It may be winter in Korea, but it's sunny and dry (for the most part), so we have been taking the opportunity to do a little hiking. It is not difficult in Korea to combine hikes in the mountains with visits to temples and archeological sites. In the past two weeks we were able to do two of Korea's best history hikes - one at Namhansanseong Fortress outside of Seoul, and one at Namsan Mountain outside of Gyeonggju. Both of the hikes were stunning, despite the drab brown landscapes of winter.
It just goes on and on...
Namhansanseong (quite a name, huh?) has a wall that runs for over 20 miles around a mountain top. We were there once in the summer, but it was a weekday, so it wasn't so crowded. This time it was a Saturday, and wow! the bus we took from the town to the mountain was completely packed beyond all measures of safety. Everyone was decked out in his and hers matching Gortex, with day packs and walking sticks. I just love how Koreans are so into hiking. The good news was that once you start out on the trails, people spread out, so even if you don't get the kind of solitude you get on hikes in the PNW, you still don't feel at all crowded (except on the bus).
Have selfie-stick, will travel...
We hiked from the North Gate to the East gate, following the wall for about 5 miles as it climbed up, down, and around the mountain. The views of the old wall winding its way across the landscape were incredibly beautiful.
You can see most of Seoul from one section of the wall
In several places there are openings in the wall where you can walk through it and see it from the other side.
We went through one of these openings and followed a trail out along the ridgeline to an unrestored section of the wall. To me, this was even better. Although the wall was at times hard to distiguish from the surroundings, there were pieces of old roof tiles everywhere, and a general sense of the desolate dignity with which the old structure has withstood the elements for centuries.
Both the tree and the old wall are struggling against the elements high on the ridge line
The wall was so old it made us feel young
Two weeks earlier we were in the southern city of Gyeonggju, where we were able to hike up Namsan Mountain and see the many granite treasures left by Buddhist artists 1500 years ago. It was really wild to hike up an mountain and come across so many ancient carvings of such beauty. We highly reccommend a visit to here if (or should I say when) you come to Korea.
It's hard to believe that this national treasure is just sitting in the woods outside of town
Saddly, several of the Buddha's were headless, but the beauty of the statue is still amazing
Many of the carvings were bas-reliefs
Some were etchings. Yet when you stop and think about the effort it took to engrave this image in solid granite, it is still quite impressive.
This massive stone pagoda overlooking the valley was my personal favorite
The views from the top were excellent
Jen and I are both fans of bonzai trees, and it turns out that they grow here naturally
When you hike in Korea you always see lots of other people. Koreans love hiking, and they love little dogs, so it wasn't surprising to see this combination.
What was surprising (and we didn't take pictures out of respect) was a monk who was carrying a huge load of food on his back for the hermitage that's just below the summit. Not only did he have a heavy load to carry up a long, steep, and icy trail, he was doing it barefoot!
At one point we came to a part of the trail that was so steep it required you to use a rope to climb down a very scary rock face. But at least we were warned in advance by this little guy
Cuteness is very popular in Korea
On the way out we found ourselves hiking through a large bamboo grove. I have always had a thing for bamboo, but this was the fist time I ever got to hear the wonderful chattering sound of the wind in the bamboo.
Thanks for reading. Next post should be much more colorful - spring is just around the corner, and I hear that it is particularly beautiful here.
