Day 16

We arrived in Leon this morning having spent a rather weird night in Sahagun. The town itself is extremely interesting, an old eclesiastical centre that has fallen on hard times and is now a necropolis of tumbling monastaries and convents. We visited one church in particular, named San Lorenzo, where they had a display showing the procession they hold every Easter week through the town.

(From here)

The local men dress up in black and purple robes and carry enormous wodden statues showing scenes from the life of Christ through the streets. They pride themselves on how life-like the statues are, ensuring that they are made to perfect scale.

(From here)

(From here)

Here are a couple of pictures of past parades.

(From here)

In the above photo note the crazed expressions on the statues in the background. That seemed to be par for the course; part KKK rally, part zombie freak show.

Unfortunately we arrived too late in the weirdo season for this year´s parade but the promo poster for 2009 looks great!

From here

Just to add to the atmosphere we spent the night at the Santa Cruz convent of the Benedictine nuns. The convent itself is in a beautiful 17th century building next to the crumbling San Tirso church.

(From here)

In order to stay at convents and monasteries along the route you must be walking or cycling to Santiago and you must be in possession of a document called a credencial. Thus you usually share accomodation with like minded people; religous zelets, rosy cheeked backpackers etcetera etcetera. So you can imagine our surprise when we returned to the convent from a trip to the store to find the dodgiest, meanest, scariest looking druggie you have ever seen greet us at the door.

Druggie: Welcome pilgrims!

Us: Gulp.

(File photo)

(From here)

As welcoming and hospitable as the nuns are, they aren´t getting any younger. In fact, the median age for the convent was 82 (including Anna and I). Thus one of them had granted admittance to this savory character who could not produce a credential, nor passport, nor ID of any form and as it turned out, couldn´t tell us where he had stayed the previous night or indeed where he was going. The only sense that we could make from his ramblings was that the church is evil and the Knights Templar protected a great secret. At first we thought he may have been a latter day prophet but then we realised he was just recounting the plot of The DaVinci Code.

Needless to say we all had a pleasant nights sleep, holding our valuables under our pillows and keeping one eye on the nutjob.

I´ll keep an eye on the Interpol webiste for the next couple of weeks.

Hasta luego.

Gwanak Mountain Part 1

Perhaps the most well known mountain in southern Seoul is Gwanak San, so named because of it's resemblance to a nobleman's horsehair hat.

+

=

Standing at just 629 meters it is hardly the highest mountain in the city but it is one of the most iconic and divides Seoul and it's neighbouring province of Gyeonggi.

Occupying over 19,000,000 square meters and with over 48km of trail it offers the thousands of hikers who ascend it every weekend panoramic views across the city and west to Incheon.

Originally believed to have been a volcano, in 1394 the founding fathers of Hanyang (modern day Seoul) were advised to build their capital at the foot of Gwanaksan, facing north, so as to avoid the "force of fire" emanating from the mountain. Ignoring the advice of the sages King Taejo built his palace, Gyeongbok-gung, in what is now downtown Seoul, on the north side of the Han river. Gwanaksan had it's revenge however in 1594 when the palace was razed by the Japanese. The palace was only rebuilt in the late 19th century and having learned a lesson from his ancestors, Regent-Prince Heungseon Daewon-gun ordered the placement of two mythical lions, haetae, in front of the palace, facing south, to protect it from the fires of Gwanak mountain.

(From here)

The mountain is dotted with temples and shrines, the most spectacular being Yeonju-dae.

(From here)

Originally established by one Master Uisang in 667 it has played host to many a dignitary, perhaps the most famous being Princes Yangnyong and Hyoryeong, who on hearing that their father, King Taejong (r. 1400-1418) had chosen their younger brother (and later Korea's most famous king) Sejong as the crown prince, took residence here in what can best be described as an adolescent huff.

Close by is Yeonju-am, a 7th century temple complex believed to have been founded by the same Master Uisang responsible for the smaller shrine mentioned above. Yeonjuam is famed for it's three storied stone pagoda which dates from the 10th century.

(From here)

Umyonsan Part 1

We are very lucky living where we do. Within 20 minutes we have three excellent hills and mountains in easy reach.

One of the many great things about living in such a high population density city like Seoul are the ubiquitous recreational facilities. Wherever you live in the city, you are guaranteed not to be far away from a hill or mountain with a myriad of trails of varying degrees of difficulty. Most come equipped with fresh water springs, hidden badminton courts and most bizarrely. complete outdoor gyms. It was getting too dark to take many photos this evening but I will include some in the next post.


Koreans, on the whole, are a very fit bunch who exercise regularly, perhaps as a necessity owing to the fact that they consume biblical amounts of fatty pork belly and flavored ethanol on a regular basis. On weekends mountains are covered with hikers and mountain bikers, church groups and school groups, all looking for their little piece of paradise. Unfortunately, with a metropolitan population of over 20 million people, that is seldom the case and reaching the peaks of some mountains in the Seoul area can be less challenging than keeping your patience.

The closest mountain to us is Umyonsan, which means Sleeping Cow mountain. I've been reliably informed that this name comes from its elongated shape and not the crazy homeless woman who hangs out around the entrance. At just under 300 meters it isn't the most testing walk but does provide a great relief from screaming kids and smelly classrooms.

Umyeonsan is part of a range that runs across southern Seoul and was originally connected to Gwanaksan until an expressway was cut through connecting Seoul and Gwacheon.


Given its strategic location it is not surprising that the top of the mountain is occupied by a military installation and most of the northern slopes are covered with extensive trenches and machine gun emplacements and most exciting of all; a mine field.

These don't detract from what is a beautiful mountain. Replanted after the war, like most mountains in the South, and not incidentally, in the north, it has a rich mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees. Wildlife is every where and it is unusual not to see with pheasants, squirrels or woodpeckers, even close to the main trails.

In part 2 I'll include photos from the peak and something on Daeseonsa Temple.