Ok, I confess.  The title is a misleading.  Well sort-of.  Technically, I’ve only hiked one loop at Apsan Mountain, but I thought it was pretty good so I am calling it the best.

Last week, I ventured to the Southern part of Daegu to see the city’s largest natural park, but took the lazy way up by cable car.  This weekend I found a circular 7km route to hike starting at Daeduck Restaurant bus stop and ending up at the cablecar in Apsan Park. The June humidity had disapated for the day and it turned out to be a beautiful day for a hike.

The first thing I was reminded of, not long after embarking on the trail,  was just how obsessed the Korean elderly seem to be about fitness. Every park I’ve visited so far is proliferated with  exercise equipment. As if hiking up a mountain wasn’t enough you can always stop half way up and do a bit of hula hooping or some sit ups or my favorite torso twists. Surprisingly, whenever I came across the designated area in the park, I always see an ajumma (old woman)  or two utilising the facilities.

The other oddity is Koreans tend to severally overdress and over kit themselves out in a hike. On a 30c day the majority will still be trudging up in long trousers, layers of long fleeced shorts, woolen hats, gloves and a bandana around their neck. Why? I must remember to ask one of my students.

It took a while for the droning sounds of the cars on the freeway to disappate but soon enough they were replaced with the listful singing of birds and the low hums of Buddhist prayer. I sat at Anil temple (0.8km up) for a while to listen and to catch my breath from the step incline up to this point.

I spent some time looking for the enshrined Buddha that was mentioned as as significant historical relic, but to no avail. So headed off for the next .8km up to the Observation Deck. Shortly into the trail a middle aged couple with a panting dog came into view. Poor thing looked overheated so I squatted down, cupped my hand and squeezed some of my camelback water into it so he could have a drink. The couple started hysterically shouting no and shoed the dog away. I wish I knew why. Just another Korean culture oddity I’ll never understand.

The hike up was the equivalent of an hour on the stair climber in the gym with numerous steps and stairs and steep inclines. I had several flashbacks to my 2007 hike of the Inca Trail. I remember when I came home from that week holiday I had the most toned butt of my life. Hopefully the Apsan hike was providing similar benefits.

At the top the reward was 180 degree views of the Korea’s third largest city below its hundreds of high rise white buildings glistening against the sun.

This time I continued up to Apsan peak another 1km on. Not long after leaving the Observatory, I was stopped by two elderly women sitting on the rocks in the shade. Through gestures they offered my some of their diced watermelon. That is one thing about the Koreans. They are always very generous and giving. I accepted with a smile. I don’t know what they did to it as it tasted slightly savory with spices instead of the sweetness I was expecting. They gestured me back again, saying ‘do gay’.  I gratefully accepted two more pieces not wanting to offend.

Like my Palgonsan hike, I was often greeted with smiles and ‘An-nyeong-ha-se-yo’ (hello). Koreans proving themselves once again to be one of the friendliest nations I’ve ever visited. At the helipad this friendly gentleman offered to take my picture then we took a few selfies before venturing our separate ways. Hiking is at the heart of Korean culture. Something they are very proud of and when they see foreigners enjoying the thing they love most they feel honored and happy. That’s my sense anyway.

After a thousand wooden steps down and more chats with the locals where we talked about how much weight we were going to loose with this hike and how flat our tummies would be – all in Korean of course- and after another cursory look at a temple (it looks the same as the last one right?). I was back to civilization where I rewarded myself with an iced Dutch latte which I’d been craving since if had it last weekend.

The route took 3.5 hours at a leisurely pace taking plenty of time to take pictures, munch on some snacks, chat to locals, explore temples and jot down some writing notes. The path was the main trail (also a night hike trail) from Daeduck Restaurant Bus Stop (No. 300, 410, 410-1, 750, 600) to Anil Temple (0.8km), then to Apsan Observatory (0.8km), then to Apsan Mountain (1km), then to the Helipad, on to Enjeok Temple, and finally arriving at the cable car and further down to Apsan Park Management (also referred to as Keungol Office on the maps. Total distance around 7km. There is plenty of signage along the way and if you take a copy of this map with you, you won’t get lost.  Enjoy!