My First Hike

This city is crazy

I had a weekend full of firsts....which will probably be happening for a while....first time at the noraebang (private karaoke room), first time in Insadong (a neighborhood known for shopping....amazing souvenirs), first Seoul historical landmark and a hike. The noraebang was good times, but pretty self explanatory. Shopping was fun...but not too much to report other then I plan on going back...many times.

The historical landmark: Seodaemun Prison
This prison was used during the Japanese occupation from 1910-1945 to house Korean freedom fighters. It was like a mini-Holocaust museum. I never realized that the Japanese had such a tight hold over Korean so recently. Needless to say, there is still some hostility between the two.

The hike: Inwangsan Mountain - Shamanist Hillside Walk
Amazing. We got off the subway, walked down a few alleyways and straight up into a "hillside". Beautiful. It was so strange to be in such a beautiful nature environment and turn to see a huge city beneath you. The whole city is like this. There is plenty of hiking within the city and just outside....I plan to go every weekend. =)

This particular hillside had a bunch of temples and small shrines scatters throughout. As we walked by the temples we could hear monks chanting. We walked up to one smaller shrine with a woman chanting in front of it. The most important feature of this hill is a rock formation that is said to have eroded to look like two monks. People come there to pray to have a son. There were two people there praying when we came by. We also encountered a naked Korean dude...but we are pretty sure he was just a little off his rocker. All in all it was an amazing combination of nature, culture and city, even with a crazy naked dude following us around.