This frightening creature, and thousands more just like it, scour the streets of South Korea in search of garbage and recyclables. No garbage pile is safe from their dirty paws. They can sense cardboard being thrown away anywhere within a 2 mile radius. Afraid of the sun, yes. Nocturnal, no. Scary and unpredictable, yes. The ajuma, as they're known in Korean, is hands down, one of the scariest things in Korea.
This particular one is more advanced and high-tech than most. Her motorized wheelchair elevates her to the ajuma, VIP status. The typical ajuma is seen, either pushing the oldest and most rusted stroller you've ever seen piled high with garbage and junk, or squatting on the sidewalk sifting through almost rotten weeds and vegetables. They are really something everyone should see once in their life.
Loading up her goodies 
She really hit the jackpot today!
----------
We had heard from a friend at camp that there was a really awesome river and waterfall just outside of town, so we tried to go one day. The directions we had seemed simple enough: take a bus to Eunyang, then take a taxi to the waterfall.
Waiting at the bus stop 
Self-timer shots on the (empty*) bus to Eunyang
awkward... 
*We were the only two on the bus when we did this. Not that it makes it OK, it just makes it a little better. The driver loved it when he realized what we were doing.
The directions we had to the waterfall (take a bus, then a taxi) were too simple to work, as we should have known. Traveling by bus is pretty guaranteed here because they have set routes they have to follow. But, once you sit your ass down in cab, you're completely at the drivers discretion. Most of the time it works out perfectly and you end up where you want to go, but every once in a while, things go horribly awry. We call this, 'taxi roulette.'
On this particular day, Lady Luck was not on our side. The first taxi we got into didn't understand us (or didn't want to understand us) so the driver just told us to get out. The next taxi pretended to understand and know where we wanted to go, but then asked lots of questions that proved he also didn't know. He got us to a river, and we assumed it was the river we wanted to be on, but he pulled over and had us get out as soon as we hit some traffic. The way he made it seem was that the water fall was close to this point, so he was just saving us money by letting us walk past the traffic instead of running up the meter sitting in traffic. This was not the case...
We ended up just walking along the street that followed the 'river' for over an hour in the blazing sun. Despite the beautiful forest and mountains that surrounded us, it was awful.
Miserable
This tiny stream was packed with Koreans doing all sorts of things. Some groups were having picnics, some were just playing in the water (both children and adults), some were doing laundry and some were taking stream side naps.
These tables are awesome! 
From what we could tell,
having the water run over the road was by design here...
The road we were following first turned into this paved trail, then into a dirt trail. We knew we weren't headed in the right direction at this point, but it was still following the creek and it was shaded, so we decided we would just find an open spot on the bank and set up camp. Screw that stupid waterfall!
That plan didn't even work because our path quickly veered from the river and dead ended at a strange compound.
We had heard tribal drums while we were walking and weren't sure what they were or where they were coming from and discovered that this compound was the source of racket. You can't tell in this picture but there seemed to be a seance going on. One woman was on her knees while others circled, chanted and hit her with pine branches. It was really weird!
Doing a little laundry
Finding a place to set up camp
Don't worry about him, he's just shampooing...
Self-timer!
OK, that's enough, let's get the hell out of here!
The closest thing to a waterfall that we saw all day 
The crowds were insane
Wow, a tiger holding a rose in it's mouth...
This was some sort of creekside resort
Nothing good can be behind this door
A love motel city nestled into the Korean mountainside
One last look at the creek 
There were no taxis, so we had to walk into this sauna and have the man at the front desk call us one. We were so hot and sweaty we considered making this our first Korean sauna experience just to get into a shower, but decided against it. 
Before boarding the bus home, we stopped for a quick snack
Nude tuna 
냉면
Naengmyun
A traditional, cold noodle soup with cucumber, radish, pear, hard boiled egg, pork, chili paste and hot mustard. A little strange at first, but once you're used to it, it's quite delicious.
Our chariot awaits
This particular one is more advanced and high-tech than most. Her motorized wheelchair elevates her to the ajuma, VIP status. The typical ajuma is seen, either pushing the oldest and most rusted stroller you've ever seen piled high with garbage and junk, or squatting on the sidewalk sifting through almost rotten weeds and vegetables. They are really something everyone should see once in their life.
Loading up her goodies 
She really hit the jackpot today!----------
Waiting at the bus stop 
Self-timer shots on the (empty*) bus to Eunyang
awkward... 
*We were the only two on the bus when we did this. Not that it makes it OK, it just makes it a little better. The driver loved it when he realized what we were doing.The directions we had to the waterfall (take a bus, then a taxi) were too simple to work, as we should have known. Traveling by bus is pretty guaranteed here because they have set routes they have to follow. But, once you sit your ass down in cab, you're completely at the drivers discretion. Most of the time it works out perfectly and you end up where you want to go, but every once in a while, things go horribly awry. We call this, 'taxi roulette.'
On this particular day, Lady Luck was not on our side. The first taxi we got into didn't understand us (or didn't want to understand us) so the driver just told us to get out. The next taxi pretended to understand and know where we wanted to go, but then asked lots of questions that proved he also didn't know. He got us to a river, and we assumed it was the river we wanted to be on, but he pulled over and had us get out as soon as we hit some traffic. The way he made it seem was that the water fall was close to this point, so he was just saving us money by letting us walk past the traffic instead of running up the meter sitting in traffic. This was not the case...
We ended up just walking along the street that followed the 'river' for over an hour in the blazing sun. Despite the beautiful forest and mountains that surrounded us, it was awful.
Miserable
This tiny stream was packed with Koreans doing all sorts of things. Some groups were having picnics, some were just playing in the water (both children and adults), some were doing laundry and some were taking stream side naps.
These tables are awesome! 
From what we could tell,having the water run over the road was by design here...
The road we were following first turned into this paved trail, then into a dirt trail. We knew we weren't headed in the right direction at this point, but it was still following the creek and it was shaded, so we decided we would just find an open spot on the bank and set up camp. Screw that stupid waterfall!
That plan didn't even work because our path quickly veered from the river and dead ended at a strange compound.
We had heard tribal drums while we were walking and weren't sure what they were or where they were coming from and discovered that this compound was the source of racket. You can't tell in this picture but there seemed to be a seance going on. One woman was on her knees while others circled, chanted and hit her with pine branches. It was really weird!
Doing a little laundry
Finding a place to set up camp
Don't worry about him, he's just shampooing...
Self-timer!
OK, that's enough, let's get the hell out of here!
The closest thing to a waterfall that we saw all day 
The crowds were insane
Wow, a tiger holding a rose in it's mouth...
This was some sort of creekside resort
Nothing good can be behind this door
A love motel city nestled into the Korean mountainside
One last look at the creek 
There were no taxis, so we had to walk into this sauna and have the man at the front desk call us one. We were so hot and sweaty we considered making this our first Korean sauna experience just to get into a shower, but decided against it. 
Before boarding the bus home, we stopped for a quick snack
Nude tuna 
냉면Naengmyun
Our chariot awaits
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