Journey to Korea: Bukhansan National Park and Namdaemun Market/ Thursday

Today we decided to go to Bukhansan National Park and do some hiking. We took the bus there which dropped us off about a mile from the starting point, which was a walk up quite a big hill and we weren't even to the mountain! Right at the beginning it was very peaceful, such a change of pace from the city. It was sprinkling a bit but the trees provided some cover. We didn't know what to expect but about a 1/2 mile up we came across a Buddist compound which was so pretty. They invited us for lunch which we declined because they believe in eating every morsel which I wasn't sure I could do seeing as I am not to crazy about Korean food and I didn't want to offend anyone. We were thirsty and our water bottles were empty so one of the monks showed us where we could fill it which was a pool of water under a big rock. I have to say, some of the best water that I have had. After looking around for awhile we decided to keep on hiking up, where we climbed about a mile where we either lost the trail or that was it! We couldn't figure it out, if we went any further we figured we would fall down the mt.! After our trip back down we caught the bus back and treated ourselves to McDonalds! When we were well rested we decided to go to Namdaemun Market which is considere a tourist gem. It was very large and crowded but so differerant than anything we have seen. After 5:00 the food vendors start coming out and it is so cool. The sights and smells are so Korean! Finally we made it home after a long day, where our feet hurt and our backs were sore but it was an amazing day. DMZ tomorrow.