남산의 봄꽃

I should be concentrating on doing my homework but the weather was just too good for me to be staying indoor. So on Sunday morning, I decided to take some off-time and walked up Mt. Namsan.

The path up the mountain was lined with blooming cherry trees and forsythia. At different points along the way, there were specially-maintained flower plots which added a lot more colours to the surrounding.

It took me some time to realise that I was looking at Poppy. A really gorgeous flower that can be used to produce natural painkiller - opium. Opium is a great medicine when used correctly. It is a shame that such a beautiful flower with good medicinal potential has to be linked to drug abuse. The devil is really in us and not the flower.

Chrysanthemum in bright orange colour is something new to me and they are not fake.

Lily looks great out in the sun.

Purple Chrysanthemum. They look so much better in a flower plot than vase.

Cherry blossom is dull in colour compared to the flowers above. Where they lack in colour, they make up in number - a number which is magnificently overwhelming and there lies its beauty.

Some more pictures of cherry blossoms before the season is over.

Shots of cherry blossoms taken along the path up to Mt. Namsan.

The omnipresent forsythia on the roadside is hard to ignore.

An observation deck looking out at a hazy Seoul. The atmosphere has been rather stable for the past week, so the haze cannot be blown away.

The snaking line of cherry blossoms actually defines the road leading up Mt. Namsan. I didn't realise how beautiful it was when walking up. But when I looked down after reaching the top, it was just amazing.