Namsam Mountain

A couple weekends ago, Alexa (one of my coworkers) and I visited Namsam Mountain with some Koreans and a Turkish student she met at a restaurant. We hung out with them last weekend too, and it's nice to have a group of Korean friends to socialize with and show you the ins and outs of the city. When I heard we were going to a mountain I expected a somewhat rigorous hike, so I wore my hiking shoes. When we arrived at the base of the mountain (which is more like a tall hill in the city center) it became obvious that this was not the outdoor adventure I was expecting. While the mountain was wooded (a welcome change from the buildings and streets of a city with 10 million people), there were stairs that led all the way up to the top. At various points there are man-made look out points that give you a nice view of the surrounding city. It was cool and cloudy that day, but the scenery was still pretty good. I will definitely be returning to the mountain in the spring and fall, when the trees are blooming and the leaves are changing colors.

There was some fitness equipment on the way up, so we stopped to try it out. The seated press is actually harder than it looks; you are basically lifting up your body weight. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the little girl trying out the elliptical.






There are several attractions at the top of the mountain, the most prominent of which is the Seoul Tower. I think it's a TV tower and you can go up in it, but we did not feel like it that day. The views from the mountaintop were good enough for us. One side of the mountain featured a fort-like wall, complete with turrets that you could climb into. This was a lot of fun and all of us snapped some nice pictures. I'm not sure whether the pavilion is authentic or not, but it was a nice finishing touch to the mountain top.

There were also some traditional Korean spears that were sitting unsecured in a rack. Naturally I went over to glance at them. What happened next happened very quickly, and I'm not sure I have all of the details right. One of the Koreans we were with said you could pick them up. This made absolutely no sense to me, because the spears looked like they were from a museum exhibit and potentially dangerous. Looking at them I would have assumed they were for display only. But, we could climb in the turrets (which probably wouldn't fly in the US), the spears weren't secured, and I had my Korean friend saying you could pick them up. On top of all that, I thought a picture of me wielding a traditional Korean spear would be the sweetest Facebook picture ever. I was in a culture different from my own and mesmerized by these weapons; needless to say, I was in a very suggestible state. I lifted up one of the spears and prepared to strike a ninja-like pose, when a lady came running towards me screaming for me to put down the weapon in Korean. I was very humiliated and quickly dropped the weapon. I'm still not sure if the Koreans we were with knew the rules, or were just playing a joke on the stupid American, but I was pretty embarrassed.

There were also several performers at the top of the mountain. One of these was a group of men dressed as traditional Korean warriors, doing a martial arts show with swords (maybe the spears were for them?). We watched the various performers for awhile and relaxed. The ability to take fast-action shots must run in the family.


They also had several characters dressed up in Disney World-style mascot costumes. Of course we couldn't resist getting pictures with them.

The top was pretty crowded because it was "White Day." The Koreans have two Valentine's Days, one in February where the ladies get gifts for the men, and White Day where the men get gifts for the women (I'm really surprised Hallmark hasn't picked up on this yet). As a side bar, there is a singles' day too where all of the singles are supposed to go out eat black noodles. Sounds kind of depressing if you ask me. Anyways, the mountain top was crowded with couples. There is a fenced in area where the fence overlooking the city is completely covered in locks. Our Korean tour guides explained to us that in a famous Korean movie the couple attached a lock to the fence as a symbol of their undying love. It caught on, and now the fence is completely covered.

It was a fun trip, and I definitely want to make a habit of doing something fun on Sundays. We've since hung out with our new Korean friends twice, but I will save the details for a later post.