"Hiking" Sam style

When I am on a path in a forest I always pretend I am in Lord of the Rings. I'm not sure if this really changes your perception of me, but I can't keep it inside any longer. I am really Sam Gangi...ever in search of my Frodo (Nebi). Except I change the story; I would not be Frodo's gardener. I would be the one in the lead (Sorry, Nebs you have to slow your role). And so it goes...

I had to meet a fellow hobbit, Antoine. He traveled 2 hours and 40 minutes from a province up north. Our destination was Waryongsan Mountain in between Sacheon (where I work) and Samcheonpo (which means the equivalent of 'East Bumblefuck'-excuse my French even though it's English). Because of the meaning of Samcheonpo the Korean government is trying to incorporate the city into Sacheon in order to change the name.

Anyway, that's besides the point. I was telling you about myself, Sam Gangi and my fellow hobbit, Antoine. We met and then had to travel another 20 minutes by bus to get to Sacheon. There I met a few more hobbits from the US and Canada and one wizard, John. John had magical powers and a car. We were set. We squished into the car and headed toward Waryongsan with a map and our wits. I also had a hat and gloves :) This is the modern day Lord of the Rings if you hadn't caught on yet. (John the White is really tall and wizardlike. Look!)

The vista was beautiful. We arrived at a Temple first and had a look around before embarking on the treacherous paths that snaked up the mountain side. I want you to see what I saw...

If you look carefully you will see Gandolf the white. We bypassed Gandolf the Grey.
I was so excited when I saw him! Look at the majestic staff he carries in his right hand. The power of it entrapped all of us for the time being. I had to climb up to get a better look. The best part of it all was when I was about to jump a rock to get on the same platform as him. He turned and said to me, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Dark clouds engulfed the sky and the earth started to move. That's when I backed away and politely asked if I could take a picture from this angle. He agreed that it would be fine. And so here it is!!!! How jealous are you guys? I got to see Gandolf.

In the Budda's lap is my fellow hobbit friend Brigitte Filion from Canada. The statue was massive, but perhaps a farce. As she stepped on the base she said she felt like she was going to fall through, like it was hollow. Like many things in life she realized that from far away it might look as if it were there many hundreds of years. In reality, it was probably manufactured somewhere and then dropped in that spot. We tried but could look on the bottom for the bar code. Either way it looked pretty cool.

And there we sat together as one taking in the beauty. We saw it all: land, water, and sky all coming together at one point far off into the horizon. Each of our vanishing points were different. Each one of us hobbits (and Gandolf) taking from the scene what we wanted. I am not sure what Brigitte saw, but I filled my lungs with the sweet, cold air and looked up at the sky. I don't know what drew me to it. Perhaps you see nothing, but it was so relaxing. The numbness in my fingers disappeared for a few minutes. I couldn't hear anything except for the sound of my own breath. I couldn't really think of anything. It was just so blue...