Korea Travelogue: Day 7 - Nami Island
Day 7 brought us to Nami Island or Namiseom in Chuncheon, about an hour away from Seoul. But first, coffee stop at the Twosome Coffee outside Hongdae's Exit 2 hehe.
Nami Island is famous for being a shooting location for Winter Sonata so you will be very happy to find traces of the drama there if you are a huge fan. We set off quite early to head to Gapyeong station because it would take us about 90 minutes via train to reach there.
Once you've exited from Gapyeong Station, cross over to the bus stop to wait for the bus to the ferry station which will bring you to Nami Island.
By the time we reached the ferry terminal, it was lunch time so we decided to stop for food first because we weren't sure if Nami Island had any food places available. Picked a restaurant randomly (pictured below) and went in. It's a restaurant that specializes in Chuncheon dakgalbi (similar to what you can find at Yoogane) - actually all the restaurants in the vicinity are selling Chuncheon dakgalbi.
Here's how the dakgalbi looks like. The sauce is slightly different from the Yoogane one and the vegatables here are more leafy and lesser cabbage is included. If you prefer a lighter taste for your food, you would enjoy the Chuncheon version of dakgalbi.
Of course we added in rice after that. It kinda became a mushy concoction, more watery than how they cook at Yoogane. Overall, I would still recommend you coming to try this version of dakgalbi if you are around the area.
Walked towards the wharf to purchase our tickets which includes the ferry fare as well. It is KRW10000/adult and there is only one point where they will check your ticket (at the wharf) and you do not need it once you've reached the island.
It is a short ferry ride to Namiseom, about 10-15 minutes and there are some seats inside the ferry but not for all pasengers so you may end up having to stand the entire journey to the island.
I totally get why Nami Island is so popular with tourists, other than the Winter Sonata connection though. The entire place is lined with trees and gives off a very romantic feeling so families and couples alike enjoy coming here to enjoy the scenery.
Nami Island is an awesome place to take professional photos in my opinion. We all had a ball of time just spending time taking pictures there as such scenery would never be seen here in Singapore. Plus I had hell of a time trying to sieve through all the pictures that we took that day too O.O
Found a wild squirrel in a dumpster by chance! Anyway, there's only one way in and one way out so you won't get lost at Nami Island. Just follow the trail upon entering the main entrance and it will lead you back in a loop to the entrance.
The name of the island originated from being the location of General Nami's tomb. A man bought over the entire island and changed it into a tourist attraction, unifying nature together with culture to what is now known as Nami Island. It is a lovely place to spend a day at if the weather is good too. I can see this island being a hotspot for families/couples to have picnics at during the warmer seasons.
And since the sun was quite cooperative that afternoon, we took a ton of pictures! So a major warning for the torrential spamming of pictures below xD
With all the gizibes! :D
Despite the sun shining so brightly, it was bloody cold that day till I had to bring out the ear muffs. If not I think I would have left with a missing ear due to frost bite. So do come prepared if you are planning to visit during winter. The fact that the island is surrounded by water and mountains make it much more susceptible to cold winds and the temperature will definitely drop further as the day goes on.
Every single spot produces scenic and awesome pictures!
Mandatory jump shots despite it being winter heh. It took us very long just to come up with these pictures lol.
Ostriches in an open enclosure is found here - for what reason that I do not know really.
I mentioned earlier on that Nami Island was one of the filming locations of Winter Sonata starring Choi Ji Woo and Bae Yong Jun. Here's where they did their first kiss in the show according to the sign lol. Sorry I didn't watch the drama and I was probably too young then to understand it as well xD
We really spammed so much pictures there it was like we went all the way to Nami Island for a photoshoot HAHAHAHA! But in our defence, it's a really picturesque location so don't blame us really for wanting to keep memories of the wintery landscape.
Emo shots only look awesome when you are overseas somehow.
We met a couple of tourists and they volunteered to help us take group pictures after seeing us trying to struggle with only selcas lol. So thankful for their help if not these pictures would not have been possible :D
This one below was by resorting to using self-timer HAHAHAHA #damnwelookbad
After we walked past the filming location of the first kiss, we headed in the direction of the lake. The lake was partially frozen and with the mountains as backdrop, it just become this really postcard-ish place which means.... more picture taking lol! Oh and it really reminded me of my days back in Switzerland *sigh* I really want to go to Europe again to travel.
Sorry if we seem super narcissistic but really 不拍白不拍 since we went all the way there already. I swear we weren't the only ones taking such pictures because alot of visitors did the same as well.
This is in memory of Yonghwa's funny pose from the last Weekly Idol episode of C.N. Blue lol.
Taking pictures really took up alot of time and soon it was time to leave the island. We spent a total of about 3-4 hours there just wandering around and taking pictures. In my opinion if you have never visited Nami Island, you should find time to make it as a day trip out from Seoul just to be in contact with nature. (But I probably would not come back here on my future trips because once is really enough lol.)
Alot of travellers tend to combine their visit of Nami Island together with Petite France because it is nearby (approx 30 mins away by bus) and since Petite France is more widely known now thanks to shows like Running Man and Secret Garden etc, I would recommend that you stopover at Petite France and have a look if you are a huge Le Petit Prince fan. (You can obtain a discount coupon for the entrance fees of Petite France here). We didn't go there due to time constraint but would definitely love to do so if I visit Seoul again!
Anyway, we said our goodbyes to Nami Island at dusk time and headed back to Gapyeong Station by taking a taxi as the buses were no longer operating then. The next stop for us was Guri station where we paid a visit to Infinite Dongwoo's family restaurant for dinner so stay tuned for that entry! (Update: The entry on Infinite Dongwoo's family restaurant is up!)