We climbed a mountain.

Up from our guesthouse (which is dingy but functional, by the way), there is a giant hill and an exercise trail with a rubberized road. The boyfriend and I decided to go running (separately, of course) this morning.

...Um, hills? What are those? And not just little blips in the road! There were some serious elevation changes since I was running on the side of Namsan mountain. I managed five miles at an 11-something pace because I had to stop and walk up some of the hills. Hills+Illness=Bad news.

One of these men is blind, so he is tethered to his running buddy.

To make matters worse, Koreans were flying past me the entire time. No wonder everyone has big calves here. Stupid hills.

Later in the morning, we braved Namsan Mountain again for the walking trail up to the N Seoul Tower at the top.

The exercise and walking trails are so pretty, with little benches to sit and contemplate waterfalls:


I really struggled up the hill today. In fact, I told the boyfriend several times that I needed to sit down and contemplate my life decisions, such as deciding to walk up the hill instead of taking the cable car. I will blame my fatigue on (1) my sinus infection and (2) the fact that I had just done five miles of hill run-walking.

I also got extremely sweaty for seemingly no reason. Plenty of Koreans were walking up in impractical exercise clothes without a hint of dewy perspiration. Meanwhile, I was dripping. It was embarrassing.

(This is at the beginning of the stairs to the Tower.)

Did I mention that we saw several women in high heels jauntily walking up this hill/mountain? Oh, and a guy CARRYING his child on his back? And a 90-year-old woman? What the heck, Korea! You are full of supernaturally fit people!

This was taken from one of the lookout points about halfway up the mountain:


At the top, there were people in some kind of traditional costume. I should have read more about what was going on, but I was considering passing out in sweaty heap:


Though who am I kidding? I love this stuff! (Notice that I am wearing my CHI marathon wicking t-shirt because I knew that it would be a workout to get to the top of this damn mountain.)

(We didn't go in the Tower because it was crowded.)

In the afternoon, we headed to Namdaemun market, which is an open-air market selling basically everything: knock-offs, jeans (that are all for bird-legged girls), wrapping paper, glasses, cookware, ginseng in all forms, chocolate-covered seaweed, etc. There are even wigs:


Seoul: The most perpetually crowded place on Earth.


Lots of streetfood vendors were stirring these vats of what looked like bugs. I think they must be pupae of some kind (silkworm?). The boyfriend said that they were one of the most unpleasant smelling things he had ever experienced. I couldn't breathe through my nose, but I took his word for it:


Fortunately, they also sold hoddeok (pancakes filled with peanuts and molten cinnamon sugar). I grabbed it before the boyfriend devoured it for a photo op.


The boyfriend was quite pleased to eat one, though he said a couple bites had been permeated by the gross bug smell.


The cup in which it was served even had a useful message:


After sitting for a long time in a tea restaurant and people watching, I was feeling kind of feverish and cold.

(I don't want to taste "him," whoever he is.)

The answer to a sinus infection? Ibuprofen and shabu-shabu!

Shabu-shabu, which Elana had suggested, is kind of like a mix between Chinese hot pot and fondu. You get a giant mountain of bean sprouts and vegetables:


And thinly sliced raw meat:


And you dunk all of this into a giant vat of boiling broth (fueled by a giant burner on the table).


It was quite a tasty dinner, and it did a good job clearing my sinuses. After wandering around in the Daehangno area for awhile, we headed back to Myeongdong for waffles with ice cream. Why hasn't this caught on in the States?


My appetite was pretty depressed all day, but it came back with a vengeance tonight! Thank goodness. Maybe I'm on the mend! I have a long list of tasty food that I want to find in Seoul. Maybe I should run all the way up Namsan tomorrow...