In search of some fresh air and perspective, a friend and I set out on what we thought was going to be a day-long hiking excursion. Not having properly researched our adventure, we assumed the vast web of Seoul fortress walls all connected. Knowing that there was a gate near our home, we figured we could pick it up there and make our way around the city. False.

We found ourselves on Naksan Mountain, on the small stretch of old fortress walls running from the Hyehwamun Gate to the Dongdaemun Gate. Despite not being quite the day trek we anticipated, the views of Seoul were truly fantastic.

I would (highly) recommend enlarging these photos to really get a feeling for the epic proportions of this city. I find the clusters of apartment scrapers most impressive. I cannot fathom how many people live in such a tiny proximity.

These views are overlooking the most-hiked mountain in the world, Mount Bukhansan and the neighborhoods of Sungbuk-gu and Jungno-gu, all in the north-eastern Seoul.