The Hangang

The Hangang (Han River) runs all the way through the centre of Seoul and on both sides can be found kilometre after kilometre of well maintained bike path, walking track, exercise areas, playgrounds and picnic spots.  Not to mention a 7-11 every few kilometres in case you run out of beer or soju*.

This incredible public space is one of my favourite things about this city.  Most of Seoul's 10.5 million inhabitants live in small apartments, so this kind of space is always full of people walking dogs, playing sport and often napping.

The Hangang used to be a busy trade route between the Korean Peninsula and China.  This is no longer the case as its estuary now forms part of the DMZ and is therefore off limits to civilians.  A happy and unintended consequence of this is that the banks of the Hangang are actually a relatively quiet and peaceful place to be.

I can be found most mornings walking (and  jogging when feeling uncharacteristically enthused about exercise) along the river pushing the Colonel in her stroller trying to avoid getting bowled over by the visor-wearing power-walking ajumma (see picture below) or the old fellas on their rickety bikes with the speaker taped to the handlebars blaring out some truly awful music.  My favourite is the old guy with ten South Korean flags (slightly bigger than the ones you can get on toothpicks, smaller than the ones you would wave by the side of the road at a passing dignitary) sticking out of his helmet who waves at me every time he goes past.  I have no idea if he waves at everyone, or just the foreigner with the baby.  Either way, it makes me smile.  I wish I had a photo of him to show you, but he is going waaay to fast to be captured on camera.

Ajumma in their natural habitat. Don't be fooled,
they are fitter, stronger and more determined
than most professional athletes. Do not, under
any circumstances, try to board a bus before an ajumma.
The damage her elbows will do to your ribs is simply not worth it.

*Soju: according to Wikipedia it is "is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to sugars added in the manufacturing process. It is usually consumed neat."  This is total bollocks.  It tastes absolutely nothing like vodka and could never be described as 'neat'.  It's about 20% alcohol and cheaper than water, that should tell you all you need to know.