Bukhansan NP, South Korea 2019

Seoul (continued)

For my last day in South Korea, I wanted to get out of town. I saw in Seoul pretty much everything that I wanted to see. Going to another museum would add little to the cultural experience.

Online search for nature attractions in the area came up with Bukhansan National Park, a popular destination for locals and tourists. Photos of Baegundae Peak were stunning. The park could be reached by public transport. It sounded like an ideal day trip to unwind after several days in the big city.

There was a problem with that though; no, actually two problems.

Firstly, I never ever hiked alone in my life before. Being directionally challenged, I am capable in getting lost in my home city. That’s why I always hiked with someone else. The only exception was hiking the trails near the house where I live and even there I take a wrong turn once in a while despite the fact that I walked the trail dozens of times. Here, I was in a foreign country where not everyone spoke English.

Secondly, I was short on cash (please see my previous post for details) and it is not possible to pay by credit card for train and bus tickets in South Korea.

I read and re-read, then copied the directions to the park. I set aside the amount of money needed to go to the airport on the following day and carefully calculated the trip cost based on online information about transport tickets. Visiting the park was free. An apple and power bars would be my lunch. It looked like I had enough cash but barely. If anything went wrong I’d have been in big trouble.

That night, I went to bed with a resolution to concur my fear of hiking by myself. In the morning, after a good buffet breakfast at the hotel, I still was determined to go to Bukhansan NP.

I did not master the convoluted system of buying subway tickets. So far, I only used it once, to get from the airport to the hotel. That morning, I bought a one-way ticket to my final destination from a vending machine. Everything looked correct to me. After a couple of stops, I needed to change trains. When I validated my ticket at the transfer station, the gate beeped and displayed the message that the ticket was no longer valid. Nothing could be done about that, and I had to buy another ticket. This unplanned expense further reduced the amount of my cash.

I boarded the train in the state close to panic. The fear of being stuck somewhere without enough cash to return to the hotel or, even worse, to perish in the mountains was overwhelming. After a several stops on the train, I bolted out of it on the platform.

“It is too risky,” flashed through my brain, “I better go back while it is not too late.”

The platform was empty, an unusual sight in South Korea. I sat down and tried to concentrate. The quietness of the place helped to calmed me down. I took out my wallet and counted the cash once again. It should be sufficient for the trip to the national park provided that there would be no other nasty surprises. If I had gone back to Seoul I’d not have known what to do all day. The money already spent on the train ticket would have been wasted. On the other hand, I might have an exciting day and see beautiful things if I went ahead with the trip.

In my previous travels, I was fortunate even in the most critical situations. Something unexpected happened and everything ended well. Should I rely on my good luck this time too? Probably not. Luck was never a factor in my preparations for a trip. Still, I was going to a frequently visited place. Chances were that someone would help me out unless I did something really stupid.

I promised myself not to do such a thing and to be extra cautious. With that, I banished the fear from my mind and took the next train.

Online descriptions of how to get to Bukhansan were pretty detailed. I had no trouble to change from the train to the right bus and then to get off at the right stop. It helped that other passengers who left the bus at that stop were dressed for hiking. I took this as a clue and followed them to the entrance of the national park.

Online posts complained about huge crowds in Bukhansan. It said in them that you have to climb the trail literally shoulder to shoulder with others but I hardly saw anyone around, perhaps because it was a workday.

Among the bus passengers with whom I walked to the park there were two men who stood out as non-Asian and obvious foreigners like me. One was about my age, the other was young. As the only non-locals there, we naturally formed a group.

The men visually assessed me and concluded that they could do without my company. I, for my part, decided to stick to their hiking party regardless of what they wanted. Safety is in numbers. All this was done silently, without a single spoken word.

Both men walked fast expecting me to fall behind. I kept pace with them, participated in the conversation and gradually became accepted. The young guy was a 27-year old Frenchman from Lyon. He was a cybersecurity specialist taking his 6-week mandatory vacation. The other man who looked like Sean Connery was Italian from an area near the Swiss border. Before retiring, he also worked in IT. He now traveled the world for pleasure.

The first section of the trail was a wide road with little elevation gain. In half an hour, this road ended and we were at a fork from which two narrow rocky trails led up. It said on the sign there that the left trail was steep and 2.6 km (1.6 mi) long, the right trial was less steep and 4.1 km (2.5 mi) long.

The young Frenchman chose the steep left trail, the older Italian wanted to take the less strenuous right trail. Both men looked at me. After a short hesitation, I voted for the left trail. Here is my reasoning for that. Both trails were going to be difficult as they went to the same summit. If the left trail proved to be too steep I could rest on the way up but in the end, I’d walk the shorter distance and therefore would less tired.

So, our small group broke up at the fork. The Frenchman and I took the left trail. Despite the age difference, both of us had the same fitness level. We walked stopping for a few minutes to catch the breath and to sip water. The humidity and heat were exhausting. Sweat dripped from our faces and ran down our backs.

Both trails merged near the summit. From there, it was a rocky climb with drop-offs and ropes for support that reminded me the trail to Angels Landing in Zion National Park in Utah.

The Frenchman and I were making our careful way up those slippery rocks when we noticed that the Italian was right behind us. It took him the same time to walk the longer trail as the shorter trail for us. We asked him about his experience. The Italian said that the trail he took was rather steep too.

The views of Seoul and surrounding mountains from the summit were totally worth the climb. We took a break for photos and snacking, then went down the same rocks with the ropes back to the fork.

Online posts recommended descending from Baegundae Peak on its other slope for more fun. However, there was little information about this route. It simply said in the posts that it is an easy trail that leads to a different subway station.

Again, both the Frenchman and I decided that we wanted to try the other trail rather than to go down the way we submitted. The Italian did not know about the other slope. Seeing how determined we were to go that way, he joined us too.

Indeed, it was much easier to descend from the other side. I was grateful for the company of these two people. Talking with them did not allow me concentrate on my feelings, on how tired and thirsty I was. All three of us drank our last water.

We reached the foothills and continued to walk along a paved road. The Frenchman had an offline map of the area on his phone. Following his directions, we came to a subway station that I’d never had found by myself even with the same map on my phone.

I bought a ticket to Seoul City Hall, the station where my hotel was, inserted it into the gate and the damn machine beeped. I tried again with the same result. The Italian laughed and said that this happened to him more than once. He simply jumped over the gate. I was about to follow his example, but tried the ticket the third time and it worked. Go figure what was wrong with it before!

We traveled together for some time, then said farewell to each other and parted.

The hiking took about 6 hours. I was immensely tired, just put on a brave face in front of my companions. At the same time, I was happy with how the day was spent and felt fortunate that everything went well. God knows how it could have ended if I had not had someone to hike with. While this trip to Bukhansan NP may not look like an adventure to many people, it was to me. It does not mean that I can hike alone from now on but this climb made me more confident.

In the room, I stuffed my meager belongings into the backpack in preparation for the flight on the following day and went to bed. Every muscle in my legs ached. I kept shifting the legs hoping that a new position would relieve the dull pain but they hurt anyway.

In total, I had six days in South Korea. Out of them, 4 days were for sightseeing in Seoul and 2 days for trips to the DMZ and Bukhansan National Park. Overall, the trip was interesting in every aspect. If anyone cares to know my opinion if they should visit South Korea, I say “Go for it!”