Hiking at Bukhansan Mountain

Stu and I at the top of Baegundae Peak

A view of Bukhansan National Park

Hiking Bukhansan Mountain is one of the best ways to experience the beauty that Seoul has to offer. Leaving the pollution and crowded streets behind makes this national park seem like an oasis inside of a concrete jungle. The mountain is just North of Seoul about 45 minutes by bus or subway. A steep 836.5 meters or 2,744 feet above sea level will give you a completely different view of Seoul and its surrounding areas. On a clear day you can see outstanding views as far as Incheon airport and the mountains of North Korea.

The coolest part about the hike is that there are numerous temples and historical sites along the trails. The Bukhansan seong Fortress can be seen up close from many parts of the mountain and the Sasngungsa temple lies about twenty minutes into the hike. There are several peaks on the mountain, but the most popular is the top of Baegundae where you can see all of Seoul and the famous Insubong peak. Take a close look at Insubong peak and you will see tiny bodies climbing up the face of the massive granite rock.

The hike takes anywhere between two and six hours depending on your speed, weather conditions, and traffic with other hikers. For average hikers it takes a total of four hours round trip. The trails are very rocky and steep, so be prepared to do a lot of physical activity especially towards the top of the mountain. Avoid going to Bukhansan during a holiday because Koreans are avid hikers and the trails will be flooded with locals. Trust me, I learned this the hard way when I went the day after Chuseok.

However, the other hikers can be well worth the annoyance if the weather is outstanding. If its crowded at least you can make fun of the standard hiking equipment used by most Koreans such as poles, space blankets, neon hiking outfits, special hiking shoes, and anything with a North Face label. You will be completely under dressed (by Korean standards) in your running shoes and yoga pants and might get some unusual stares!

The gear is a little much for a day hike, but the one thing the locals definitely do right, is packing an amazing lunch. My friend Milly in the picture below made sure to bring along extra snacks for our group. I also learned that most hikers bring along gimbap (Korean style sushi) and a few bottles of makgeoli (Korean rice wine) to celebrate reaching the top of the mountain! There are plenty of restaurants towards the bottom on the mountain to stock up on snacks for a meal during the hike.

 To see live video footage of the mountain click on the videos below. Someone got hurt during my hiking trip and I took footage of the rescue helicopter as it flew in to drop off 3 paramedics. For directions on how to get to Bukhansan Mountain from Seoul or surrounding areas visit The Official Site of Korea Tourism or click on the following link Bukhansan Mountain.

 

 

A Korean Flag on top of the mountain.

I thought this rock was awesome, it looks like a persons head!

One of the many streams that flows through the mountain.

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You know its Chuseok when....

For the past three days I have been enjoying the Chuseok holiday in Seoul. This year Chuseok Day took place in the middle of the week on Wednesday September, 22^nd. Most Korean companies gave their employee’s off the 21^st through the 23^rd to celebrate.

            In short, I learned from my students that Chuseok is a holiday where people return to their hometowns to pay respect to their families. The three day extravaganza is marked by many interesting, fun, and stressful customs.

                                                                                
                   You know its Chuseok when:

1. There is spam everywhere- I have heard jokes from my friends that my company would provide a Chuseok present of Spam. Luckily, my company was cheap this year and skipped the gifts. But there was clearly no shortage of Spam, as it was on display in every store window I walked by. The funny thing about the Spam is that it will run you a steep $29.

2. The older women are stressed- Apparently when Korean families get together over this holiday the women are expected to cook up an enormous feast. Most of the older women in my class stated that they love Chuseok, when its over! They informed me that the traditional Korean dishes are very hard to prepare and take lots of planning and time.

3. You see Songpyeon everywhere- Because I live in a very historic area of Seoul, Jongno and Insadong in particular are famous for making the traditional rice cake treats known as Songpyeon. Walking to work a couple days before the holiday, I realized that the traditional “dessert” stores were going crazy with the amount of food they were cooking up! A few days later I realized that they had been shipping out boxes of Songpyeon and other delicious Korean treats to all of Korea. I am personally not a fan of the chewy rice cake balls. 

4. People are playing weird folk games-  All along the Cheonggyecheon stream you will see many people playing traditional games. They don’t make much sense to many Westerners, but the Koreans seemed to be having a blast. One of the games looked like a version of a dradle where a man would try to spin a ball with a stick on the ground. According to the Official Site of The Korea Tourism Board, this game is called “Paengi-chigi” (팽이치기, top spinning). There was also another version of the glitziest hacky sack you have ever seen called “Jegi-chagi” (제기차기, Korean hacky sac).

 

5. People are wearing Chuseokbim outfits- My students explained to me that in traditional households the father’s would give his family members a new dress once a year on this day. Many families have pictures taken in the outfits, and if you wear the dress on Chuseok Day you get free admission to the many temples in Seoul. The young girl I snapped a photo of was like a local celebrity and everyone wanted a picture of her!

6. Seoul seems very empty- I was told that Seoul would seem weird because so many people leave during the holiday. This was true for the most part, expect for in historic areas such as Jongno which hosts many events around the famous temples. I later learned that on the third day of the holiday many Koreans go hiking at Bukansan Mountain. I will post a separate blog about this packed but absolutely amazing hiking destination! 

 

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