Another attempt at Seoul Fortress Wall....

I've been meaning to climb the fortress wall for quite some time now, another place I want to see before it gets too cold. I actually tried climbing it in my first couple of weeks in Korea from Buam-dong but I didn't have my passport on me nor did I have an alien registration card, the only two IDs they accept for foreigners. That day though I was inappropriately dressed anyway and would have had a difficult time climbing up with my flip flops!

This time I started from the Seongbuk-dong side which is meant to be a bit easier to climb. You can see some of the wealthy houses in the background here.

A lot of the leaves have already fallen, but there is still a bit of foliage left on the trees.

The mountains in Korea are spectacular. Seoul may be one of the biggest cities in the world but with all the mountains within and around the metropolis it's still easy to get respite with nature.

Ah annoyingly I took the wrong path on the mountain. I assumed i'd go where most people were heading and It'd probably lead me to the Seoul fortress check point. By the time I got there over an hour later, the entrance was closed :(. They close at 3pm by November. Ak! Not again.

So as to not have wasted my day completely, I walked around Seongbuk-dong and down to the Cheonggyecheon stream near Hyehwa-dong.

Some ducks getting ready for bed~

The next day I went to a cafe in Hongdae in to try and get some work done. I think it is called Mr Kim's Coffee, ah I should know the name considering I come here a lot.

They have a vanilla soy latte but I'm not sure if their soy milk is vegan. They also have a variety of non-coffee drinks to choose from too. Its nice to see little Christmas decorations popping up around Seoul. This will be my first Christmas away from home and away from family. Most of my friends also plan to leave before Christmas, so i'm kinda starting to get a bit desperate in celebrating Christmas haha.

Last Thursday I went to the World Cup Park. The weather was so beautifully sunny and warm. Overall the park despite being grand in size isn't very diverse, but its quite pleasant to walk through these fields.

There are also some pretty spectacular views of the Han river and the Seoul skyline. The Park is on top of two big hills, much of which used to be just large piles of garbage. Its amazing what even a garbage dump can become such a beautiful, serene park.

What are your favourite parks and mountains in Seoul or your city?