Geumo San Park

Geumosan Provincial Park, 976 meters (or 3200 feet) high with a waterfall and cave to enhance the natural beauty already inherent in any mountain. Wow! I love the view from the top of a mountain, and I enjoy walking the path up as well. This place was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the crowds were absent. We went with the intent to ride the cable car up to the top, but when we got there Matt thought it was closed. So we started to walk up. After about 200 yards here comes the cable car humming along overhead. But I am so glad we didn't take it. We would have missed so much! The waterfall at top continues in a small stream all the way to the bottom, creating numerous small waterfalls along the way. The path to the top runs parallel to the stream, and with winter's lack of foliage we were able to see it clearly the entire time. It's also wonderful to listen to while you're walking up!

Besides the wonderful waterfalls, there were a few other things on the way up that were interesting to see.

These are Chinese characters carved into the rock. There are several that you walk by as you ascend. These were the best preserved. I'm not sure when they were engraved; there's no date. It says they were written during the Chosun dynasty, which lasted from 1392 to 1910. The others we saw looked fairly old.

These are monuments created in the '70s (I think) as a commemoration of something that I've forgotten now. They're large piles of stacked rock, nothing holds them together that I could see.


This is the rebuilt gate for Geumosanseong Fortress. It is believed to have originally been built at some point before 918, the beginning of the Goryeo Dynasty.

An aerial shot from the cable car coming down. Most of the wall looked like it could be part of the original, or at least not renovated/repaired any time recently.

After much stair climbing and picture taking we arrived at the top, or at least the top of where we were going! There was the Daehye Falls and Doseongul cave. Actually there were two waterfalls, but the other was not accessible, only visible. The water flow was very low so it was a teensy disappointing, but still nice. Then there was the cave. Oh my. We started to climb up to it (literally) and I refused to let Carrie continue. The path was slick, steep rock with only a few chains between you and the plunge to death. I took her back down and Matt went up with Emily on his back. I was terrified the entire time that he was going to fall with my baby! Then he came back and made me go. Total honesty: I am terrified of heights! At some points I was literally crawling on the rock. If I hadn't been so petrified I would have taken a photo of the path, but all I could let myself think about was my next step. Going back down wasn't any better either!

zoom picture of the cave & another waterfall; cave on left

Daehye Falls

Inside Doseongul Cave. It's a very small cave, more like a 'cleft of the rock'. The incense they were burning in here was so strong!

view from the cave

Daegu Play

The weather has been so cold and rainy (and snowy today!) that we haven't been out much. Not much to blog about, so I thought I'd share what we do when we can't go to the playground. Here in Waegwan there's nothing. We have to take the train (20 mins) or post shuttle bus (45 mins) to Daegu and then taxi or subway to an indoor playplace. They have several different ones in Daegu. We have been going to one named YuKids Island. I was introduced to this place by another army spouse who heard of it word of mouth and had her son's birthday there. Then I told a friend here who happens to be Korean about YuKids and she found it on the internet, then mapped a train to subway to building route and we went together. We've been back several times. YuKids motto (according to the equipment website) is 'movement'. Everything in there moves in some way. I like it because almost anywhere in there that your children are, you can see them. And everything is padded, so if they fall it's not so bad!

Those little things she is sitting on slowly spin constantly, as does the large blue & yellow thing in the back left. The short yellow square in the back right is a blue gel like substance to look like water that you can walk/jump on.

This is a small little 'room' with a fan in each ceiling corner to constantly blow the balloons around. There is another one in YuKids that has giant (think 3 foot) balloons that is set up the same way, just not as many balloons!

just a typical ball pit

There's also a jumping balloon section, a slide and several other things. It's really neat. I enjoy taking them there because it's fun, safe even for the little one, and I can drink a cappuccino (relatively) uninterrupted. On weekends there are staff members inside the play area that actively supervise and play with the kids. On weekdays it's a sometime thing.

Another place we've been too is called Kampu's Mystery Island. It's great for older kids but I was nervous about my girls in there, especially the youngest. It is spread out over 4 separate areas so I can't watch both girls at the same time and both times I've been it has packed with kids running amok! The 'snow' area was really neat though. It's heavy Styrofoam shapes about 2 feet deep and the kids will just throw it at anyone who comes near! The little one had fun with me dropping her in! She would laugh and try to get up and sink in completely over her head.

snow pit

This is one of those step on pianos. Both times we went she spent a long time in here just walking back and forth. You can see the reflection of all the tiny lights strung on the ceiling in the foreground on the keys.

This is a bouncy thing. I thought it was kind of weird because it is the character Kampu laying down, so they are jumping on his stomach.
At certain intervals different characters from the show will come out and all the kids will crowd around. The oldest would have nothing to do with them, but here is our youngest waving like crazy! She hugged him too, but I couldn't get a picture of that.

Today we went to a new place called Mini House. It was really neat. They had foot powered cars, sit-on scooters, drums, and a kid sized 'gym' with foam barbells, bench press, and treadmill, plus more! I liked it because the lady working was very active in supervising the kids and playing with them. Here is why it is called Mini House:
This is only part of the entire set-up, but this is the oldest's favorite part. Everything is kid size of course. There was an armoire in here with dress up clothes, a vanity with pretend make-up, and a full length mirror to view herself in. There was also a full kitchen in here. She drove the little car up and parked outside!

zip line

Here they are putting on 'make-up'. The little girl in front in pink is her friend that we went with. The girl in the back was so funny! She spent more time cleaning up after the other kids then she did playing! She helped my girl put on and take off her dress up clothes, and brushed her hair and they 'cooked' together.

These places are genius! The kids always have a great time and it's good for moms too! All of these have a little 'cafe' area where you can order coffee or whatever and a snack to eat. I enjoy taking them almost as much as they enjoy playing.