Hiking in Seoul
I’ve been waiting to write this one because I have so much to say about it. I have only gone hiking 6 times, but have made some interesting observations that I’m anxious to share.
First of all, let me say that Seoul is an incredible place for hiking. Surprising for a city of over 10 million. But it is surrounded by mountains, and has about 7 of its own peaks rising up in various parts of the city. Imagine if the hills of San Francisco grew to be small mountains, and you have Seoul. So there are dozens and dozens of places to do day hikes all over and around the city. And if you make it to the top, you get spectacular views of the city itself.
Here is a view of Seoul Tower atop Namsan, the most well known landmark in Seoul.
Secondly, I should say that Koreans love hiking. Actually, they love exercise in general. Really, Koreans are extremely active people - hiking, biking, walking, jogging, rollerblading, windsurfing weightlifting, tennis, golf, volleyball, soccer, basketball, TaeKwonDo, Tai Chi, Yoga, you name it. So as a result, any area for outdoors activity in or near the city is generally crowded, with people of all ages. At peak times, the trails actually have TRAFFIC. At normal times, you can at least be sure you will never be alone for long. And, surprisingly, its wonderful.
Something I find funny here is that I readily tolerate certain things that I would never tolerate at home. In California, I was always tremedously annoyed by too many other people on my trails, but here, I don't mind it at all. Maybe I just find Americans more irritating, or maybe its because I pretty much don't have a choice about it in Seoul, but either way, the crowds on the trails don't bother me so far.
Ok, so one of the most amusing things I’ve noticed is that Koreans are some of the world’s most “geared-out” people. Meaning, they have a lot of hiking gear! I always figured Americans took the cake on this on, but I was waaaay wrong. REI step aside – the Koreans have the coolest gear I have seen. And you know the old “they all look alike to me” joke? Well, Koreans all look the same when they are hiking, because they are wearing the SAME THINGS. I call it the Korean Hiking Uniform. It usually consists of black hiking pants, a long sleeve high-tec sweat-absorbing top in a limited number of colors, a hiking vest, a hiking hat (often a visor), very nice hiking boots, gloves, a collapsable hiking stick, a towel or bandana, and a backpack full or even more gear and a picnic lunch.
You can pick them out in any crowd – you KNOW the people who are on their way to go hiking. And on the subway heading to the outlying hiking areas, they become more numerous as you get closer, until eventually, everyone on the train is wearing the Uniform. And if you don’t know how to get to the trails, its mighty convenient to just follow them. Before you go to the trails, you usually have to do a bit of city street walking first. Often, this area is lined with shops, stalls and carts selling pre and post-hike meals, trail picnic food, alcohol, and of course, hiking gear. This is the place where everyone stops to fuel up before hitting the trails, and to refuel when they come down. And if you forgot your hiking stick, no worries!
Hiking ware for sale on the road up to Dobongsan.