22 April 2026
Almost a wall all to myself
Namhansanseong fortress
Last hike of the trip, I hear people celebrating that there will be no more boring photos of trees and rocks.
For my last hike, I went somewhere that is barely a hike, that I have been to before, Namhansanseong fortress from Namhansanseong station.
Last time I missed a bit of the wall so I could see the temple and restaurants and car parking spaces in the middle of the walls, today I made no such mistake.
Also today I walked up the hill from the station, along a stream, passing old people recreation zones and other temples, last time I took a bus. So the additional bits turned it from a fortress visit to a hike.
Now for the final set of stats -
27,000 steps
15.66km
4 hours 47 minutes
875m vertical ascent - but mostly ups and downs
1,070 calories burned - easiest hike of the trip
Unusually, the best wall photos are at the end of the batch below, the bit of the wall I missed last time I was here.
The entrance / exit to Namhansanseong station, my journey will start and end here.
It is about a kilometre from the station to the start of the fortress park / trail. Lots of convenience stores to choose from.
A lot of construction going on at the entrance, I suspect these are future Starbucks stores.
The journey up to the wall is steep, developed, and busy. A lot of old folks around with their transistor radios listening to conspiracy theories.
Not the best creek today.
First temple of the day. Again with the plastic lanterns.
Before too long, the wall appears, with one of its 4 majestic gates. I will pass over or under or around all 4.
I walked along the top of the wall wherever that was possible, which was probably 90% of the journey. There are also paths below it on both sides that are less rocky.
The first bastion. A lot of the bastions have construction going on. Eventually I get to say 'the last bastion of hope'.
My loop was anti clockwise, I would say for 2/3 of the hike around the wall, there were no other people at all other than at one temple, and one road crossing with construction. This was very surprising. I expected to be battling old folks.
Parts of it are steep, and you can easily fall off the side too.
The next bastion has not been restored fully yet. Nearly all of the wall has been fully restored. More since my last visit.
I was still shocked that there were no other people.
Parts of it have the hessian mat to walk along. New hessian mat too.
This is probably the main temple along the way, a bit back from the wall. The road comes up to here.
This bastion has been constructed to protect this tree.
The Stepped wall helps explain how steep parts of it are. Normally photos fail to convey steepness.
City in the distance, through the smog. More city coming up soon.
Shanty town in the distance here.
One of a few 'command posts'.
This section is very near the main temple in the middle of the walls that I did not visit today. As you can see, there is a wheelchair friendly road, and other people.
The city below! There is the Lotte tower from last night.
I once again left the road along the wall behind and had it mainly to myself once more.
The other main temple other than the main temple... What I mean is, the 2nd biggest temple that is along the wall, rather than the one huge temple that is in the middle of the wall. OK that's confusing, it's just a photo.
Downhill for the rest of the way now.
Probably photo of the day, even though it has a couple of other people in it.
And after a few hours, I was back at the same gate I started from, having completed my loop. Time to head back down to the city the same way I came up.
The outdoor library, seating and exercise equipment let me know that I was almost back to the city and the awaiting train.
No more hiking.