Everyone said Bukhansan was a difficult climb, so I thought I’d take up the challenge.
Starting at Boseonsa Temple, it was easy going for the first hour or so. Then as we began climbing towards Begundae (836m) it became more fun as the path got more difficult…
It was pretty cold and as we got higher there were patches of ice and snow.
Actually, this is all an act. I wasn’t cold at all because I was wearing my wonderful new coat which magically maintained me at a perfect temperature! It was the best bargain ever down from 200,000 to 20,000won (£10). Although it was a hazy day, the scenery was still spectacular.
With the shapes of the rocks and the pattern of the trees…it looked like an old-fashioned painting.
I could just imagine a San-Shin sitting out here. But then I spotted something all together more modern….
I was quaking just watching these guys, the rock face was so sheer! But I got to do a bit of my own cable climbing in order to get to the top of the peak. Even the Koreans in all their professional clothing were finding it difficult in this icy weather.
As we sat at the top munching the remainder of our food we saw mountain rescue circling and finally picking someone up very near to where we were.
Because it was so cloudy, it got dark very quickly. We were walking down the last part in blackness at 5.30pm! But luckily the path was easy to follow and we came across people going up the mountain to a sleeping hut so we knew we weren’t far from civilization (although the sleeping hut looked very cosy, that’ll have to be for next time).
After wandering for another hour and a half through the suburbs of Seoul, we got back to Suyu and had a well-earned pork rib stew.
It was very tasty, although slightly torturous to have to sit and wait while it cooked at the table! But they gave us free cola so we were able to get some much-needed glucose into our bloodstream. Amusingly, they also gave us these cute aprons to protect our clothes, which none of the other (Korean) diners were using. It’s just another of those strange things about Korea that I’ve got used to, being treated (well-meaningly) like a naive child.
