A walk in Samcheong Park

Thursday 21 November 2024

While the rest of our tour group took the optional tour to the DMZ (The Demilitarized Zone that borders North Korea) we opted for a DIY exploration of the mountainous Samcheong Park which lies only 1km or so North of the Gyeonbokgung Palace. It was magnificent, and varied, and the autumn colours vibrant.

We spent about two hours inside the park follow various trails that took us to, and over, the historical Hanyangdoseong City Wall.

The entire wall stretches 18.6km around the traditional limits of the city. The tourist office advised that it takes 9-10 hours, but that you don’t do it in one day. Too tricky at this time of year when it is still dark at 8am.

The Park was about a 1 hour walk from our hotel and we pretty much followed the red path in the map below. You can see the old wall stretching across the top third of the photo, and where we crossed over and back.

Instagrans

Korea is full of beautiful people, taking flattering photos in stunning places. We thought that we probably had something to learn. We watched the tweenies in action and gave it a go while in the park.

After agreeing on the “foot pointing to your future”, Deb opted for the “where the blood hell are you” while I channeled “sorry I was lost in thought”. It is so, so, so us.

Smog

It is easy tin Hobart o forget just how polluted the rest of the world is, but brought home anytime you travel to a city of 10 million people. Visibility is very limited. We had hoped for an extensive view from the observatory, but this was not to be.

Snack schmacks

After many trips into Asian countries I have decided that anything you can buy in 7-11, CU, ABC or any other convenience store will be sweet, strange and strong. Cheese biscuits – sweet. White spirits – sucralose and plum flavour. Cheese twisties – fermented socks.

These selections may sound like we have a preference for unhealthy food, but it is impossible to get food as common to us as Vita Wheets and a slice of cheese. Honestly, the best thing I have eaten since we returned from the walk was the snack sized bag of pretzels I salvaged from the plane trip. Well, the sip of Black Raspberry Wine in the bulbous purple bottle didn’t taste too bad, but it is a little early for a nightcap.

We rounded off the day with a brisk walk along the Cheonggyecheon. This scenic rivulet/stream walkway was a polluted channel in the 1970’s so the city converted into a covered road. In the early 2000’s they ripped up the road and made it into an 8.4km city rivulet pedestrian walk. It was a beautiful evening walk, but the full return trip would have been a bit too much. We turned back after 45 minutes and headed for Korean BBQ dinner. Home, exhausted by 8:30pm.

Tomorrow, we head to Jeonju.

The Budget

Snacks and drinks ($35)
BBQ dinner 48,000 ($55)
Running tally: $6219.16