One thing that I always enjoy is seeing a mountain or a big piece of nature in the middle of a large metropolis. I was looking at Google Maps and saw that there was such a thing in Seoul, so I decided to walk in that direction. I still find it amusing that some of my friends would call me crazy for walking 30 minutes when I could be somewhere in 20 with a subway, but I think it’s quite nice to stroll through an unfamiliar city and see what there is to eat, buy, and do.
The first interesting thing I discovered was a walkway over the roads near Seoul Station. It was full of little semi-education displays about plants, some of which were in nice artificial landscapes. It was quite nice to walk through.
Next I reached a very nice pedestrian area of town with quite a bit of shopping and restaurants. I am not exactly sure where it is, but Google estimates that it is in a neighborhood called Jung-Gu. I walked around for a while and bought a deep fried vegetable pancake for 1000 won (less than $1).
Then I turned the corner and saw the area I had seen on Google Maps: a large mountain in the middle of the city topped by the N Seoul Tower.
It looked possible to walk up there by foot so I started the trek up. First I went up a big staircase that could also be traversed by a free cable car and had some decent views of the neighborhood next door.
Then the real hike started. It was quite a good walk up the hill, but hey, if I can do it, you probably can too. The hike up had some great views of the city of Seoul and surrounding mountains, and at the top lay N Seoul Tower. I had an appointment later in the day so I didn’t get to go up, but it seemed reasonably priced at 10,000 Won (less than $10), which sure beats the Space Needle, Petronas Towers, Empire State Building, etc.
Also on the top of the hill were many love lockets locked to fences, in a fashion similar to the Pont des Arts in Paris, which apparently actually does not let you lock your love there anymore. Sometimes I wonder how many of these “locked” relationships actually survive, or whether the need to lock your love on a fence represents more insecurity in the relationship, but of course I don’t want to ruin anybody’s love fantasy 😉
After checking out the top of the hill I hiked back down to get some tteokbokki for dinner. For those of you who don’t know, it’s rice cake cooked in spicy sauce, with a lot of added gochujang. My particular dish came with some pork on top and was served with a yogurt drink to keep the spice away.
As I headed back home, I decided I needed a bit of time to myself outside the hostel. I stopped by the convenience store and was pleasantly surprised to see Paulaner Hefeweizen at a reasonable price. This was the first beer I ever enjoyed in my life at the ripe old age of 16 (don’t worry, I was in Germany). So I bought two cans and drank them at a nice sitting spot right outside of my hostel. The street was nice and quiet and was a good place to spend my last night in this country. I went back to the hostel and made a new friend before quickly going to sleep.
