No matter which way you look in Gwangju or where you are, you can always see a mountain. The skyline is littered with these blips of nature, rising majestically among the concrete and steel. These mountains offer the perfect refuge from the bustle of day-to-day Korean life. As such, all the mountains offer well-established trails and outdoor exercise equipment that are very popular with locals. In fact, hiking is the number one Korean past-time, and on every trail you can expect to find many people, young and old, some taking a leisurely stroll and some working up a serious sweat. They definitely don't take hiking lightly, most people wear special hiking gear with walking poles and CamelBaks. For Koreans, you always have to look good, even while working out and there are a large amount of hiking equipment stores and athletic clothing stores.
    In Pungam-Dong (our neighborhood) there is a decent sized mountain with over 20km of trails and 5 separate peaks. We decided to trek up the first 2 peaks the other day, amounting to a decent hour and a half hike. The peaks offer beautiful views of the city, although the day we decided to go it was unfortunately quite foggy. We will have to go another time on a clear day to get some photos of the skyline.