Hiking Up Mt. Suri-San - What a View!

On Wednesday, October 3, 2007 we summited our, Mount Everest. We were told that it was just over this over pass, and to take the path on the right..........which is right when the path diverges in every which direction?

We took the middle road, and at times seemed to carve our own path up Mt Suri-San.

We really need to learn Korean.....no clue what the signs ment, but we hiked on!

The way up was filled with dirt pathes, a resemblence of stairs, boulders and steep unforgiving rock .

I know it appears that the entire way had stairs, but we can assure you that it didn't. Some places were so steep that there was a rope railing to pull yourself up the rock face!

Almost to the top!

Sanbon, Gunpo-City, Gyeonggi-do Korea

"I'm the King of the World!" Jon exclaimed as we summited Mt. Suri-San.

We passed many people coming down off of the mountain, and many people passed us on their way up. Towards the top it was a struggle, and we were both a bit light headed. A very nice man gave us some Twix bars, and showed us where the best view atop Mt. Suri-San was and we enjoyed the view together.

We could see almost all of Sanbon, even E-Mart!

We can't wait to come back and take more pictures, hopefully on a sunny day!

Helicopter landing pad

There were many people picnicing on top of the mountain, most of the picnic baskets consisted of some kind of meal, and alot of beer! We couldn't believe the amount of little kids at the top, or on the way up! When we were going down, an easier path, we even saw a mother carrying a toddler on her back!!

Which way would you take? We definately took the long way up, and the short way down, the way down was just as scary as the way up!

Tokin' Turtle

Many people had brought up water jugs to fill them with this great mountain spring water.

Crossing back over the overpass

Thats our building over there!

View this video with caution!! Next time we'll take better photos at the right places and more (with less shake) video.

Dr. Fish Organic Coffee Bar & Spa

Krista and I were wandering around downtown Sanbon one evening and someone was handing out flyer for this Book & Coffee Spa. The lady pointed to where it was so we decided to go in and take a look. As we were standing inside looking around a Korean girl in her teens was trying to serve us and give us information. She spoke English! It was fun talking to her - we found out that until the end of November you can go in and buy a specialty coffee, have some free toast and jam, read a book or use your notebook PC and then for FREE drip your feet in to this foot spa that contained little fish. The fish would suck on your feet and eat the dead skin and bacteria leaving them so fresh and so clean! What a neat idea..

There was a bit of a wait, so we decided to come back the next morning with John and Christie.

The foot spa area

Confucius say, little fish good for cleaning dirty feet.

This was an awesome find! If your ticklish like Jon is.. you'll have to find something to occupy your mind while the fish do their job.

Check out the video of the fish swimming around - John T has somehow managed to have all the fish on his side.

COEX Mall Aquarium

Over Chusok we ventured into Seoul to the COEX Mall Aquarium with John and Christie, it was a definite treat, and the bonus was that foreigners got in at a discount 10,500W ($10.50)for each of us, of course it said that we had to show foreign identification, but for some reason they didn't ask us!

You can get to COEX by taking the Green Line 2 to Samseong Station Exit 5.

The COEX Aquarium is the only theme-oriented aquarium in Korea. There are 90 exhibition water tanks and 140 tanks used for breeding. There are about 600 species and 40,000 oceanic fish altogether. The tanks are divided into six different sections and are viewed in a tunnel like atmosphere. The first exhibit is the 'The Inca Empire'. This exhibit displays the origins and relics from the Incan Empire. At the end of the Incan Empire, the 'Amazonian World' awaits. In this exhibit tropical fish and cute otters can be seen. In the seashore section of the 'Amazonian World’, sharks and stingrays can be viewed. The end of the 'Amazonian World’ leads to 'Seven Seas'. In romantic settings, fishes from the Mediterranean to the North and South Poles can be seen. After that, you can experience the ‘Ocean Kingdom’ in which displays dozens of sharks, polar bears, and numerous fish. You can see different types of fish swimming above you in the ceiling.



Finding Nemo



How many seahorses can you spot in this picture?



Only in Korea would they put squirrels on display!




Beautiful Coy Fish




No, we haven't seen any place in Korea that looks like this.




This next set of exhibits we fondly called, "What can you put fish into?" Try to spot the fish in each picture!












I wouldn't want to shower with this dude!



Yes, a much better tv than ours!



Look at how big this fridge is, I wish ours was as big!




Microwaved crabs anyone?!




Fish a la Bistro style!




Yes, those stick things are fish, they are shrimp fish!




A wash machine/dryer, who knows, but it is pretty!



"Fra-gi-le, it must be French."








I don't know that this computer would work so well...



A pig-nosed turtle, now I have seen it all!



Jon's new aspirations, to be the Jacques Cousteau of Korea!



Can you spot the weedy sea dragon....yes that is it!










We even saw a polar bear!



Sawtooth Shark



Sea turtles







These jelly fish brought back memories of Cancun........without the pain!



Spider crab, spider crab.........



Video of a Crab Eating Something



Video compilation of Fish, Shark and a Sea Otter with music!