So we started our journey on an express bus to Gwangju, which is the sixth largest city in South Korea. The pace of life here is a lot less manic than other cities, but the centre of town is still vibrant.
Of course we couldn’t go anywhere without Bex checking out the clothing shop – on this stop we managed to find a shop which only allowed her skirts, but not tops/dresses (we don’t know why). Of course to get to the shops Bex chose the most garish metro carriage that she could find!!!!
The key highlight of Gwangju was a visit to Mudeungsan National Park, which was made South Korea’s 21st national park status in 2012 and is named after the 1,186m tall peak – although you can only get to 1100m as a military base prevents you climbing the final 86m.
Helena made a sensible decision to stay in the warm hotel when Bex and I got onto the aptly named 1186 bus (numbered after the peak so you know you are on the right bus) – which happened to be fully packed with Koreans who have a passion for hiking. The hike started with a 3 hour uphill section until we got to the top, before then 2 hours downhill..The views were spectacular and we completed the 14km hike, climbing 1,100 metres and clocking 25,000 steps.
** Urgent Update ** Following the above hike, 2 days later we all went back to the Mudeungsan National Park, Jeungsimsa Temple entrance this time. This hike took us up to a temple 3km into the hills (all of it uphill), where monks were singing incantations – and Alan felt right at home as they had haircuts like his!!