Korea Travelogue Day 2: A Trip to Nami Island
8:30 PMIf you're into Kdramas, and if you've watched Winter Sonata already, then I'm pretty sure you're very much familiar with Nami Island! Namiseon Island, or more commonly known as Nami Island, according to Visit Korea was "designed with the concept of "Storybook Land, Song Island," [and] hosts cultural events, concerts, and exhibitions all year round. The island aims to promote dreams and hopes in children, and love and memories in couples."
This amusement park/tourist resort opened in 1965 and was awarded with the status of UNICEF Child Friendly Park. According to the official site of Nami Island, it is part of the Naminara Republic which is a "cultural tourism brand" that "declared its cultural independence from the Republic of Korea, has its own diplomatic and cultural policies." There are a lot of activities that you can do in Nami Island and there are also various restaurants, coffee shops, craft shops and gift shops that you can visit whilst here. There's even a hotel here so if you want to explore this place more you can do so by staying the night!
If you want to check out any other information, such as the opening schedule, admission rates and even the ferry ride schedule, head over to the Visit Korea site here or the Nami Island official site here. You should definitely check out their official site if you want to learn more about the history of the Naminara Republic and Nami Island.
This is gonna be a long post since I've included a lot of pictures to really give you a good glimpse of this place. Scroll down whenever you're ready to see and (virtually) visit Nami Island! 😉
_____________________________________________________________________________________
NAMI ISLAND
We allotted the whole second day of our trip to visit Nami Island. Good thing we did so because I actually underestimated how far this place is from the city. Just like any of our other trips, we went here on our own - DIY style haha! We got here through the help of our reliable friend, Google Maps, to give us directions. But if you want other information on how to get here then you can head over to either Visit Korea or the official site of Nami Island. It was easier for us to get to this place DIY-style because we rented a Pocket WIFI from Flytpack before this trip.
We went to Nami Island first thing in the morning and it was a long train ride. We switched train lines about twice before we got here. Checking Google Maps again, the ride going there will take about 2 hours. Our main goal was to go from Eulji-ro to Gapyeong station. I can't remember exactly which station it was but we got off the wrong one when we switched lines! So we were stuck in the platform of an open train station, in winter, for about 20 minutes which is the time it took for the next train to arrive. Good thing it wasn't snowing and we had hand warmers in our coat pockets! But in spite of this, I'd still choose DIY-ing trips because it helps you learn more about the place and to really experience it like the locals do. I don't really enjoy tours - I don't have anything against them - it's just that I love exploring the city, getting lost (not in a scary way), talking to locals to ask for directions and help, and getting from one place to another, all on our own.
When we got off Gapyeong station, there were people giving out bus tour fliers, specifically the one which includes a trip to Petite France. If you're into the Korean variety show, Running Man, then this is where they filmed their Snow White episode. Even though it was tempting, we skipped because we just wanted to head straight to Nami Island. We rode a taxi from this station to the Ferry port.
We got tickets for the ferry ride but while waiting for our schedule, we ate lunch first at this Chicken place (I forgot the name lol). It's located in the building just before the ferry station so it isn't really that hard to miss. The food was really good more so because we were already tired from the train ride haha!
The feeling of excitement is all coming back to me as I'm writing this post haha!
This was our ferry ride to Nami Island! The next picture is when we got off the ferry and everyone was heading straight to the entrance to buy their tickets/entry visa at the ticket booths.
This place is really huge! We didn't feel cold at first but halfway through walking and exploring we started feeling so. Good thing there were a lot of restaurants and cafes here so we just stopped to get some coffee and food first to warm up our bodies.
Took some snaps of these information displays they put up for visitors to get to know Nami Island more.
It didn't snow during our whole stay in Korea but I was still able to take these snaps that will surely make you feel cold just by looking at them haha!
We also found this frozen fountain in one of the ponds here in Nami Island. The second photo seems to remind me of the Ice Age movie even though it's just a pine cone and not an acorn hehe.
You can also rent a bike while here which is really helpful if you want to see the whole of this place. There are a lot of areas where you can take pictures too! Everything here is so picturesque so it's not really that hard to find a spot.
There are a number of restaurants and cafes here in Nami Island so you won't go hungry from all the walking and touring. There's even a Sonata Cafe that I'm sure fans of Winter Sonata would love!
Here's the Winter Sonata Statue, located at the Metaseqoia Lane, which is not only a must-see for fans but for everyone visiting Nami Island too!
We also found these Ostriches while roaming around. There are really a lot of scenic areas in this place that makes you feel like you're in a Kdrama haha!
Even though it was really cold during this day, it was nice to visit Nami Island without any snow in sight. It also gave us the chance to take great photos of this place, which I bet looks so much more beautiful in Spring or Autumn!
Took a photo of this beautiful tree. I'm not sure what this is but I'm guessing that this is actually a Cherry Blossom tree! Also saw someone sitting under it - perfect if you want to relax or do some "Seoul" searching hehe. We also saw this huge stone that has a cute map carved into it.
Took some OOTD shots before leaving Nami Island.
Coat: ZARA | Dress: Peaches n' Cream | Tights: H&M | Heart Necklace: Unisilver | Bobble Hat: ZARA | Gloves: Terranova | Bag: ZARA | Boots: Call it Spring |
_____________________________________________________________________________________
MYEONGDONG
We left Nami Island around mid-afternoon and decided to head to Myeongdong even though we were already very tired. We wanted to have dinner there first before heading back to our hotel. What's funny is that we got stuck again on our way back to the city but this time it was inside a train!
As soon as we arrived in one of the city's main stations, an announcement was made through the PA system. We didn't really understand it so we didn't know that the train we were riding in was actually about to park already. We noticed that almost everyone got off the train. I was a little baffled but decided that it might just be because it was an interchange station. But they were apparently asking us to move to another train/line. Then, the train started to park and we weren't able to do anything anymore hahaha. We were there for about 10-15 minutes until a personnel found us and a couple still there - sitting comfortably inside the train. My mom joked afterwards that it was like a Train to Busan experience lol. 😂
We exited at the other side of the Myeongdong station - opposite where the Myeondong street and shops were - to look for a place to eat dinner at. I forgot the name of this restaurant but it's somewhere near the Hotel Prince Seoul. I also took a picture of the colorful Namsan tower at night.
Also bought some snacks after dinner. I bought this yummy ice yoghurt from 7-11!
We also got these huge strawberries, again, and we stocked up on hand warmers too! Then, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night after eating these yummy strawberries. 😋
That's everything for our Korea Travelogue Day 2! You should definitely give Nami Island a visit if you're planning to travel to Korea in the future. This place is not only for Kdrama lovers but also for those who love nature and enjoy having a good time!
Stay tuned for the next one, where we visited the Bearstown Ski Resort and even got a bit lost on our way there haha! 😅
0 comments