I left Jeonju on a morning train bound for the capitol city of Seoul, where I started this adventure several weeks ago. I really underestimated how much there was to see and do here so I decided to spend a few days seeing the things I’d missed the first time before heading home. Also, many of the places I visited this time were way out on the outskirts of the city which allowed for a much more relaxed pace.

To start, I went to two of the Josean burial sites. The Josean kings and their queens were all buried in these elaborate mounds on top of big hills, guarded by military officials, horses, rams and tigers. There are forty separate collections of these mounds scattered around the country as well as two up in North Korea. Aside from the burial mounds they make for really beautiful places to just walk around and enjoy being outside.

Unfortunately, I missed out on hiking the highest peak in Korea back on Jeju, so I settled for the highest peak in Seoul, Bukhansan in Bukhansan National Park. I took a subway ride to one side of the mountain, hiked up to the peak and then down the other side to a different waiting subway station. Easy! The climb was pretty steep, but easier than the other hikes I’ve done here. The skies were clear, but it was a bit smoggy so the views weren’t stellar, but I was just able to make out downtown Seoul from the top. I also got to pass by a stretch of the fortress wall that once surrounded the whole mountain. Here’s an interesting fact, Bukhansan National Park holds the world record for National Park visitors. It gets more visitors per square meter than any other national park in the entire world. Wow!

I also took a day trip out to Incheon to see the Incheon Landing Museum. In 1950, General MacArthur led the allied troops into Incheon which turned the tides of the Korean war. They recaptured Seoul from the North Koreans and ended up pushing them back almost to the Chinese border, until the Chinese got involved and pushed the line back south to where it remains to this day at the DMZ. It was a really interesting place to visit. After the museum I went to see another Korean baseball game, the Incheon SK Wyverns destroyed the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles 17-2. Ouch!

That wasn’t the only baseball game I went to either. I couldn’t resist. I just love baseball and these Korean games are just too much fun! Two teams share the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, so I went to one game for each team. The Seoul Doosan Bears beat the Gwangju KIA Tigers, and the Seoul LG Twins got beat by the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles. Fans are cheering, singing, clapping, pounding on seats, non stop for the entire game. I spend just as much time looking around at the chaos as I do the game. The funny thing is, it’s only the start of the season and these fans treat every game like it’s the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the World Series. American fans REALLY need to step it up!

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Well, that about wraps up my Korean adventure. It was a bit rough in the middle with the weather not cooperating, but it was a very good trip overall. Koreans are some of the nicest and friendliest people I’ve encountered anywhere and the country is just beautiful. Now it’s back home for three more months of work. Until the next adventure…

And once again, all the pics from Seoul are to be found here