Tag Hardship and beauty
Every time we drive south on the highway we pass a series of cliffs and ridges formed of orange soil, that are commonly called Flame Mountain. Recently Yini found out there is a walking trail there so last weekend we went to check it out. Since my scooter has been feeling tired and slow lately I bought a new one on Friday and to test it out we went there by scooter. It was more or less just a long slog on boring roads but thanks to the new scooter it felt effortless.
The trail itself starts a few paces into the … Read the rest
The view from up here is magnificent; all around in the distance the stupendous mountains of the Swiss Alps, snow-clad broken tips and bare cliff faces. The sky is overcast but lively and and on the horizon, just above the mountain tops, is a gap in the clouds showing a strip of azure blue. The weather however is bad, my provisional winter clothes that have worked well so far, are insufficient to withstand the cold. The wind blows icy needles into my face that sting my eyes and my hands quickly turn to frozen lumps. I cannot remain here. No … Read the rest
I am skirting a horseshoe shaped pond to the west of the main palace. Due to coming directly from Taiwan my clothing is insufficient for the Korean winter so I have to keep walking to keep warm. In the pond are two rectangular islands with some kind of pine trees growing on them and in the center of the horseshoe shape is a gigantic two story pavilion. Big wet flakes of snow fall slowly but the absolutely still surface of the pond is still unfrozen. The surroundings are rather barren, sand, yellow grass and a few pines, and the palaces … Read the rest
Beautiful but deadly is a phrase that is all too common when describing snow-clad mountains but it feels appropriate here. On this lightly sloping plain the wind has pushed the snow into drifts and ridges and the sun shines out of a cloudy sky on the frozen landscape. Fine snow flows like smoke over the hard surface and glitters in the sun rays. The scene has that kind of barren beauty of an arctic landscape and it has the same kind of deadliness. For although civilization is nearby, the cold is substantial. The wind tears at any exposed skin with … Read the rest