hiking with the hangovers

After a hot and humid summer till the mid of september, followed by a hot Indian summer till the end of september, fall finally began to reach Seoul.
Trees start to change colors and it gets colder, still very sunny and warm during the days but cool sweatshirt requiring nights.
The hiking season opend!

Southkorea has a total of 20 Nationalparks, which is a lot considering the country size.

There is this Nationalpark next to Seoul, Bukhansan, easy to reach by public transport within one hour with several hiking trails.
Kate, Philip and I decided to follow the trail that goes up to the highest top of the whole park.

Our adventure started at the main gate of our university. When they didn't show up and I kept texting them. They had overslept, so I got myself a coffee and took a nap in the morning sun till they came to the agreed meeting place. I saw them, and easy to say, cause they looked horrific, both had a hangover from the night before. That was going to be a fun day!!!

We bought some Kimbab for lunch and lots of water for the hangovers and started our way to the park entrance.

 

For me it was a normal public transport ride, for them it was the longest and most horrible way to move from A to B. Anyway, we made it to the park and easily found the right direction to the peak.
It seems like hiking is Koreans national folk sport. Koreans are the best equipped hobby sportsmen I've ever met. Mountains and National Parks are crowded, even on weekdays.We were quite lucky not having to much company on the trail.
Although we had this nice experience on the way to the top. Two old women were sitting beside the track picnicing. As we were almost the only foreigners we caught their interest. And as grandmas are they wanted to feed us...with nuts and some fruits. So nice those people!

It was a exhausting and cliffy way up there, but definately worth it! We were rewarded with a 360° view over Seoul and the landscape. I loved that top-of-the-world feeling in the sun!!

The path back run by a mountain stream that cleaved through huge rocks and accumulated to small pools on its way down.

 

Back home, after an exhausting and wonderful day in the nature chicken, pizza and a movie made the perfect day-end closing.