A Day of Contrasts

We spent the morning in the peace and tranquility of a Buddhist temple and the afternoon visiting one of Jeju’s Sex Museums. 

The Yakcheonsa Temple is a relatively new temple that was completed in 1996. It is a large complex, but is home to only eight monks. 

 

One to three night Templestays are offered, but didn’t work with our schedule, so we opted for a three hour course instead. What you do at a course at a Buddhist Temple? 

Well…….we made a 108* bead prayer bead necklace  (I am pretty sure that Steve has never made jewelry before), performed 108* prostrations 108 is significant as being the number of ways that one may suffer), 

• There are 6 bodily pathways that lead to suffering: eyes, ears, nose skin, tongue and mind. There are 6 objects that lead to suffering: something that you see, hear, feel, smell taste or think about. There are 3 periods in which you suffer: the past, the present and the future. (6x6x3 = 108). Here is a link to the 108 prostrations: https://youtu.be/Zacqn6BMx3E

had a  lesson in meditation

 

learned to drum,

 

had a tour of the temple 

 

and ate an amazing lunch. 

 

Our teacher, Tobin was recently interviewed by CBC for a segment that will air during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. How cool is that!

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Once we were at peace with the world, we assaulted our senses with a visit to the "Museum of Sex and Health", just one of many museums on this theme. 

 

Here are a few "censored" highlights: 

 

 

 In case you were interested, the foods recommended to enhance “ the experience” include: lean read meat, berries, watermelon, figs, walnuts, oranges, legumes, tuna and broccoli. 

 

Jeju Island, South Korea

After travelling for over 24 hours we arrived in Jeju Island, in the southern part of South Korea where we checked into the Hyatt Regency for a little luxury to assist in getting over jetlag.

 

Jeju is known for its hiking, scuba diving, kitschy museums and honeymooning. We spend the first day exploring our surroundings. The scenery is gorgeous. 

 

We checked out  Cheonjeyeon Pokpo with it’s three waterfalls, tropical gorge and botanical garden. 

 

 

We saw lots of Dolharubang, which are volcanic stone statutes . 

 

The original ones were carved in 1750 and 47 originals still exist. One legend is that they were designed to ward off evil. Another legend is that they were fertility symbols.

 

Steve, of course, found a crazy deal at the Hyatt which included a massage package…ahhhhh. The Spa has a  jjimjilbang, traditional bath house similar to the Japanese onset which we have been enjoying as well.

Safety in South Korea

South Korea must be the safest country in the world!! Afraid that you may be leaning against the door when the elevator arrives & you'll fall into when the door opens? No worries - they have a sign for that.

Might stub your toe on the rock in the middle of the path? Yup, they have a sign for that too!

And no chance that you'll hit your head either.

Concerned about running out of Buddhas? This monastery has 80,000, so they'll always have a spare.

And don't worry that the local Buddha will not take you as a disciple. Chop off your own arm to show that you're serious, and your acceptance is guaranteed!

And finally, if you're concerned that your friends are having more sex than you are, don't worry - the South Koreans have got a sign for that too!!

We are having a great time, seeing some amazing signs and eating incredible food. Just don't ask us how often we are having sex.

Central Asia!

Several years ago, the Kyrgyzstan national alpine club invited the Alpine Club of Canada to attend a celebration of that huge, vastly significant mountaineering anniversary - the 60th anniversary of the fist ascent of Mount Communism. We were intrigued because
a. the mountains sounded really cool
b. it was crazy cheap
Or at least it was crazy cheap until we realized that we would have to fly on Aeroflot via Moscow, which was stupid expensive. But ever since then, we have had it on our list. 95% of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous and 40% of those are above 3,000 m. There are plenty of unclimbed peaks below 4,000 m, and its the cheapest place in the world to bag a 7,000 m peak. The lack of 8,000 m peaks means that this country is off the radar of a lot of climbers, but the area is quite popular with Russians (well, it was before the oil price dropped and their economy imploded) and Germans. No visa required + a reasonable stable government = a good time to go!
We both have a bucket list item to visit 100 countries. Right now, Steve is at 78 and Jackie is at 69 (Steve having to work in a lot of weird places in the past). We originally planned to fly to Kyrgyzstan via Istanbul, but then decided to go via South Korea. Steve had worked a few times in Seoul, but never really saw much of the country. Kyrgyzstan is exactly half way around the world from Alberta, so it didn't matter which way we went.

We fly from Calgary > Vancouver > Seoul > Jeju, an island at the south end of South Korea where we will do some hiking and diving. Then we return to Seoul for a few days for some sightseeing. Next we fly to Tashkent for a 10 day cultural tour following the path of the old silk road. For 1,000 years, the swath between Peking and Baghdad was the centre of the civilized world - while most of our ancestors were starving to death or beating each other with sticks during the dark ages, these folks were inventing algebra! We fly from Tashkent to Urgench in Uzbekistan, and then have a private tour that involves driving & trains to take us back to Tashkent. Next we go overland from Tashkent to the Kygyz city of Osh, and then fly to Bishkek, the capital of Kygyzstan where we meet our ACC friends. 10 of us are going on a 2 week trek along the Inylchek glacier that ends up in the base camp of Peak Pobeda, which, at 7,439 m is the highest point in the country. We won't be attempting Pobeda, but we do plan an attempt on an adjacent peak. We fly by helicopter back to the base of the glacier and then return to Bishkek. Half of the trekkers are returning home, and 3 new ACC folks are joining us for a week of alpine climbing in the Ala Archa national park an hour's drive south of the capital. The we take a taxi to Kazakhstan (hey, its another country) and fly home after a couple of days in Almaty.

Morocco - Desert

We spent a few days driving,out to the desert. We visited a casbah, which was an ext need fortress where a family used to keep animals within an amazing utter wall over night to protect them from predators - both human and animal. This casbah dated from around the year 1200, and was part of a chain along a series of oases that formed a caravan route from the Sahara. 

The Moroccan roads over the high Atlas Mountains were very impressive. 

And so were some of the gorges that sliced through the mountains. 

The Todra gorge is the centre of climbing in Morocco. Pretty cool limestone!

We rode on camals for an hour to stay at a camp in the desert. I will NEVER be a big fan of riding camals! Their gait is oddly jolting and they are so wide that they hurt your legs. 

However, it was super cool to spend a night out in the desert. 

Morocco - Atlas Mountains

It doesn't rain often in Morocco, but it is pretty cold and miserable when it does!

The High Atlas Mountains are pretty rugged and beautiful. We did a four day trek supported by a cook with a mule. 

Being supported meant that we only carried day packs, and the cook made all of our meals. Pretty luxurious!

The high light of the trip was the ascent of the highest mountain in Northern Africa, mount Toubkal at 4137m / 13,652'. 

It was a pretty easy mountain technically, but we did need crampons near the top. We were the last group to leave the hut, and the first group to summit! Not bad for a couple nearly middle aged Canadians. 

Off to the Sahara desert next!

Morocco - Marrakech

I have always wanted to go to Marrakech. It just sounded so cool, so different, so exotic. The real thing did not fail to impress. It is such a wild mixture of the old and new. 

Five hundred year old buildings topped with satellite dishes. 

Men in traditional robes that have not changed in centuries. But the shades are new!

Who has the right of way when a pedestrian, a bicycle, a motorbike, a taxi and a bus all run into  a donkey cart?

One of the biggest surprises we had was the Majorelle Gardens, which were originally created around 1920 by a French artist and later restored by Yves St. Laurent. 

Neither of us are really big "garden" people, but the cactus collection there was amazing!

We stayed in a Riad, which was a converted family home centred around a court yard and a small swimming pool. It was down three back alleys from the souk (market place) in this picture. One of the Riad staff met us where our car dropped us off to lead us to the Riad, because we would have never found it on our own. The owners do not know how old their building is - it might date from the mid 1899's but the street in the picture above has 500 year old buildings and was originally laid out 800 years ago. 

Our dinner one night was a beef Tangia - beef and spices cooked all day in a clay pot in a local hammam ( public pool / bathing / massage facility). The guys who run the furnaces make a couple of extra bucks by cooking this stuff up. The owner of our Riad sent his neighbour (pictured above) to pick up the dinner. 

Which was exceptionally delicious! We also took advantage of a private hammam inside our Riad. Steve had a male masseuse; Jackie had a female one. In either case, they wash you, scrub your body, wrap you in clay, wash you again and then do a local form is stretching massage called Iqubal - kind of like partner yoga paired up with a few Cirque du Soleil moves!

We both really enjoyed the El Fna square,which is a full on market, food court and circus. " El Fna" is roughly translated as Assembly of the Dead or Mosque of the Invisible. The snake charmers were charming, the music was bizarre, and we were convinced that most of the veiled belly dancers were men. 

Yup, lots of really impressive old buildings too!

next we are off to the Atlas Mountains.