O Ship

I woke up way too early in a sweat. Nothing unusual. I heard the alarm go off at 7:30. Chris was already up so he came back to make sure I was awake. I got up not too much later. I checked e-mail and drank water. There was a tickle in my throat so I took three packets of vitamin C. Then I showered and got dressed. I ate a handful of nuts. I packed some seed crackers in a bag, along with two bottles of coconut water. I also put peppermint gels in my backpack. Last, I put on my sneakers and we left. We walked down to the parking lot formerly known as Duffy's. The MWR bus was waiting and Scott and Myra were in the front seat. So we sat behind them. I felt fine until the bus started to move. But once it got off the base, I felt ok again. Chris talked to Scott and the other Chris most of the way. I ate my seed crackers before we got there. Then I talked to Mari, the kindergarten teacher. We stopped in Busan to pick up one person. At that stop, several of us went to the restroom. Then we drove up into the mountain behind Busan, which took almost an hour. I felt fine until the path up the mountain switched back and forth. Finally it stopped and we got off. We walked through what is called the East Gate.

Just an old arch, really. Then the hike started. Mostly we walked on bare ground or stones on bare ground. There was a lot of walking up. I was panting heavily and thinking I was out of shape. Chris would not leave my side and we lagged behind the rest. I wished we could have walked slower, but Chris was worried about holding up the others. Turns out he needn't have worried. We did catch up to some of the group, stopping to take pictures on a rock. From then on, Myra stayed with me. She said I wasn't out of shape, just having hot flashes which were shooting up my blood pressure, perhaps dangerously. I did have a headache at times and she said I looked flushed. With her support, we took breaks. Myra mentioned that the Korean word for 50 is 'o ship'. Good, 'cause any Korean hearing me struggle up the mountain probably thought I said "50". We stopped at the North Gate for everyone to catch up. But there was one man who wasn't there. Eventually we found out that he (for whatever reason) ended up back at the beginning point. From the North Gate there was a lot of walking downhill over rough rocky terrain. Great for the brain, but not so much for the ankles. We came to a temple complex. Our tour guide's friend took us through and explained about the three Buddha's and the Mother's Love Buddha. Then he showed us a pagoda which presumably held the charred remains of Buddhas. We walked down lots of steps to the front entrance. He explained the signs written in Chinese characters. Then he had to leave. We followed our tour guide ever downward. We stopped at a trinket shop. Then we walked down several streets to find the bus. The place was crawling with hikers and visitors and I wondered how the monks at this temple complex could meditate, which we were told was their main job.

The bus was going to go back to the starting point to pick up the man who went back. But due to traffic, that would have prolonged our trip. So the tour guide had someone call him and tell him to take a bus to the botanical garden. But when we got there, he was not. We drove down the whole street. We were going to stop for kimbap, but both places were closed. Finally the guide asked the man to take a taxi to meet the bus. The bus pulled over by a subway stop. The tour guide got off along with the lady from Busan. I thought they left, but they came back when the missing man finally showed up. Then the guide and the lady disappeared into the subway. The driver took us back to base. Scott and Myra gave us a ride home. Myra reiterated that I should have my hormonal blood levels checked. She thinks I should be on hormone meds like she is. Chris got on his laptop. I ate some fish, and then mixed hummus, fermented soybeans, sprouts and raw garlic together. I used my old laptop to read e-mail. I also watched videos on stretching the psoas muscles. The volume was very low for some reason. Then I got on the floor and tried some of the exercises. After that, I wrote up my blog post to that point. We watched two episodes of House. Chris checked me for ticks. He folded laundry as I downloaded all the pics and typed up the rest of my blog.
* I found out later that the temple is fairly low on the mountain. Most of the hike could have been avoided. *