A few weeks ago, me and my friend, Sarah, decided to take advantage of the rising temperatures and go hiking. We didn't set out with a real plan but I knew of a few places around my neighborhood that I'd been wanting to explore so we started there.
First, was a bright cluster of buildings I'd caught a glimpse of peaking through the trees from the bus. It was on the top of a hill and it was hard to tell how to gain access and whether or not visitors would be welcome. We wandered down a windy little neighborhood until we found a narrow walkway leading up the hill.
What we found at the top turned out to be the city's Buddhist University.
These funny little Aladdin roofs were what I'd spotted.
Apparently, it only runs during the week so the place was abandoned. It had kind of a "Spirited Away" vibe with all the traditional architecture and eery silence save for a collection of wind chimes.
The coolest dragon.
The story of Buddha on the side of the temple.
After a little walk-through, we sat up on a balcony and enjoyed the view of Chuncheon as well as the quiet. I've decided I might go up there some Saturdays to read and relax. Maybe I'll pick up sketching and writing again.
The next stop was a little pavilion I'd spotted on another taller hill. We walked along the river until we reached it. The grounds opened up with this little scene:
Apparently most of these markers were memorials to prominent figures in Chuncheon. It's not actually a graveyard, like we initially thought. Just where they all got moved to.
Behind the memorials we found the start to a hiking trail. Partway up, we found the pavilion. The spot had a great view of my neighborhood, Udu-dong.
After the pavilion, we got into the real hiking. The trail was surprisingly steep in places, but luckily there were ropes in place so we could climb up Indiana Jones-style. We ran into an older woman, her son, and grandson who sort of accompanied us most of the way. The little boy was pretty gung--hoe about the ropes and kept competing with us to find the faster shortcut. It was fun and the grandmother was really sweet. We found a little hidey-hole to investigate. I'm not sure if it was some remnant from the war or the foundation to a tiny house but there was just enough space for a couple people to squeeze through the little opening in the ground and crouch inside.
The rest of the hike was beautiful and the views were a great payoff.
I'll definitely be visiting more during warmer weather.
The whole day turned out pretty fortuitous. Once we made it back down, the sun was setting so we walked back towards my apartment to grab some Chinese food and enjoy Udu-dong at it's finest:
I get this view of Soyang River every day while waiting for the bus. My life is awesome.
The blue castle is where I take yoga. It's awesome.
I love where I live.
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