The weather this weekend has been beautiful. I love the autumn and this is my favorite kind of weather. The sky is clear and the temperature around 10C. There is a gentle breeze. This is just enough to add a touch of color to your cheeks, keep you from getting too hot if you are hiking, but not make you cold.
Namsan (Nam Mountain) is in the center of Seoul, and I live at the base of the mountain on the south side. There are a lot of really nice paths on the mountain, and, if you stay away from the tourist areas and dating paths, it is pleasant and relatively quiet (except for the ubiquitous hum of tires on roads that is everywhere in Seoul - if you have a good imagination, it can sound like a mountain stream). There are lots of birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. I've heard that there are pheasants, but I haven't seen any yet.
I walked from my apartment (in the middle of the picture on the left) on the south side of Namsan. I went up to the Hyatt Hotel, then to top of the mountain and Seoul Tower then down to the west; then I walked back up to the peak and down the other side to where I started (kind of a Figure-8). In total, it was about 10 kms and took about 4 hours. The air was relatively clear, and there was very little second-hand smoke. I think the signs warning about the danger of forest fires have a lot to do with that (although ignoring signs is a national pasttime). It also may be that the hike up the mountain doesn't appeal to smokers.
I hadn't been up the Seoul Tower since November 1976 (30 years ago), so I decided to splurge and pay the W7,000 to go up to the observation area. It's a lot nicer now than it was years ago. There isn't much point in going up the tower if the air isn't clear, but, on a nice day, it's worth it.
If you don't want to hike up, there is a tram on the north side of the mountain. Buses and taxis also go as far as the Tower.
Along the paths, there are several good clean toilets, a number of
wooden platforms where you can sit and have lunch, and several fitness areas (Yes, that's a real Nordic Track strider). I'm quite amazed by the lack of theft and vandalism in Korea. If we had weights and exercise machines in parks in most Canadian cities, they would last a couple of days and then they would be gone or trashed. Here, the equipment is used by a lot of people (especially older guys) and it is in reasonably good condition.
3 comments:
I quite enjoyed this post, Mark, particularly that panorama!
Glad you enjoyed it. You, too, can have a similar experience. It helps to relieve my stress.
I love autumn. It's my favorite season. The only walking that I've done the past some days is on the treadmill. The hike up Nam Mountain sounds wonderful.
Mark, I enjoyed this post. The writing and the photographs. Very nice.
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