Day 15: Haneul Park, World Cup Park

While my mom and aunt were chilling out at the patio, I quickly made my way across Pyeonghwa Park and headed towards the long zig-zagging set of stairs leading to Haneul Park.

Haneul Park is an elevated, hill top park that is built on what was once a landfill site for garbage.  It’s hard to believe they converted it into such a beautiful park which affords not only sites from within the park but also the ability to look down at the rest of Seoul from high up above.  “Haneul” in Korean is the word for “sky”, hence the need to climb all those stairs to get one step closer to the stars.  Considering how many stairs there were, the climb wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Everyone was moving at a leisurely pace up and down the stairs and at the end of every flight, there was a lookout area that you could stop and rest if  you needed to catch your breath.  It was amazing to see that there were some young women in high heels making their way up the stairs, perhaps here on an impromptu visit with their friends or boyfriends or perhaps they just felt the need to always travel in style regardless of where they go.  While the climb might still be a challenge to some, it is not a steep ascent with the steps paced out comfortably apart and if you look closely you will see that each step is actually numbered.  I didn’t realize it until I got back to the bottom again so I’m not sure how many steps there were in total.

I thought once I reached the top that the park would be right there but it wasn’t.  Nevertheless, I stopped at the top to take a breather, cool down and take in the view from here.  To the north was World Cup Stadium and to the south I could see the sun glistening off the Han River. 

I followed the crowd down a long walkway and then up another hill until I finally reached the entrance to Haneul Park.  Much of what I remembered from the park were these images of dreamy endless fields of reeds in all directions.  There were several main paths throughout the park and an area that was setup like a maze within the reeds, all made possibly by the fact that the reeds were very tall.  The park was semi-busy with all kinds of people ranging from families, to hikers/walkers and of course a fair share of sweet couples.  There seemed to be many picture perfect spots to pose for a nice memory.  Have a look at Haneul Park!

In addition to the picturesque tall and wavering reeds, there was a beautiful cosmos field which to me was the highlight of the park.  It was fairly large and many of them were blossoming to my delight.  It was located right next to a bunch of Korean style gazebos where many had gathered to rest and snack on whatever food they brought, most likely kimbap which are Korean style sushi rolls sans the fish.  When Koreans go on picnics, it’s tradition to bring kimbap which usually contain rice, egg, carrots, spinach, danmuji (picked radish coloured yellow) and sometimes beef all rolled in a sheet of seaweed.  I can’t remember the last time I went on a picnic and had kimbap (probably when I was really, really young) but every once in a while, I’ll roll some at home for dinner.  I have a few cosmos growing at the side of my house but I had never before seen so many all together in a field like this in person.  I hope these pictures will do it justice.  Isn’t it pretty?

Here is a video compilation I made of the cosmos field atop Haneul Park.

I wish I had more time to spend exploring the park and the neighbouring Noeul Park but because I had family waiting for me back down at Pyeonghwa Park, I departed with thoughts of definitely coming back again someday…