Korea, Busan: Geumjeongsan Mountain (금정산)

(This post gives you information about Geumjeong, a mountain located north of Busan and worth a visit.
This spot is famous for its fortress wall and the gates you can visit and a temple.
There are two ways of reaching the top:

1. Using the hiking trail, that leads you through the temple and towards the gate. I have not used the hiking trail so for detailed information please refer to the official Korean tourism site.

2. Using the cable car. You will still have to walk a bit to reach the south gate. Also the path is not safe for buggies and make sure to wear proper foot wear if you plan on starting your hiking trip from the cable car.

To get to the cable car from the station is actually not very tricky if you follow the right signs. As for all places in Korea, the best way of finding your way is you use the Naver Map as it works a lot better than Google Maps. If you cannot read Hangul it's a bit more difficult but it proved to be the most reliable source of information.

Here is the route to get from the station to Geumgang Park, where the cable car is located. If you want to look it up yourself, type 온천장막썰어횟집 (Oncheonjang) as your departure and 금강공원 (Geumgang Park) as your destination.
It will take you around 20minutes from the station to the cable car. The good thing is, that you can see the cable car almost all the time, so even if you don't find the right crossing, you can still see it and try walking towards it.

2014.6.6 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

So, how to get there:
1. Take the train to Oncheonjang Station (온천장막썰어횟집)
2. Take Exit 1 and turn left and walk straight for a while until you reach the next big intersection with traffic lights.
3. Turn right, cross the street, walk straight
4. At the next 5-way intersection, walk straight.
5. At the next bigger intersection, take the street at the most left side, it will lead half left.
6. Walk straight for about 10 minutes, up a hill until you reach a  3-way intersection where you cannot walk straight anymore. You have reached Geumgang Park.
7. To your right you can cross the street and enter the Park.
8. Take the center road, it will lead you up a hill through the park for a couple of minutes until you will reach the cable car.

Once you'r§ up, you might want to follow the actual hiking trail for a bit.
For example, you can follow the sign towards the south gate. If you follow it correctly, it will take around 20-30 minutes at most to reach that point.
1. When you leave the cable car turn right, towards the toilet.
2. Take the left road towards "South Gate" and keep right until you reach the top.
3. Turn right, pass the small toilet house and downhill up until you come to a crossing.
4. Turn left downhill and walk for a bit
5. There is a small crossing with one path leading downhill and the right path straight. Take the right path. If you can read hangul, the sign will tell you to walk straight but this will actually only lead you to a small town, not to the gate.
6. Follow the small path until you reach a house, pass that hous up the hill
7. Turn left and walk straight towards the South gate.