The Korean Landscape

The Korean landscape around Bucheon looks as if a continentally proportioned bucket of dirty water was dumped across the landscape and that, where the water came to rest, cityscape grew.  This leaves every hill and mountaintop resembling an unspoiled island rising up from a sea of buildings and streets.  However, a climb up one of these islands reveals hiking trails, which are scattered with Korean women all wearing the same visor and the same jogging jacket, 'exercise parks', which are really just excuses for older Koreans to goof around on playground-esque equipment, and strange open air buildings and courtyards which appear to serve no purpose.  The areas not occupied by these recreational developments are utilized by farmers to grow squash, beans, persimmons, and cucumbers.  Furthermore, at each mountaintop I have visited, there is a derelict military instillation surrounded by chain link fence that is topped with barbed wire.  In one instance, the formidable appearance of the fence is moked by a gap so wide in the main gate that a cow could pass through.  Hence, despite the illusion of unspoiled mountaintops, every bit of land as far as the thick smog will let you see has been plotted, divided, and developed.  In this part of Korea there is no wilderness.