I had planned on a simple day of exploring our immediate area of Hannam and the very close, very Western area of Itaewon. However, these two beacons up on the mountain have been calling my name ever since I arrived. "Come see us before you see anything else in Seoul!" "We're not that far!" "I'm the symbol of Seoul, see me first!" So I heeded the calls, opened up my map, circled our house, made sure my address was in my wallet in the event of a wrong turn and needing to tell a cab driver where I live and I was off. Couldn't be more than half an hour walk, right?
View from balcony.
Should be a cake walk.
Note to reader: This is a one-sided view of Namsan Mountain, literally. I only went up the south side. When RCP has time to do some hiking, we will re-visit and provide more details as there is a significant amount of history associated with the mountain along with temples and ruins that are nestled on some part of it. I figured it best to stay on the main road on this inaugural excursion.
Two hours later, I still wasn't at my point of interest. Not because I tend to be directionally challenged. Actually, my Seoul tourist map and I are getting along quite well. Mt. Namsan is just a tad taller than I thought. I ended up just kind of happening upon the park, after taking a right off of a main road, when I realized I was headed for one of the tunnels that goes through the mountain and is closed to pedestrians. After wandering up (literally on a 90 degree incline) and through a neighborhood, I came to what looked like lots of government maintained flora and fauna and crossed the street. Sure enough Namsan Park!
The park gives a wide patch of green to the downtown Seoul area and has several hiking trails leading to the 262-meter peak where N Seoul Tower is located. There are also several exercise areas, making the park very popular among Seoulites for early morning exercise. Gyms outside in the middle of a forest. Genius. Complete with those national park wooden markers pointing you in the direction of various sights and landmarks I found one labeled: "N Seoul Tower 850 meters".....Oh right, they use the metric system here....Is that far?
Forget joining a gym; Namsan park is free, has a path padded with rubber that accompanies the road up to the summit, has exercise areas for resistance training (also free), mineral water stations, wooden lounge chairs in the middle of the Pine Forest and the most gorgeous public restrooms ever encountered (that play classical music when you enter). Equinox, LA Sports Club or anything of the like in the Western hemisphere? You've met your match.
Half-way there? Maybe.
Seoul Tower opened in 1975 as a radio and transmission tower.
It opened to the public in 1981 and in 2005 was renovated and renamed
N Seoul Tower, "N" meaning "New Look"
For the directionally challenged...
...and in English! What a treat.
I've found the Park, now I just have to find the Tower.
The foliage is so heavy, there are no sights or sounds
of a city down below.
Nature's stair-master.
A public restroom one could live in.
The Pine Forest
There are 49,300 pine trees on Mt. Namsam,
covering 17.7% of the forest.
Enjoy nature's canopy.
"Safety equipment to be used in case of fire."
Always be prepared.
On a "photo island" at the South point.
.
All vehicle traffic stays to the right and hikers
get a nice strip of rubber lined road.
Mission accomplished.
Tower is MUCH further from home than expected.
The "Seoul Athletes Club"
Outside, next to the tower, like a tree house.
No kidding.
No monthly membership fee.
And this my friends, is Seoul!
See that big black rectangle in the second picture below? That's the Grand Hyatt....where I entered the park...and hiked from to get to the 360 degree view. The map was just a tad deceiving regarding distance between the two.
Inside the heart of Seoul
Seoulites must like to frequent their own tourist attractions.
Can't think of a better place to have a conversation.
For just $12.00 you can purchase a block of wood from the gift shop,
write a message, and stick on the circular round center wall.
Waiting for RCP to make the hike with me then we'll leave our mark.
Love is in the air!
I haven't quite figured out the reason behind the abundant displays and symbols of love surrounding the outside deck, but it must be THE place in Seoul to profess you love to someone. Perhaps similar to the Empire State Building's role in numerous movies?
Keys to someone's heart? Locks of Love?
So many interpretations of this fence
with hearts and locks attached to it.
Even trees of love.
Not only can one find love up on the mountain but apparently
the best best burger in town.
"There's a what?"
After this first excursion to the geographical center of Seoul my legs were a little tired but I was definitely full of new perspective and appreciation for the beauty of this city, that can't always be seen from the concrete jungle below. Love is definitely contagious up at that altitude and I can't wait to explore more of Seoul...a little closer to sea level.
Later on I learned two things from RCP:
1. I had unknowingly wandered into the Chairman of Samsung's neighborhood...that explains the security.
2. There's a cable car all the way to the top. (!!!??!?!?!)
Dude, do you know there's a cable car?
This is all so amazing ~
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