Maisan day 2

[Sonia]

So I have two winter sleeping bags, both in the USA. In Korea I have a very old summer bag. . . but fleece and thermals. . . and somewhere a blanket. . . and Ian had an extra bivy sack. . . so I had my fleece on, but was so warm at first, that I didn't put on the thermals. . . was pretty cold all night as I tried to work up the courage to put on the thermals. I did manage to put on wool socks, which helped alot. . . but ended up sleeping most after Ian's obnoxious talking phone/alarm clock went off at 6. Apparently I wasn't the only one. . . we ended up getting up at 11! So much for the early start. Quick breakdown of camp. . . make self look presentable (luckily hat weather!) . . . across the lake, we watched a Buddhist ceremony of some sort. there were several monks, some with red sashes. A woman sprinkling something into the lake. many well dressed people and chanting. As my camera batteries were dead, I had Ian take some photos. I wanted to check it out, but we were so late already. Ian went to the boathouse for canned coffee (and he had those aweful greasy pancakes) while I packed or threw everything in the car and quickly slammed the trunk/doors. We moved the car next to the shiny SUV, which it turned out belonged to a climber from Icheon who was visiting Opera House. I assume they camped there. . .

A Seoul group was at Al bawi. . . older folks, mostly. We decided to do one of the multi-pitches starting from the ledge. The book had conflicting information about which 1st pitches continued up, so we had to traverse a bit after the first. Still I think we chose right as there are some dodgy starts, considering this conglomerate comes out rather easily!! The climbing was straighforward. . . I was feeling the effects of yesterday-- first time back on the rock since mid-January and quite a bit heavier. . . my fingers were refusing to work. . . still, no cure for sucky climbing like climbing!! And I did remember to clip my nails this morning:) We were surprised to find some nice chain anchors higher up (though looking across saw some really scary anchors). The views were truely amazing-- from the lake, across at pagodas, even the city, but mostly layer after layer of mountains. . . like a watercolor as the clouds were coming and it was getting hazy (glad I opted to bring the fleece. . . as I used it from P2). . . the rock was pretty darn solid, and I am surprised that people don't do the multipitches more often (except for the danger if it is crowded below. We were lucky in that no one was beneath us, but that said, we kicked off minimal loose rock.). So I made some notes for my guidebook, and we were off. . .

We decided to eat in Jeonju, as it was early, just overcast and cold. It was a great drive along 26 and traffic was not bad in Jeonju. We arrived at the barli-rice (mostly) vegetarian organic buffet just as it was setting up, so everything looked especially good. I got Ian to the (newly renovated, though not as extensively as the inner-city terminal) Express-bus terminal and headed to the wifi coffee shop Flanel near my old gym and cchimchilbang, Total Sauna. With little time or opportunity to hit the Internet and couch surf in Jeonju, I'd take the opportunity to get really clean and presentable. I still have a lot to do, most notable the to-do list!!
I didn't even have to wait long for a parking space! The coffee shop has been changed a bit-- very swank, with copies of dwell and a lending library. . .