Towering Namsan

Okay, Namsan, which means “South Mountain,” is not the most towering of mountains. But it’s one of Seoul’s four “guardian mountains.”

I don’t know what they guard against. If Kim Jong Un chooses to attack while I’m here, maybe I’ll find out.

Guardian Mountains? Mountains look stoic and static. I’ll bet they’ll hold their ground if attacked. But when it comes to guarding a city, they’ll probably just stand there as forces march around or fly over them.

Before continuing, a warning: I didn’t sleep much on the plane to Seoul. And my sleep last night, my first night here, can best be described as fitful.

What a ridiculous thing to say. I’m sure that a better writer than I, which covers a lot of ground, could have done a better job of describing it if it had happened to them. But you know what I mean.

My point is that due to my fatigue, my posts today will probably be shorter and even more typo-prone than usual. Oh, and my current thinking is that there will be three of them, rather than my usual two.

Warning over.

Namsan might not be towering for a mountain, but there’s a tower at its summit, hence the title of this post. This morning, I visited Namsan and its tower.

Up Namsan

The guardian mountains vary in height. None will win an award for being among the tallest in the world. We’re not talking about Mount Everest here. But why would you think we were talking about Mount Everest? I’m in South Korea, for goodness’ sake. Why do I always have to warn you people to pay attention in these pages?

I don’t know if Namsan is the shortest of the four, but it’s certainly not the tallest. At 270 metres, Namsan may not be a giant as mountains go, but it’s not a pipsqueak either.

One of my guidebooks told me that it’s not a very strenuous hike up it. They should have said it’s not a strenuous hike unless you’re an old man approaching decrepitude, especially if you’re only pretending that “approaching,” rather than deep in the midst of, is still appropriate.

There is a cable car (similar to a gondola ski lift) that goes up Namsan. But the lower station is on the other side of Namsan from my hotel. Even so, the mapping app I was using, KakaoMap, told me that it would take less time than walking to and all the way up Namsan from my hotel.

However, because of my unexpectedly early start, the app told me that, despite dawdling at the hotel a little, if I walked, I’d still get to the tower right around its 10:00 a.m. opening time. So I walked.

The app probably would have been right about the arrival time had I paid more attention to the app and not missed the trail it wanted me to take without realizing my mistake until it no longer made sense to double back. Regular readers know that sort of thing is common for me.

Instead, I took a somewhat more roundabout route. What with that and with me pausing on some benches while practicing my “no, I’m not decrepit; what makes you think I’m decrepit” look, I arrived well past opening time.

Although moderately strenuous for a man my age, the walk up Namsan was very pleasant.

A forested park covers the vast majority of the sides of the mountain. Within the forest are several cherry trees that were in bloom.

At least, I think they are cherry trees. I know that, as in Japan, cherry blossoms are a big thing in South Korea at this time of year. But I didn’t try to verify that that’s what they were. For all I know, they could have been a completely different flora. (I’m shocked—SHOCKED—at how sloppy management is about not bothering to insist that I try to be at least somewhat accurate in these pages. It’s disgraceful, really. But a sign of our times, I guess.)

Much of my walk was along a wide pedestrian road through the forest. That took me to a long set of modern, solid, wooden stairs for the rest of the climb to the summit. For a long piece of that road, a brook bordered by human-placed rocks, burbled over a stone-strewn brook bed, making a very peaceful sound.

Namsan Seoul Tower

This was probably not the best day to go to the top of the Namsan Seoul Tower. When I set out this morning, there was some light fog. I hoped that it would burn off by the time I got to the tower as the day warmed to a predicted high of 21°C. The haze lightened, but didn’t completely clear. So the city wore a diaphanous veil as I looked down on it.

There is, of course, a fee to go up the tower. I’m pleased to report that there is a seniors rate. I’m even more pleased that the ticket seller insisted on seeing my passport or other proof of age before she would sell me a senior’s ticket. At my age, I’m thrilled that they don’t yet ask for medical certification that I still have a pulse.

There are two observation decks at what looks like about halfway up the Namsan Seoul Tower. Above the observation decks, there’s a revolving restaurant. I didn’t go up there. I think there are also some food joints on the level below the decks, but the stairs down to it were roped off.

Large windows surround the circular upper deck. Lettering at the top of each window lists one or more world cities that are in that direction and the distance to that city. I’m proud to say that one window showed the direction to the centre of the universe, also known as Toronto, my hometown. It’s 10,728.44 kilometres from the Namsan Seoul Tower.

The lower observation deck, the one where you’re required to board the elevator down, does not have windows the full 360° around it. Some are blocked by the washrooms and other amenities. So, if you go, make sure you take in the full viewing experience on the upper deck. You can go between the two only by stairs.

After I finished with the tower, I walked back down Namsan. By the time I got to the base, morning had slid into afternoon. So I’ll call a wrap on this entry and pick it up again in another post this afternoon.