Daily Archives: September 29, 2009

Mount Apsan

Daegu, , , , ,

This weekend I went up a mountain. I’ve never really understood the fascination the human race has with being on top of mountains, but I’m as fascinated as anyone. This mountain is particularly popular with hikers and has a 790m cable-car and some exceptional views of the city.

Mount Apsan (which apparently means ‘Front Mountain’) is one of the higher peaks in Daegu. It’s surrounded by Apsan Park, a 17000 m² park which includes various sporting facilities, such as (although I didn’t see them) horse-riding and archery. There are also several temple complexes and a war memorial.
So, on Saturday I decided to take my new boots and find one of Daegu’s most popular tourist attractions. The first stumbling block was that the websites I usually use to find directions listed bus 910 as the bus to take. When I looked for a bus route, I discovered that Daegu doesn’t seem to have a bus 910. Luckily, after looking a bit further, I discovered that bus 410 goes to Apsan Park. In order to catch bus 410, I had to get another bus (401) to Suseong Lake and then wait for the 410 to arrive. When the bus arrived, it was empty. The driver looked a bit wary to let me on but I think my boots and day-pack gave away the fact that I did actually want to go to Apsan Park so he let me get on and we headed off. Buses in Daegu have a flat rate anywhere in the city that is charged any time you get onto a bus, so this trip to Apsan Park involved two bus fares, bit it was still far less than I’d have paid for a taxi (a lot less) so I wasn’t complaining. I was very glad that I use a travel-card so that I didn’t need to find change each time.
After travelling up and through Daegu, we arrived at the entrance to the Park. I love driving into a forested area. It feels like escaping the city. Apsan Park is entirely forested – except for the sports areas and temples and little pockets of grassy space. The bus stopped at a depot point near the edge of the park and I got off. I was in a parking lot with some cars and lots of buses – both city buses and tour buses. I walked past the cars and the little shop and headed up the hill. The park was paved and ran under the road I’d just come in on. On my left was a stream but there hadn’t been much rain so it was mostly rocks in a little water. After a while, I found a clearing with a map of the different paths but as all the writing was in Korean and there was no indication of where I was on the map it wasn’t hugely helpful. I looked around a bit and then headed back to the path and carried on uphill. All the time I was walking in the park, there were other people hiking and walking around me. It was a busy Saturday afternoon and the Koreans were out enjoying the Autumn weather.
A little further up the hill, I came upon a war memorial and small museum. The Nakdong River Battle Memorial is dedicated to those who died in the battle and more generally in the Korean war. This includes both Koreans and forces from other countries. Outside the memorial hall (where the museum is), there is a row of flags, including the ROK (South Korean) and UN flags, as well as the flags of every nation whose soldiers fought in the conflict. I was a little surprised to see the South African flag there (although it was lovely to see our beautiful flag flying in the breeze again). I discovered later that the South African Airforce 2 Squadron, known as “The Flying Cheetahs”, were fairly heavily involved in the action in Korea and won a total of 797 medals. I didn’t go into the museum, partly because I wanted to keep walking and partly because I was a little put off by the sign saying that the hall was intended to educate the people of the province in “anti-communism and patriotism”. The memorial area includes various planes and tanks, and a statue commemorating the involvement of (school) students in the defence of South Korea.
I am not an avid follower of war history and don’t know very much about the Korean war. I don’t know how I feel about commemorations like this.  I’ll probably go back at some point specifically to see the war memorial. For the moment, however, I was heading further up the mountain. From the war memorial, I had caught a glimpse of the mountain-top cable-station. I decided to try and find the base-station and take the cable-car up the mountain. By this stage, I’d been walking for a while and I was feeling just how unfit I am. Also, of course, the new boots had begun to give me blisters. I passed a temple on the right. I thought about stopping there but decided to have a look on my way back down. As it turned out, I didn’t get back there that day, but I’m sure I’ll be back at the park, so I can go and see it next time.
The path I was on slowly wound uphill and eventually arrived (fortuitously) at the cable-car base station. I love cable-cars. There is little more exciting than stepping into a little box with windows, attached to an overhead wire, and sliding up to the top of a hill. I suppose it reminds me a little of the take-off of a plane, which always makes my heart soar. Also, I have vague memories of another cable-car, a long time ago and half-a-world away. I bought a round-trip ticket for W 5500 (about R35) and went up to the waiting area. There were a few other families there, also waiting. One was a mixed Korean-American family with a little girl whose excited voice followed me during the  mountain-top adventure.
After a bit, a bell rang and we all crowded into the cable-car. It’s wasn’t particularly crowded, actually. With a smooth motion, we headed up and up, heading towards the mountain top. The views from the cable car were spectacular. As we rose higher and higher, we had a perfect view of the valley where the cable car base station and war memorial were. A little higher up, we looked out over the city, seeing further and further across the see of cream and white buildings to the blue mountains in the distance. At the top station, we got out of the cable-car and I headed up another path. The top of Mount Apsan, at least the area around the cable station, has several lookout points at various heights, including an observation deck (a covered building with windows all around) at the highest point. I climbed stairs cut into the rocks and walked up paths lined with barriers and occasionally there were a few information boards and one with a panoramic view of Daegu from the top, indicating what different areas you can see in the various directions.
The view was spectacular. Looking out from the top of a wooded mountain, I could see for miles and miles. I begin to think I might have underestimated the size of this city. From up there it looked huge. I could see, far away, the Daegu World Cup Stadium in one direction and what I think was the Bollo-dong Tomb Park in the other. Far below, I found myself looking down onto a temple complex that looked like a little toy building. The hills and peaks are all covered with forest, mostly pine, so not all that much autumn foliage, but still the occasional flash of orange or yellow or red. I kept walking further up, taking pictures, looking at the amazing views. At the very top, I spent some time just sitting in the observation building looking out of the huge, open windows, taking in the distance, breathing the fresh air and enjoying the feel of the cool, mountain-top wind on my face. It was good to get away from the city and the noise for a while and to be somewhere where there is so much space that it’s possible to see to the horizon.
On the way back to the parking area, I got lost. Not lost in the sense of wandering around the forest not having any idea how to get out, but in the sense that I found a wide, well-kept path that looked like a more interesting way to reach my destination and took it and it wasn’t until I noticed the temple I had walked past on the way up behind me that I realised I’d taken a wrong turn. I considered turning around and going back but I was half way down the path (with growing blisters), so I decided to go on instead. A few months back I’m sure I would have turned around and retraced my steps. Being here has increased my adventurousness. I figured that if the path kept heading downwards it would eventually reach a road, where I was sure to be able to find a bus stop. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. I reached the end of the path, which opened onto a parking lot at the side of a busy road and waited for the bus.
It’s amazing what a difference a day out of the bustle and noise, in a place with plenty of space can make. A place where it’s possible to see the horizon, to see something other than cars and roads and apartment blocks. It was a good day, followed by lovely evening with friends at a little place downtown called Italy-Italy, where you create your own pasta – choose a pasta type, a sauce and ingredients, and a couple of Martinis at a great little cocktail bar.

This weekend I went up a mountain. I’ve never really understood the fascination the human race has with being on top of mountains, but I’m as fascinated as anyone. This mountain is particularly popular with hikers and has a 790m cable-car and some exceptional views of the city.

Mount Apsan (which apparently means ‘Front Mountain’) is one of the higher peaks in Daegu. It’s surrounded by Apsan Park, a 17000 m² park which includes various sporting facilities, such as (although I didn’t see them) horse-riding and archery. There are also several temple complexes and a war memorial.

So, on Saturday I decided to take my new boots and find one of Daegu’s most popular tourist attractions. The first stumbling block was that the websites I usually use to find directions listed bus 910 as the bus to take. When I looked for a bus route, I discovered that Daegu doesn’t seem to have a bus 910. Luckily, after looking a bit further, I discovered that bus 410 goes to Apsan Park. In order to catch bus 410, I had to get another bus (401) to Suseong Lake and then wait for the 410 to arrive. When the bus arrived, it was empty. The driver looked a bit wary to let me on but I think my boots and day-pack gave away the fact that I did actually want to go to Apsan Park so he let me get on and we headed off. Buses in Daegu have a flat rate anywhere in the city that is charged any time you get onto a bus, so this trip to Apsan Park involved two bus fares, bit it was still far less than I’d have paid for a taxi (a lot less) so I wasn’t complaining. I was very glad that I use a travel-card so that I didn’t need to find change each time.

After travelling up and through Daegu, we arrived at the entrance to the Park. I love driving into a forested area. It feels like escaping the city. Apsan Park is entirely forested – except for the sports areas and temples and little pockets of grassy space. The bus stopped at a depot point near the edge of the park and I got off. I was in a parking lot with some cars and lots of buses – both city buses and tour buses. I walked past the cars and the little shop and headed up the hill. The park was paved and ran under the road I’d just come in on. On my left was a stream but there hadn’t been much rain so it was mostly rocks in a little water. After a while, I found a clearing with a map of the different paths but as all the writing was in Korean and there was no indication of where I was on the map it wasn’t hugely helpful. I looked around a bit and then headed back to the path and carried on uphill. All the time I was walking in the park, there were other people hiking and walking around me. It was a busy Saturday afternoon and the Koreans were out enjoying the Autumn weather.

A little further up the hill, I came upon a war memorial and small museum. The Nakdong River Battle Memorial is dedicated to those who died in the battle and more generally in the Korean war. This includes both Koreans and forces from other countries. Outside the memorial hall (where the museum is), there is a row of flags, including the ROK (South Korean) and UN flags, as well as the flags of every nation whose soldiers fought in the conflict. I was a little surprised to see the South African flag there (although it was lovely to see our beautiful flag flying in the breeze again). I discovered later that the South African Air Force 2 Squadron, known as “The Flying Cheetahs”, were fairly heavily involved in the action in Korea and won a total of 797 medals. I didn’t go into the museum, partly because I wanted to keep walking and partly because I was a little put off by the sign saying that the hall was intended to educate the people of the province in “anti-communism and patriotism”. The memorial area includes various planes and tanks, and a statue commemorating the involvement of (school) students in the defence of South Korea.

I am not an avid follower of war history and don’t know very much about the Korean war. I don’t know how I feel about commemorations like this.  I’ll probably go back at some point specifically to see the war memorial. For the moment, however, I was heading further up the mountain. From the war memorial, I had caught a glimpse of the mountain-top cable-station. I decided to try and find the base-station and take the cable-car up the mountain. By this stage, I’d been walking for a while and I was feeling just how unfit I am. Also, of course, the new boots had begun to give me blisters. I passed a temple on the right. I thought about stopping there but decided to have a look on my way back down. As it turned out, I didn’t get back there that day, but I’m sure I’ll be back at the park, so I can go and see it next time.

The path I was on slowly wound uphill and eventually arrived (fortuitously) at the cable-car base station. I love cable-cars. There is little more exciting than stepping into a little box with windows, attached to an overhead wire, and sliding up to the top of a hill. I suppose it reminds me a little of the take-off of a plane, which always makes my heart soar. Also, I have vague memories of another cable-car, a long time ago and half-a-world away. I bought a round-trip ticket for W 5500 (about R35) and went up to the waiting area. There were a few other families there, also waiting. One was a mixed Korean-American family with a little girl whose excited voice followed me during the  mountain-top adventure.

After a bit, a bell rang and we all crowded into the cable-car. It’s wasn’t particularly crowded, actually. With a smooth motion, we headed up and up, heading towards the mountain top. The views from the cable car were spectacular. As we rose higher and higher, we had a perfect view of the valley where the cable car base station and war memorial were. A little higher up, we looked out over the city, seeing further and further across the see of cream and white buildings to the blue mountains in the distance. At the top station, we got out of the cable-car and I headed up another path. The top of Mount Apsan, at least the area around the cable station, has several lookout points at various heights, including an observation deck (a covered building with windows all around) at the highest point. I climbed stairs cut into the rocks and walked up paths lined with barriers and occasionally there were a few information boards and one with a panoramic view of Daegu from the top, indicating what different areas you can see in the various directions.

The view was spectacular. Looking out from the top of a wooded mountain, I could see for miles and miles. I begin to think I might have underestimated the size of this city. From up there it looked huge. I could see, far away, the Daegu World Cup Stadium in one direction and what I think was the Bollo-dong Tomb Park in the other. Far below, I found myself looking down onto a temple complex that looked like a little toy building. The hills and peaks are all covered with forest, mostly pine, so not all that much autumn foliage, but still the occasional flash of orange or yellow or red. I kept walking further up, taking pictures, looking at the amazing views. At the very top, I spent some time just sitting in the observation building looking out of the huge, open windows, taking in the distance, breathing the fresh air and enjoying the feel of the cool, mountain-top wind on my face. It was good to get away from the city and the noise for a while and to be somewhere where there is so much space that it’s possible to see to the horizon.

On the way back to the parking area, I got lost. Not lost in the sense of wandering around the forest not having any idea how to get out, but in the sense that I found a wide, well-kept path that looked like a more interesting way to reach my destination and took it and it wasn’t until I noticed the temple I had walked past on the way up behind me that I realised I’d taken a wrong turn. I considered turning around and going back but I was half way down the path (with growing blisters), so I decided to go on instead. A few months back I’m sure I would have turned around and retraced my steps. Being here has increased my adventurousness. I figured that if the path kept heading downwards it would eventually reach a road, where I was sure to be able to find a bus stop. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. I reached the end of the path, which opened onto a parking lot at the side of a busy road and waited for the bus.

It’s amazing what a difference a day out of the bustle and noise, in a place with plenty of space can make. A place where it’s possible to see the horizon, to see something other than cars and roads and apartment blocks. It was a good day, followed by lovely evening with friends at a little place downtown called Italy-Italy, where you create your own pasta – choose a pasta type, a sauce and ingredients, and a great little cocktail bar.