Random Mountains with Random Friends

In Seoul I set out to have a little walking tour recommended by Lonely Planet. While trying to figure out where to go from the subway station, I made friends with a random guy who was clearly also attempting the same walking tour, so we set out together. After a few wrong turns, we finally made it up the spiritual mountain we were trying to see. However, we took some back trail because we only saw the temple, which should have been the first sight, on the way down. In South Korea they have random parks with exercise equipment set up on the mountainsides (because hiking up a steep mountain isn’t enough exercise). In addition to scrambling up some rocks, seeing cool carvings, and taking funny photos, we goofed around on this exercise equipment.

In Busan I set out for a more serious hike with another random traveler. We were aiming to see a famous mountain temple. However, we probably took the wrong path because there was no temple. And we were told there would be people selling food and drinks along the way. But there weren’t any of them either. (Except the woman selling kale juice—but we decided to pass on that). Despite the lack of a temple, I think we had a very successful hike. The peak was 615 m—there was a large marker saying so. And the views were amazing. We also took random breaks to play on the exercise equipment we encountered. When we returned from the trail and into town, we stopped at the first shop we saw and bought a bucket of oranges. We sat down and immediately devoured 3 each. Then we went out for bibimbap.

When I returned to Seoul, I walked up Mt. Namsan, which was quite small and not too nature-y, but it gave great views of the city.