Chapter Five: Seoul Coughing

I don't mean to walk around in circles, walk around in circles.

I don't mean to make a habit of listing semi-obscure 90's bands and then the only part of their lyrics I can remember, but this time it's quite relevant.

This week I had my first urban escape and went into the mountains. It was awesome; my new favorite part of Korea.

Planning a hike was as easy as googling "hikes in seoul" and picking the first one on what was supposed to be a wet, rainy day.

Or was it?

The website (which it turns out had been lifted verbatim from Lonely Planet) read:

"Take subway line 5 to Gwanghwamun station, take exit number 1. Walk around to the front of Sejong Cultural center and get on bus 156. Tell the driver ‘Bukhansan’. The trip takes about 35 minutes and puts you at the western edge of the park. Usually there will be other hikers. Follow them as they walk to the end of the little village, turn right and walk to the ticket booth. Admission is 1300W and the ticket booths sell maps"

Technically that was close to entirely wrong. The directions got the subway number and stop right. But not only is there no exit number 1, there is no bus 156. (Also there were neither admission fees nor maps.) The truth of the matter is that if you take exit 2 and get on bus 0212, then about 15 minutes later you'd be in the village.

However, being rather naive and trusting, I did not suspect the blatant myths and lies in the directions. Not having any way to learn the truth other than by walking around and around in circles, that's what happened. For just over an hour. But I learned that Gwanghwamun is renovating and making a square of some sort, and there is a big museum there that looks like the acropylis, and we found a huge bookstore that I've always wondered where it was. So it wasn't a loss.

I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves. Remember that this is actually within the city limits of one of the largest cities in the world.

Koreans call hiking "mountain climbing." This is not entirely bragging as they don't believe in switchbacks and their paths are more rock than trail.

Good views of the area.

The views of the mountain were amazing. Some of the old ruins were several hundred years old. The King lived up here during a japanese invasion and brought hundreds of concubines. He left his wife and family and duties behind; the story goes that even after it was safe, he refused to leave.

The hike, about 12K, featured several natural walkways.

Thousands of Koreans hike the mountain every weekend. Many really appreciate seeing foreigners who choose to hike with them.

One of the many interesting rock formations.

A view from the temple.

And a view of the temple.

A super nice house in the mountain village. The village felt different than other parts of Seoul I've seen, with outdoor shops, open air restaurants, and a vibe more reminscent of a resort town than Seoul.

One of many large ravens flying around the mountains. I spotted a chipmunk with a big nut in its mouth as well.

This picture just makes me laugh.

***

Other than that, everything has been going well. I'm getting used to my classes, I should be getting a phone, a bank account, and my alien card soon. Best of all, my birthday is coming up so it's a safe bet that there will be fun times in Hongdae.