Bamboo-zled - Gajwasan

I’m always up for adventure so when Kate asked if I wanted to go see the lilacs I said, "Sure!"

It smelled so pretty!

This is Ming. I love this picture because it sums up not only her, but all of the Korean ladies we hike with. All of them are happy, smiley and full of laughter. It's always a light-hearted, pleasant day spent with them.

Sandy, Trish, Kate and Ming

The lilacs happened to be on 가져와서는 Gajwasan right next to 

대나무숲긴 Bamboo Forest Road. Our friend Ming showed us how to get bamboo to eat. She just kicked the little stumps down. 

Then she pulled it up and cut it open with her knife that she brought. She told us how to cook it, warning us that if you don’t cook it long enough it can be toxic. 😳

Then we walked along the hiking paths. 

 The name for two trunks with different roots growing together to become one body is 연리목 yeonimok. It looked like one had its arm around the other. These two are a pine tree and a cherry tree that grew together; it is considered valuable and sacred because it is a rare phenomenon that they are two different species growing together.

Ming said they used to eat these flowers when she was a child. I inquired as to why no longer; she said it was because food was scarce back then. They also used to eat bark. What a shocking reminder about how bad things were in Korea during the Japanese occupation.

Bamboo actually belongs to the rice family. Who knew? There are over 1500 species of bamboo. 

The underground stem extends laterally, sprouting new shoots every year. They grow to their adult height in about 40-50 days, and they can grow up to one meter a day! At that pace it seems you could almost see them getting bigger in front of your eyes.

I cooked the bamboo for dinner. We were all a little leery that I was going to poison us, but we all tried it nonetheless. Not a favorite, but I could eat it if I was in a pinch.

[April 29]