Ansan Mountain - A View Over Seoul

6 degrees Celsius. Blue sky. Bright sunshine. The perfect day for a little hike. On a recommendation from an acquaintance, we chose Ansan Mountain, a cozy yet scenic route in the heart of Seoul.

Right at the beginning of the loop, we encountered the Patriotic Martyr Memorial. A memorial for patriotic martyrs who rose against Japanese imperialists and fought for Korea.

After a brief orientation, we set off. The path first led us up the mountain via elevated wooden walkways – it was impressively designed and, despite the material, we weren't literally on the wrong track this time. At a fork in the path, we thought we would find something interesting at the end and followed the detour. Only to end up in front of a drinking water fountain... So, back we went and continued towards the summit.

Upon reaching the top, we were greeted by a small Burial Mound, and from there a view over all of Seoul. It's truly crazy how the city sprawls beneath you: skyscrapers next to historic buildings, dense residential areas next to green hills and forested spaces.

And I believe I heard something like this conversation (in my head): 'Look at it. This is Seoul. Everything the light touches.' - 'And what about that shadowy land back there?' - 'That's North Korea, you should never go there!'

After that, we headed back down (thankfully only literally, not metaphorically), passing a few picturesque spots and a Buddhist temple back to the metro.

From there, we went straight to the next trendy coffee spot, where we tried three different types of coffee again because less is obviously no longer an option.

We also had a traditional Red Bean Rice Cake. It sounded to both of us like a dessert to accompany the coffee, but lo and behold, this 'cake' was unexpectedly not sweet at all. Nevertheless, it was quite good, albeit unusual.

With a good amount of caffeine in our blood, we then headed to a mall to buy some stationery – after all, someone has to professionally document the various flavor nuances of all this coffee. (Spoiler: It wasn't me.)

Before the day came to a close, we went out to eat – to a small restaurant that supposedly became famous because the CEO of Nvidia dined there. Is it true? No idea. Did it taste good? Yes, definitely. Even if it doesn't quite live up to the hype.

Thus, Day 3 was pretty much wrapped up. The only thing left was – as every evening – to write these lines (even though some are finalized the next day as laziness often wins out in the evening).