just like Evie, who I met back in Seoul near the beginning of my trip, Courtney is part of the EPIK teaching program that I am interested in finding out about and she has kindly (for the price of a bottle of Robinson’s squash) agreed to meet and chat through her experiences here in Korea.

We are both quite excited to try the restaurant this evening, this has been her suggestion and it is an excellent one. As we enter a chap comes and asks us how many people will be dining, shows us to the table and presents us with some metal bowls to use for our food gathering expedition. We basically have ordered two rounds at the ‘food bar’ and on the table there is a helpful pictorial guide to help us not look like such newbies when navigating the cooking process.

We go up and debate which sauce to try (in the end I think we get a BBQ and then later a sweeter something with garlic) and Courtney fills one of our little saucers with the concoction. We then circulate the food bar which contains our raw ingredients – noodles in all types of shape and form; tteokbokki in numerous forms such as sliced, small pillows, long tubes etc.; vegetables; and an assortment of other ‘stuff’, like boiled eggs and general banchan. They also have other types of side dishes which are fried ‘things’ such as dumplings and sweet potato (if I remember correctly, I was a little excited so might have missed the finer details here).

With our horde of food, we head back to the table (where of course we have casually left our bags and phones because you can do that here) and begin the cooking and eating process. And basically it all ends up like this…

I’m sorry, but in my opinion Korean dining experiences cannot be beat. Very much along with creating the catchiest k-pop and most bingeable TV, it seems the Koreans have also created the most sociable of food settings. Save one meal I had at a farm in backwater nowhere Texas one evening (where I ate the most delicious steak of my life), I have not had any other dining experiences that come close to the entertaining and satisfying ones I have had here in Korea. Yet another thing for me to miss when I leave.

Anyway, now fully stuffed from such good food, it is time to sign off and get ready for some more exercise tomorrow, for we head to Wolchusan National Park and its famous Cloud Bridge. Just six more parks to go and we will have seen them all – exciting times, people!