Day 25: Nami Island

I have almost been to every other tourist attraction in Seoul, and quite a few popular ones in Jeju, Busan and Gyeonggi-do. I also went to Gyeongju, Yeosu and Gangwon-do. Despite so many places I have gone to, I felt that I could never see enough of Korea. But to me, Nami Island disappoints. It was highly raved, but I honestly do not like it there, at least definitely not in summer time. Allow me to slowly explain before you judge (esp for those who love that place).

Okay firstly, we have to know how to get to Nami Island right. Okay to be honest, I did a lot of research myself and a few trial and errors on the way. So I am going to tell you that you need to get off at Gapyeong subway station. This is on the Jungang line which is an extended line on the subway system, so do get an updated subway map of Seoul. 

Wangsimni station --> Mangu station --> (Kyungchun line NOT Jungang line) Gapyeong station. 

Wangsimni has quite a few lines connecting it, so do your own research on how to get to Wangsimni! And the reason why you have to change at Mangu subway station is that Jungang line was intended to arrive at Jungang as its last stop (Pretty obvious right) but they extended another line and Gapyeong subway station is on the extended line so you have to change if not you will end up at Jungang subway station. So upon reaching Gapyeong subway station, you can take a taxi to Nami Island ferry pot, the fare should be 3,000KRW (3USD) or so. The entire journey takes around 2 hours. I started from Hyehwa subway station, so if you are further (e.g. Sinchon area), it might be another 15-20mins more.

We had to go for lunch first 'cause we were starving!!! Oh if you do not already know, you can eat and drink on Korean subways (You definitely can't in Singapore) so you can always grab some pastry along the way. But do be conscious and respectful too, don't even attempt to eat things like ddeokbukki because the smell is so strong - unless you want to get death stares from other commuters. I realise most people carry drinks, but rarely do people eat food. But I guess bread and biscuits are fine.

So, if I may suggest, head straight to Nami Island for lunch. The restaurants at Nami Island ferry port all sell one thing - dakgalbi (stir fried chicken). I am not sure why this is the case, but anyway we just headed into one 'cause we are not too sure if there are any restaurants in Nami Island but now that I know there are, please head inside for more varieties! And of course because the dakgalbi I ate there isn't nice. T.T

Look at how happy I was waiting for my food to be cooked. To realise afterwards that Yoogane really serves the best dakgalbi I have ever tried. Not only that, it is much cheaper and the staff really attends to you, unlike the staff in this restaurant. But anyway, yes you can get these aprons if you are afraid of food stains or smell lingering (though I think it doesn't help to reduce the smell).

So basically there are two ways to get to Nami Island. The ferry ride of course (8,000KRW for foreigners, inclusive of ferry ride + entrance tickets). For the more adventurous ones, you can do the zipline down to Nami Island. :) I really wanted to, except that it costs a freaking 38,000KRW. Too expensive for me!!!

So, after a 15 minutes ferry ride, we reached Nami Island. You know you are here if you see this stone that says "Na Mi Som" in Korean. Okay you know you are there when the ferry stops and everyone gets off too.

 

So I took pictures with some tall trees, thinking why these trees aren't so straight as I expected. Turns out I was at the wrong area. This isn't the trees Nami Island is famous for.

 Now, these are the trees! Does it even make any difference?

Now, let me say why I don't find Nami Island fascinating. To be honest, the pictures don't look as good. And even the best picture I could find in summer looks like this. A big patch of trees.

But I was expecting something like this... Guess I came at the wrong season.

Or best, something like this. Look at the fluffy white snow and trees!

So... I am from Singapore. And Singapore has so many trees. We are surrounded by trees everywhere I go. If not for the nicer yellow or white trees, tell me why else should I come here?!?!?! To travel 2 hours, pay $10 to view trees that were everywhere in my country, is really quite ridiculous to me. And of course, I was no Winter Sonata fan, so it didn't matter to me to find that stone statue of the female and male lead. I still cannot believe it, I came here to see trees!!!

And if I may add, July is the worst time to come from. The constant monsoon rain made exploring this place harder, since there was soil and mud and puddles of water all over the place. Trust me, it doesn't look half as glam as the pictures. And the worst thing ever is to wear slippers in times like this. I didn't want to get my shoes dirty so I thought slippers are a good choice, but turned out that slippers will keep flicking the mud and soil onto the back of your knees. It is really irritating, I feel so dirty I just wanna go home and bathe.

I found some comfort though, to see a piece of Singapore in Nami Island. :) Although I didn't remember the Merlion to look like this hahah. It could have looked better.

But anyway, I would never choose to come back to Nami Island during summer times where the trees are oh-so-green. But if you happen to head there, you might want to head down to Chuncheon subway station to have some dakgalbi (Chuncheon is famous for that) or the rail bike that Running Man went to (cannot remember the subway station though but Google is always your best friend!)

Cannot wait to update about the future entries. The next week in Korea is going to be a lot much exciting (I feel). One of the best week I had in Korea. :)