A long walk in the sun.

Who took a three hour long walk in the sweltering, midday-in-Korea-in-August sun today? Yes, yours truly, that's who. I had talked with Mr. Yu about the possibility of going shopping with his wife this morning, but when she never materialized, I figured I should do *something* with my day, other than sit half-dressed in front of my computer. So, shortly after lunch, I grabbed a bottle of water and my camera, and set out to see if I could reach the mountains located not too far north of my apartment. I checked my map, and found a possible route, although I didn't know if it would take me into the mountains or simply into the foothills. The route I took brought me north for quite a distance along the Yulhacheon Stream (following the stream south would have taken me to the place where it feeds into East Daegu's Geumhogang River) and into the foothills of the mountains. I followed the stream as far north as I could, until the road alongside of it petered out, ending at what was obviously private property. Had there not been people visible in said property, I might have simply continued north along the stream's banks; however, as I didn't wish to be caught trespassing, I took the road to the left, and walked west and uphill, until I came to the highest point along that road. From there, I could see the city of Daegu in the distance, covered in a layer of smoggy haze. To my left was some sort of tree farm (possibly out of season citrus, not sure), and as there were paths through the trees, I climbed up the tree farm's hill, hoping for a better/clearer glimpse of the city. Unfortunately, none was to be found. At this point, I had been walking for an hour and a half, and was completely (literally!) drenched in sweat, and beginning to feel somewhat sunburnt (my sunscreen having sweated off and all...), so I decided to turn around and head for home. Unfortunately, that was the point when I began to feel a blister emerging on my heel. Let's just say that by the time I made it home, my left foot was not happy with me! Anyhow, below are the pictures that I took over the course of my walk. Enjoy!

Yulhacheon Stream, northern outskirts of East Daegu
(mountains in the distance)


Yulhacheon Stream, just north of East Daegu
(mountains are a little closer!)


These orange flowers were all over the place.


You know how I love orange flowers...


The road grew quite narrow. See the bird's nest?


I got closer to the mountains...


...and closer!


In the foothills, I found this traditional cemetery.


This was where I turned around.


I took this shot back in my neighborhood at a seafood restaurant.
(No, I didn't eat there.)