So last week was a bust. It turns out spring had not sprung and it was, in fact, still winter. Soโฆ This is my second attempt at trying to look for cherry blossoms in Seoul. Curious how our cherry blossom adventure ends? Hopefully more positive than the last one! Now, letโs start our new adventure.
Click Here to read part one.
Location of Our Second Cherry Blossom Adventure
I gotta admit. Even though I was also looking forward to seeing some cherry blossoms, taking beautiful pictures of them, and just experiencing the whole vibe of spring โ my girlfriend was even more excited than I was. Usually, she is the one that looks up which places to visit and decides when we should go. I am pretty sure she keeps a date schedule on her phone.
Do you know that Daiso sells cherry blossom-themed articles during the season? Well, I didnโt, but one day I came home from work and I found my girlfriend buried in a pile of pink cherry blossom plushies, LED lights, hair accessories, pens, and notebooks. She told me she was going to Daiso to buy a lint roller!
Anyways, she discovered an article stating that the path up to the Namsan Tower should be lined with magnificent cherry blossoms. The lake around Lotte World was also a possibility, and it is said to be beautiful during the season as well. We opted to visit the Namsan Tower first because it was only half an hour away from us, unlike Lotte World.
Soooโฆ We Are Here?
So, here we are at the foot of the mountain, a little disoriented. Weโve both gone to the tower before, and each time we rode a bus. We had no idea which of the dozens of paths were supposed to be the ones with cherry blossoms. Perhaps it was a lack of planning. We took the bus in the heat of the moment and didnโt spend much time researching the best route.
We put all of our faith in the Naver maps and prayed for the best. But I had a strange feeling as soon as we reached the entrance. I remember coming up here with my father as a small child, and even if my recollection was hazyโฆ it didnโt look anything like the area we were facing at that moment.
However, we went where the map advised us to. It wasnโt long before we discovered that it was, in fact, a hiking route. And we were certainly not dressed for a trek at that moment. There werenโt many people there with us; just a handful of people passed, and most of them were heading down rather than up. Did we really miss the entrance this badly?
Then, it got worse. The path was fairly steep and uneven, with tons of tree roots visible on the surface. Again, we did not dress appropriately for the occasion, but we made the best of it. Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun with it. Even if it wasnโt what we planned for, we enjoyed our surprise hike and teased each other along the way.
But We Saw Cherry Blossoms, On Our Blossom Adventure, Right?
Nope, we didnโt. It was STILL winter.
We thought that by now at least some of the flowers wouldโve bloomed but apparently, the weather was too cold and windy. The cherry blossoms were much later this year than in previous years. Everything with still dried out, dead, and honestly pretty ugly.
Instead of being sad about it, we went up the tower and into a restaurant and had a small date. The food there was delicious! It was really nice and not too expensive for two people. Plus, we had a great view of the city!
Up there, at Namsan Tower, there was a small art gallery and an arcade. So we spent some time up in the tower until the sun went down and then we made our way back to the bus stop.
Final Words On Our Second Cherry Blossom Adventure
So even if our initial plan didnโt work out, Namsan was still worth the visit and we most definitely enjoyed our time! You should also visit the restaurant if you have the time, it is really great. Even though our plans of seeing cherry blossoms were foiled two weeks in a row, we made the best out of the situation. In the end, we had a fantastic time.
If youโre traveling to Korea, or even within Korea, things donโt always go as planned. Remember to make lemonade out of lemons and enjoy your time in Korea!
