River Walk along the Han River in Seoul

Like most cities of the world, Seoul is built on a large river. The Han River splits the city and allows for some nice parks to be designed to enhance the river experience. I took an afternoon and hiked through a long park that bordered the southern side of the city. It turned out to be more than I bargained , but still the most memorable walk I took in the city of Seoul.

The walk started out to be just a leisure walk along the river for a short distance, but it ended differently.

Everyone loves a river walk.

Between the walkway and the river was a bike path. This was well used.

I only intended to go about a half mile or so down the river then turn back. But the walk was nice and there were many benches where I could rest my back and enjoy the scenery.

I stopped at these well located benches along the path to rest my back frequently. That allowed me to keep going.

Views of the city of northern part of Seoul across the river:

I was impressed how well maintained the park was. The path was well kept and I didn't see any garbage along the way. Being a bit remote, even in a big city, I would expect many to throw their garbage beside the path. But no such signs. I soon discovered why:

Kids on garbage detail. They really seemed to get into, too. Having fun, but picking up even the smallest pieces of refuse.

Keeping the walkways loooking this nice through my journey.

I continued on, and the path turned prettier. Some nice greenery lined the way:

Looks like a Korean version of a weeping willow.

I wonder what might be lurking in these grasses?

I don't think I want to find out!

It was a nice cool day in the mid 60's (F), the scenery nice so I just kept walking. If it were not for the bench seating opportunities, I never would have been able to continue. But 10 minutes on the bench, then off again.

One of my many sitting spells.

There was a nice memorial along the way. Not being able to read Korean, I'm not sure what it was about. But sadly, someone lost a treasured member of the family. The flowers were fresh and beautiful.

I finally ended my walk here:

This was the busiest part of the park. Many people were picnicking and just enjoying the area. I loved the way they brought these pop-up tents to keep out of the sun. There were many small camp/picnic sites like this:

Ok, now I had walked about 5 miles altogether. My back was feeling it. I knew I couldn't make the journey back, but no problem, this is a city of almost 10 million. I'll just get on my Uber app (it's actually called UT in Korea) and summon a ride back.

Wrong! I got on my phone to make the offer but no cab took my request. It just kept timing out. Ok, maybe they don't pick up in this area of the park. After all, there were no cabs in sight. I moved to a more crowded area. Same result.

I had walked 5 miles already. A direct route back to my hotel was 4 miles. It was already getting late afternoon and I wanted to return to make it to the free club lounge dinner before it ended at 7:30 pm. Plus, my back. My poor, aching back. And the direct route through the city had no benches!

To make things worse, my phone was on 5%. Not many more opportunities to summon help. And I needed my phone for the GPS navigation!

I turned my phone off to save the battery and sought a park exit to the busier street above. Surely a cab would accept my request outside the park?

But it took me over 15 minutes to find a park exit to the busy street. Where's my bench?

When I arrived on the street I turned on my phone and used my APP again. Same result. What's going on? I've used this many times here with success. This was really frustrating.

I kept walking towards the hotel and trying the APP. I had walked about a mile with no success. Then the phone died. Yes, I did try hailing cabs manually as well, but the few I did see never stopped. I was resolved to walk the last 3 miles now, but I feared I would not be able to pinpoint the location of my hotel. I've become so reliant on GPS now.

I walked about another 1/2 mile and finally came upon a parked taxi. I tapped on his window with little hope, but to my delight he waved me inside. The nightmare finally had ended.

I think 6 1/2 miles is the longest hike I've taken in awhile, and when it's all on concrete or asphalt, I feel it. I was hurting the next morning but I popped some anti-inflammatory medication I had bought in Thailand last year (illegal in the USA because not FDA approved), and problem solved. Good stuff.

The next day I crossed over the Han and stayed on the northern side of Seoul. Much busier there. I later found out the South side of the Han was where the rich people lived. Explained why I saw so many of these on the streets:

Ferrari

Porsche