gwanaksan to gangnam

Hey there (John here)

One of the cool things about Seoul is the amount of forest and mountains they have preserved in an undeveloped state. Near our house, there is a bridge over a largish road with trees and shrubs on it that connects two wooded mountain areas. Following the wooded area southward, there is a much bigger bridge with a lot more trees on it crossing a major thoroughfare. Keep going, and you get to a very large area that is all trees and mountains. I climbed it today.

Gwanaksan (or Gwanak mountain) is visible from our bathroom window, and is about an hour's hike away if you go fast. On it's sides, you are surrounded with trees and you can smell granite. Today, it had just rained, and there was a lot of sparkly quartz with gold flecks of pyrite all over the ground. Off to one side, tucked in a fold of hills, there is Gwaneumsa (the sa means buddhist temple.) It is one of the few continuously surviving buddhist temples in Korea, because a few hundred years ago they were persecuted. Only the temples in the mountains were able to keep going. At the top of the climb, it really is a climb. You don't need ropes, but you only just don't need ropes. There are a lot of Koreans climbing up there and having picnics.

Also, there are a bunch of bunkers, razor wire still coiled around the entrances, reminders of the Korean War. Much of Seoul was destroyed in that war. The grim reminders and the natural beauty rub shoulders up there on Gwanaksan.

Within sight, in fact, probably less than 3 miles from the peak of Gwanak, is the part of Seoul known as Gangnam. (I think it was where Ben was staying, but not totally sure.) Loosely, it includes where we are because it means South of the river. But specifically, it refers to the most expensive and fashionable part of Seoul, which is South of the river. It is also the most throbbingly citified place I have ever been to in my life. Packed with rivers of people, full of music and lights and ... energy. Totally amazing, if overwhelming.

I'd say Seoul has it all, but their air and water are both pretty bad, and those are the most basic things I guess. Still, I'm close to a mountain and a metropolis all at one time.