Day 63: RM's Hill

There were two specific places I wanted to go to today: Poet's Hill (where the leader of BTS, Namjoon, visited and tweeted about) and a cafe in an area nearby that Namjoon also posted a picture of on Twitter. I slept in super late and then bussed up to the north end of Seoul. It took me over an hour to get there and I had to take two buses (I love the subway system here now, but I still absolutely hate buses).

Poet's Hill is very close to one of the historical gates in Seoul called Changuimun Gate. There is a huge hiking trail that goes around the edge of Seoul and has several gates along the way. I think it would be so cool to walk the entire trail (in parts) but that's a big challenge so maybe I will save it for when I come back to Korea. Unfortunately, the gate and area by it were closed because it was later in the afternoon so I just took a quick picture and then crossed the road to find Poet's Hill.

I walked up a little wood staircase to get to the hill and passed a cute cafe. I stopped by the cafe to grab a tea and cookie because it was kind of chilly out. The path to the hill was super short, but the view was interesting. I could see a mountain in the distance and it looked out over tons of houses.

The pathway that Namjoon walked along looked a lot different since it was now late November and the trees had lost almost all their leaves. It was still a cool spot though.

Along one edge there was a stone wall that looked really pretty so I walked down that path and then back up the path where Namjoon had taken a picture again.

The next place I wanted to see was the cafe. My map said it would take me an hour to walk there so I went down the other side of the Poet's Hill path and started walking towards the cafe. At the bottom of the path I found a pole with a bunch of signs pointing to different trails and sightseeing spots. One of the signs pointed to a path nearby that would take me up a mountain, called Inwangsan (san means mountain in Korean... and Japanese interestingly enough). It wasn't even 4 yet and the mountain trail took me in the general direction of the cafe so I decided to check it out.

This turned out to be one of the best choices I have made while in Korea and I can guarantee that this hike will be one of my absolute favourite memories from my trip! It was super steep and challenging, but beyond beautiful. The mountain was huge and it took me almost two hours to climb all the way up and back down. There was a stone wall along one side of the path for most of the trip and some areas had stairs. The climb got super tricky at several parts because the path disappeared and I even had to climb up a very rickety and tiny looking set of steps near the top at one point.

There were so many amazing spots to look and take pictures at and the entire experience was beyond amazing. The happiness I felt while climbing was incredible, I felt so light and I kept smiling to myself! I was super out of breath and boiling hot, but I felt really accomplished once I made it to the top.

The view was beautiful. I could see so many buildings and other mountains! There were even buildings where I could see the TVs on them playing ads. The air quality wasn't very good that day, which is why is looks very 'white' and foggy. I didn't realize it was because of the pollution at the time so I just thought it made the hike feel magical. Here are a bunch of photos I took (they are in chronological order).

The top of the mountain:

The way down:

I barely passed any people the entire time. However, I did meet an older man when I was going down the other side of the mountain. We had a super short conversation, but I talked completely in Korean! He said hello and then told me to be careful in Korean and I was able to reply back and then thank him. Not a crazy conversation, but it was still cool to understand everything he was saying and to be able to respond.

When I made it to the bottom there was a set of stairs that went around a corner and ended at a small road for cars. I saw a policeman standing across the road, but didn't see the one around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. I turned the corner to walk down and the guy (who had been sitting on the stairs) quickly stood up and totally scared the crap out of me. We all ended up laughing and the guy across the street apologized.

There was another path by the policeman and it took me close to the cafe so I continued to walk along the wall. It was a main path at this point and super easy to walk along compared to the mountain. I passed a little park and lots of benches before I made it to the end of the trail. Just as I got to the bottom the lights along the wall turned on. It was so cool to see the wall lit up and the photo definitely doesn't do it justice. I wonder if the wall along the mountain lights up too? That would be amazing to walk along at night.

I made it to the bottom of the path and I was back in the city. I had to walk another 20 minutes or so to find the cafe, but I passed a cute little street with lanterns above it along the way.

I never would've discovered the cafe without a BTS member going to it. It is super small in an area of Seoul that I haven't been to before. I think it used to be an antique store or an old book shop, but it has been converted into a small cafe. It was so hard to open the door because it was a really old sliding door and I was worried I would accidentally push too hard and break it. When I got inside there was a really tiny area with a single cash register and desk surrounded by books. I ordered a tea with the older lady working at the desk. She then opened another sliding door and I walked out into this tiny little square. There was no ceiling so I could see the sky, sadly it was super dark by now so it looked like there was a ceiling. The square was surrounded by old books and all sorts of random antique items. The lady brought out my tea and showed me another sliding door that opened into a small sitting area. There were a few tables and chairs in an indoor room with even more antique items all around as decoration. It was super aesthetic and cute plus I got a yummy lollipop candy thing with my drink. I had a bit of my tea before I went back out to the square area to take pictures.

There was a spot in one of the corners where Namjoon sat for his photo. The cafe had even hung up the picture he took in the spot where he took it (you can see it if you look closely at the middle of the last picture)!

I took a few pictures and then left to head back home. I found a Thai place near the cafe and decided to stop there for dinner. The food was really yummy! I had some kind of chicken Thai noodle soup and it was really flavourful and nice plus it was different from a lot of the meals I have been eating recently.

I was able to take a subway back home, which made me super happy (no more terrible buses for today). I relaxed in my room for a while before I grabbed my laptop and went to a nearby Starbucks to work on some blog posts.

Today really was such an incredible day. One of the many reasons I love travelling alone is that I can change my plans and explore new places as I find them. I originally just went to see the hill and cafe, but a random decision to check out a trail led to such an incredible experience. I think this will be a happy memory that I will keep for a long time and I will definitely come back to this mountain the next time I am in Korea.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Emily

(November 27, 2018)

Distance walked: 10.5 km