...in a scroll-painting landscape, with 'natural soda'

...overcast today, but no less lovely to go for a drive in the mountains behind Sokcho...driving and hiking in this landscape is truly like being inside one of those silk-scroll-landscape-paintings...

These paddies produce the rice for some of the most famous 'tteok' (rice-'cakes;' somewhere between pasta al dente and taffy in texture) in Korea; the women from this village used to trek, individually, over the mountains and down to the coast to sell their tteok...but as the reputation of their product (along with competition) grew, they decided to band together into a cooperative so that they could all share the fruits of their labor...

...in the land of ubiquitous WIFI and HDTV, this is timeless:

The rest of today's photos

are from the Osaek Valley,

 beneath Han-gye-ryong pass

 in Seoraksan Nat'l Park...

...some Buddhist lanterns; the mountains of Korea are dotted with Buddhist temples, and in this part of the country, many date back to the ancient Silla Kingdom period... 

This is Yongso Waterfall; one of many... 

so, so green for my eyes now accustomed to Tucson...

...mountain springs everywhere--there are always brightly colored plastic scoops nearby; I like how this dragon-fountain is wearing them as hats...

See how the water here is sort of a rusty color before it flows into the turquoise-colored stream?

(Pronounce: Oh-sehk-yahk-soo)

The color is due to its high iron content...also has carbonic acid--this medicinal water is locally famous for aiding anemia and digestive problems--and of course, I had to taste it--it was actually kind of 'bubbly' and pleasantly metallic-tasting...

I bottled some so that my wife (who flies in to Seoul tomorrow!) can taste some next week when she arrives here on the East Coast of the country...

Ten days, I've been in the country now...flying by...

My uncle, aunt and my mother were linguistically encouraging today--they said that they could tell that I've made progress in the last few days--whew...I needed to hear that; I feel as if my brain cells are fried...fried food: tasty; fried brain: depressing.

Signing off, then; got an early bus to catch tomorrow...will welcome S. at the airport.