Last Saturday we joined Pedro Kim again for one of his tours.This time though we took public transport so that more people could go, so 17 of us got on the bus to the Wolchulsan National Park, which is just over an hour away.We had been told it was a tough hike, with much rock climbing, so I had done a hike on Friday before work to prepare myself, but Wolhculsan nearly killed me!The hike was only about 9km, but it took 10 of us 5 hours to complete, and the remaining 7 a lot longer.The weather was great, so the views were spectacular, and there are a couple of temples and a bridge, called the cloud bridge, along the way.There were many ropes and metal loops to help with the climb, and hundreds of steps, which I hated!When we reached the highest peak we stopped for lunch, and it was amazing how many people were up there.We only saw one other westerner, and nearly all the Korean hikers were over 40, many looking well into their 60's. The Koreans are so well prepared and set out amazing lunches at the top, along with beer and soju!The hike is definitely worth doing, but not for the inexperienced.

On Sunday we took the bus to Damyang Bamboo Park with some friends, including my new co-worker Kelsey.Even though the park is man-made, it's still a nice day out, and you can try bamboo ice cream and buy many products and souvenirs made from bamboo.Many Korean TV programmes and movies have been filmed there, and there are some traditional buildings along with an array of plastic panda's - Korean's seem to love their plastic animals!After the park we had a traditional lunch of Tteoggalb, which looks like a small beef burger, but has a really nice marinade.Along with this we had bamboo rice, which is served in a bamboo holder and had dried fruit in it, along with all the other usual Korean side dishes.

In the afternoon we took the bus back, and decided to go to the baseball game, as this was one of the last weekend games of the season.We had been unsure whether to go or not, but I'm so pleased we did.Our good fortune at meeting random Koreans continued and as Graham and Iris went to buy the tickets, Kelsey and I were approached by a Korean man wanting to improve his English.As he chatted to us it turned out he was some king of medic for the Kia Tigers (our team) and he asked Graham if he would like to go into the players area and meet the Australian pitcher Travis, before the game.Of course Graham jumped at the chance, and got his photo taken and to see the pitch from the players area.Then, Travis said he'd like to come out for drinks with us after the game, as they had the next day off!Unfortunately the Kia Tigers lost the game 7-2 (I think)! They played well but the Doosan Bears are a great team.After the game Graham gave Travis a call, and we met him in the car park.Graham and I got a lift with him back to his place to drop off his car, and then we all took a taxi down town to meet up with our friends at Speakeasy.It was a great night, as often those unplanned ones are, but on Monday morning Graham and I were both feeling a little worse for wear!!

Maggie x