Shin Yang Park Hotel

What:  The mountain right behind Shin Yang Park Hotel in Gwangju

Where:  Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, South Korea

Elevation:  386m

Get There:  Gwangju is a major city in South Korea, so you can arrive by plane, bus or train.  Once in Gwangju, this particular mountain is right behind the hotel parking lot.  Elicia and I have been in Gwangju for six days now for orientation for our new teaching jobs.  In a couple days we’ll be moving to Yeosu, and that’s where we will be living and teaching for the next year.

Gwangju is in Jeollanamdo providence of Korea.

Hiking Highlights:

Shin Yang Park Hotel in Gwangju. Trail is accessible from parking lot. EASY!

View of mountain from hotel room’s balcony.

Hiking Highlights:

Bottled water = delicious and nutritious.

These are Elicia’s running shoes, doubled up as hiking boots. We’ll get her some more appropriate footwear soon!

Per normal, nice signs point you in the proper direction.

Taking a breather half-way up the steep ~1.0km hike.

Almost there!

Hoola-Hoops!?! You betchya.

The Summit:

Summit, even at 348m you can see lots of beauty!

Another day, another mountain climbed!

Another view while on summit.

Flower (and flag). Changing focus is fun.

Final Thoughts:  All 60-ish of us future English teachers are a bit cooped up here at the hotel during this 9-day orientation/training, but it was great to escape on Friday afternoon for this short, but nice 1.0km (or so) hike up a nearby mountain.  The trails here are pretty rugged in general, with few switchbacks.  Instead, there’s big rocks or sometimes even steps that help you up the steep parts.  This one was short, but no exception on the difficulty.  From atop the mountain you can see just how big Gwangju really is, and with spring here in full bloom, the flowers and greens have started to show themselves.  I’m excited to get settled into Yeosu to begin teaching and exploring the nearby mountains!