Many people visit South Korea for the food, the shopping and the beauty products which seem to be all over social media at the moment. Those aren’t really our interests so our plan was to do something a little different and take a hike in Bukhansan National Park which is just an hour north of Seoul and accessible by metro. We started our hike early as it was the weekend and we knew it would be a popular area, Koreans love hiking and they wear top-range gear in every colour of the rainbow….interesting their normal attire is very plain or pastel colours in comparison.

Most people got off the metro and hopped in a taxi to the start of the hike but we hiked the extra few kilometres to the start and it was rather pleasant as we passed crystal clear pools and one even had a mandarin duck paddling in it which was very exciting to witness. Eventually the true hike began and it was mostly uphill. There were lots of different hikes in the park but we opted to hike the 836m Bukhansan summit. The route offered great views of Mount Insubong, a huge slab of granite that reminded me of the top of half dome in Yosemite. It seemed to be an extremely popular spot for rock climbing and we could see dozens of climbers scaling the sheer walls.

The hike got more challenging towards the top with steep sections of rock to navigate while holding onto a rope or chain for safety. It made me a little giddy at times so it’s not a good hike if you suffer from vertigo and it’s definitely not a hike to bring kids on, we saw a few and were quite shocked as it’s a pretty dangerous route as you could literally slip down a boulder and over the edge.

To reach the summit we had to queue behind about 20 people who were posing next to the South Korean flag. I wouldn’t normally bother but the top gave a view across the other side of the mountain which was nice to see and we got a good view of some locals sat on a huge boulder enjoying a picnic. After getting our photo we found a nice rock to have our own picnic on with a great view of the climbers tackling the sheer wall. It was a really fun hike and after about 4 hours we made it back to the metro and headed to Seoul where we were going to meet up with my niece who’s studying here.

She showed us around the hip and trendy Hongdae neighbourhood where street performers entertained crowds of people along the main thoroughfare. For dinner she took us to a Korean bbq which we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise as I’m a vegetarian so it was a nice experience for Craig. The place was bustling and the male wait staff looked like models. They were over 6ft tall and wearing tank tops to show off their muscly arms. I think Koreans must be some of the tallest people in Asia.

There was a circular hot plate on our table where the bbq would take place and we were all given disposable bibs to wear as the meat splatters a lot while cooking. They even had seats where the lid lifted up so you could put your coat or bag inside to prevent it getting splattered or smelling of food.

The plan was for Craig and Grace to order meat and I’d order a side but the waiter said it had to be minimum 3 orders of meat so they added another portion. A waiter came over with the raw slabs of pork and began placing them on the hot plate to sizzle away. A big silver plate with a variety of little dishes was also put on the table with kimchi, pickled veg, sauces etc. Once the meat was cooked sufficiently Grace gave Craig a little demonstration on how to eat this dish. She grabbed a large lettuce leaf and popped some meat, sauce, kimchi etc inside and ate it all in one. Koreans love scissors and all the oversized items were cut up with them which made us laugh but I can’t deny their practicality. There was one slightly larger bowl on the table so we assumed it was the vegetarian noodle dish I ordered but it was tiny, the bowl was only filled a quarter of the way and it wasn’t actually noodles but some sort of shredded cabbage slathered in a spicy sauce that had a slight sweetness to it. The flavour was delicious actually but the dish wasn’t filling at all and it was only when we got back to our hotel that night and saw the receipt that we realised they just charged us for the 3 meats, the waiter must’ve forgotten to order my veggie dish and I literally ate a condiment for my dinner which made us laugh. But hey, at least it kept the costs down because eating out in Korea isn’t cheap.

After dinner we headed to a cute little bar to try Soju, South Korea’s famous alcoholic beverage. It was a very moody looking bar, but in a good way, with dim lighting and vintage green lamps on each booth-table. Our ID was checked at the door which was a bit of a surprise as that hasn’t happened in many years! Water and nuts were delivered to the table and then we had to order what we wanted from a sort of iPad in our booth. The start of the menu showed what staff were working that evening and then it had food options followed by drinks. We ordered a berry flavoured soju but then the screen said there was a minimum spend which clearly seems to be a theme in South Korea so we opted for a different priced one which was apple flavour and some sweet potato fries to nibble on which met the spend requirement. It’s all very affordable compared to uk prices but we’ve gotten so used to budget life and it was the same price as a hotel room in China. Grace said it’s tradition that the youngest pours the drink in South Korea so she filled up our little shot glasses and I was kind of dreading it thinking it would be horribly alcoholic and taste like petrol but it was really delicious and so easy to drink. It kind of tasted like a very sweet, flat, apple cider but it was about 13% so a very easy way to get drunk. We had a really lovely evening together and it was the perfect end to our time in South Korea.