With its national parks, greenery and natural beauty, Seoul is the perfect city for hikers. Today, I'm taking you on a tour of Seoul's highest mountain: Boukhansan.
Created in 1983, Seoul's Boukhansan National Park covers an area of 80 km2. The word Boukhansan means "the mountain north of the Han River".
There are many natural parks in Seoul, but Bonkhansan is the city's highest mountain. There are many hiking trails, and you can even go rock-climbing! Just don't be afraid of heights... Along the way to the summit, you'll come across several Buddhist temples that are still inhabited. In fact, many of them offer overnight accommodation!
This is the "temple-stay" principle, allowing the most curious to experience Buddhist life for a few days. This phenomenon is well known in South Korea.
You'll need to allow a good afternoon for the ascent and descent.
Once at the summit, the view is breathtaking! We had a panoramic view of the whole city. As luck would have it, the weather was fine that day and the pollution wasn't too bad, so we were able to admire the city from high above.
We went hiking in March, so even though the weather is starting to warm up, there's still snow in the streams.
The park is made up of forested areas, temples and granite peaks. The three main peaks are Baekundae, 836.5 m, Insubong, 810.5 m and Mangnyeongdae, 799.5 m. Some areas of the park are closed, on a rotating basis, to protect the local environment, as the park is much frequented by hikers, climbers and the population of Seoul.
We hiked up to the highest point: Baekunda 826.5 m - that's getting high!
The sunrise at the top of the mountain is a feast for the eyes.