Ganghwa Island

We took a short day trip to Ganghwa Island (강화도) yesterday.  The main highlight of the journey was a brisk hike up Mani-san, which still had traces of snow left on it from the week before.  From its peak we were able to get a nice view of the Yellow Sea and make out some of the smaller islands nearby.

There is a legend that the founder of Korea's first kingdom built an altar on top of this mountain and made sacrifices to his ancestors there.

We were the very last ones down the mountain at sunset.  By the time we got back to the bus stop it was dark and quiet in town; quite a difference from what we're used to in the city.

Another thing we're not used to: random acts of kindness.  A woman actually saw us waiting in the cold and invited us into her store to keep warm while we waited for our bus home.  A bit taken aback, we accepted.  But being Americans we couldn't help but keep our guard up.

It was a butcher shop after all.