My grand-mother believes in "earth angels" - people that cross our path and help us without even knowing it.
I'm not religious - although I am very thankful to whoever created such a wonderful world filled with so much beauty.
On several occasions I have met people in the most curious way and they have turned out to be my guardian angels. I really owe them. But I also believe that "what goes around comes around"... karma!
It's important to be nice, open-minded, spontaneous, helpful and positive and, without noticing, we may be giving much more than a smile or a helping hand. Later on, life will thank us by saving our ass.
So today, after having felt quite down for the past couple of days, I decided to do something with myself. Last night we stayed up late so I was pretty tired. Nonetheless, I made it to Bukhansan mountain around 3pm.Those of you who know me probably expect the worst. Indeed, everytime I decide to climb a new moutain this late in the afternoon, something happens - usually involving me escaping near death.
Bukhansan is an AMAZING mountain! Whatsmore, it is located in Seoul and it is huuuuuuge!!!
I enjoyed a nice (but rather sportive) hike for about 3 hours. See for yourself; the views are awesome. It's crazy to think that you are right in the middle of a big phat polluted city.
I saw many castles, tombs, Buddhist temples. One interesting thing I noticed is that they have set up some natural water sources - communal cups provided. This country is one big family!!! And the water tasted really good!Anyway, as I was sitting on top of a huge wall at the peak of one of the mountains, the sun came down and I witnessed one of the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. It felt incredibly nice and peaceful.
As I was thinking of going down (wondering how the hell i'd do that without sunlight), I heard "Hello!!" Two Korean guys had appeared out of nowhere. I politely replied (had literally felt like a zoo animal all day) and we had a nice conversation.
Jang Ho, the least shy of the two, speaks really good English. He asked if I wanted to go down with them. I refused, pretending that I wanted to get another glimpse of the sunset. Honnestly, I was a little on my guards because you never know what could happen, lost in a forest at night with two guys.But they stuck around and I finally agreed.
Probably one of the best moves in my life.
After 15 minutes the sun was gone and it was hard to see in the dark. The path we took was very stiff and my damn shoes were too slippery (never buy those orange Nike shoes). Whatsmore, I had no flashlight and no idea where on earth we were going.
Jang Ho was the perfect gentleman. His friend was ahead, looking for directions, and Jang Ho offered me his hand (so many times), I kept falling on him because of the gravel.
After a while, we had no choice but to realize that we were lost. It was dark but fortunately, I was not scared.
Then we saw another light in the dark, coming our way.
It was an "ajashi", old man going for his night walk I guess, 3 hours away from the bottom of the mountain. I was amazed. He showed us the way and I saw the most breathtaking night sceneries of my life. Seoul, the city, the lights, the mountains, and a fresh breeze. It felt really nice.
It took us about 3 hours to finally come down. We talked a lot. Jang Ho is amazing! He runs the marathon, wants to be a lawyer and he even knows French singers such as Jean Ferrat, Edith Piaf. He's got a GREAT body too (I could feel his muscles when he was "rescuing me" ;)
They bought me beer and dinner.
I'm trying to imagine how on earth I would have gotten out of this moutain without him and his friend. With my shoes I could have injured myself really bad. No light, I could have been lost. Cold, hungry, thirsty, scared. I wonder if I would have been able to get out of there. I seriously doubt it.
It's not the first time that I meet an angel in Seoul. Or in any city... in France, in Spain, in Mexico, in Canada, in Thailand, in China... yes I really think that we're all little angels. And I am forever thankful. Life really is wonderful!
