The time we went to an adult playground

That’s right, they have those. But not in the ‘traditional’ sense as you might imagine.

At the top of almost every mountain in Korea an outdoor exercise station is planted. Why? I’m not sure. You’re free to use whatever you’d like, and 7 times out of ten it probably does nothing for you.

About a month ago we took a road trip up to Seosan to spend the weekend with Ethan and Sandra. I blogged about the awesome breakfast we had here. After breakfast we headed out for a hike (aka romp in the woods) and ended up at one of these sweet outdoor exercise stations, except the coolest one I’ve ever been to. Traditionally there are only 3-4 things to ‘play’ on, but Seosan outdid themselves with several. Take a look at our favorites.

Sandra and I started out on the ‘foot massage’ path. I had been on one of these before at the Bamboo Forest, but this guy was brutal. Some old man was watching us and told me that I had to RUN across it and not walk. I made the mistake of taking his advice (maybe it was some cruel joke of his…he SEEMED sincere), and my feet felt like they were about to fall off. Sandra took the slower pace. After the ‘massage’ I was fully expecting a million little bruises to appear on the bottom of my feet. Ouch. I will never do that again.

Now on to that exercise equipment.

Another popular exercise in Korea is to use a weighted hula-hoop. You can find these ginormous hoops almost anywhere. Some of them are so heavy they leave bruises on the sides of your waist. They do work though! It’s a great core exercise. We spent the next hour and a half hiking around, then climbed down the mountain to enjoy some ice cream followed by lunch (that’s the best way to do it right?)