One of the places I have never heard any of my friends or any acquaintances visit is the botanical garden at the bottom of Geumjueng Mountain, which abuts the park which contains the cable car, (maybe called 금정공원… that’s just a guess).
Anyway, for a fair-weathered Sunday it was perhaps one of the least crowded places I have been to, encompassing a deceptively large area.
We took bus 203 from Oncheonjang up the hill to the botanical garden. Tickets were 1000 won.
The park begins with paved paths slowly ascending the hill on which the park lies. Stones, trees, grass, vines, you get the picture. As you ascend steps and disappear behind hedges the park become more appealing. The grounds give off the simultaneous impression that everything is well tended too as well as recently being abandoned. I feel like I’m in Alice and Wonderland, especially when we wander into an abandoned dirt volleyball court, sitting high atop the park, surrounded by incredibly tall bulbous hedges.
The green house also gave off the charming feeling that someone around here really cared for these plants, but that they hadn’t been around for decades. Impossible maybe, but that is how I felt wandering under and around vines, and sidestepping the stagnant little moat inside.
If you continue up the pathways you will eventually reach the woods that climb up Geumjeong-san. If you’re lucky like us, you will also come across a creepy, seemingly abandoned hotel, with nary a guest around.
Risa Roe 