A group of us had decided that we wanted to go for a hike in the area. Little did we realize how much of an experience that would be. We found a mountain that is close to Seoul and one that can be accessed by public transport. The closest mountain is a tiny cluster called Bukhansan. In order to get there we have to take the subway to a bus. The subway ride was fine, other than a man telling us to "go quietly" in Korean and my friend getting very angry at that, but the bus situation was much more adventurous.
There was a very long queue to get onto the bus and we finally managed to squeeze onto one of them. It was the most crowded bus I have ever been on. I began to feel claustrophobic, but luckily the ride was only 20 minutes.
We finally reached the mountain and followed the mass of people to base. Everybody there was decked out in the most expensive gear they could find. Koreans tend to go all out when they get into a hobby. Everybody there, except for us, had hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of gear and they looked like they were getting ready to go hiking for a week.
Here is a picture of the bottom of the mountain. The three people wearing skinny jeans at the bottom of the picture are with me.
We hiked up the mountain with the rest of the week-long hikers and I experienced something that I have never experienced before: Hiking in a queue. There were so many people there that you were walking in a line the whole time. People were walking and then stopping constantly. Most of the trail was also man-made structures due to the over use of the area. It was like walking up stairs the whole way.
The mountain itself was pretty neat, and we saw that there were some Buddhist temples all over the mountain. Here is a sign for one of them:
As it was october, we were able to see some foliage in our area:
We eventually followed everybody to the top. I was half expecting the line to head into a starbucks, but the line dissipated into nothing. The view was amazing at the top and you could see some good views of the city.
We headed over to another part of the summit and sat with the hundreds of others for a "quiet lunch". It was funny to see what the other groups had brought to eat. Koreans love their side dishes, so there were many dishes strewn about in the circles they have made. Aside from all the kimchi, it is traditional to drink Soju, a hard drink, at the top with everybody. I, with my constant dehydration, did not want to be involved in this tradition. I probably would have seriously hurt myself coming down the mountain.
All in all it was a good day and a new experience. I am happy to hike in the US where you see very few hikers on the trail. I have been contemplating skiing here. But I hear that skiing is even more busy and dangerous than hiking. I don't think I really want to risk it.
