Day 38: Nami Island

Today was a whole lot of travelling to get to Nami Island. It is known as a really beautiful place to go in the fall so I wanted to visit it before the trees started to lose all their leaves. I left my place around 10 am and arrived at the subway station closest to the island at 12:30.

It took me awhile to figure out what bus stop I was supposed to wait at but I eventually got it. Sunny had recommended going on a week day so that it wasn't too busy, which I did. The bus was still packed though and there were lots of people waiting to get on the ferry (I can't imagine how much busier it must be on a weekend). When I arrived at the place to take the ferry I was a little confused about how to buy a ticket. There were booths set up near the water but they said 'Naminara Visa'. I realized that this is actually where I had to buy a ticket for the ferry. I later found out that Nami Island is now Naminara Republic which is independent from the Republic of Korea. Since it is independent, visitors need a 'visa' to enter the island. It cost 13,000 won to get the round-trip ticket + visa and then I was able to hop onto a ferry.

I tried to get as close to the back of it as possible so I could take pictures and watch the water as we went to the island. There were tons of people on the boat but I was still able to get fairly close to the edge.

The zipline tower you can see in the pictures was where an episode of a Korean show that I used to watch a lot (We Got Married ) was filmed. At the bottom of the tower they had a huge TV screen playing parts of the episode which was super cool! People can zipline from the mainland to the island.

The boat trip itself was super short, probably just a few minutes. When I arrived at the island the colours were so beautiful! I think I went a little later than I should have but there were luckily still lots of trees with leaves on them. There was a main welcome area with a tourist information booth and a sign where people could take pictures. I didn't really know which direction was the best so I just started walking along the closest path. It took me through tons of beautiful forest paths and right along the water. There were lots of areas where I could branch off to explore the inner part of the island but I decided to just walk around the edge first. The island is not very big so I was able to walk around 1/3 of it in a short amount of time.

I got distracted by a tree path at one point and decided to adventure into the inner part of the island. The tree path is a famous place where a Korean drama was filmed so there were lots of people there taking photos.

I had read on a blog post that morning about a really yummy place to buy food near the tree path so I went in search of it. There was a huge line up for it but it was worth it. The food is called hoddeok and I think it's some kind of pancake with jam and nuts inside. I ordered two because I was really hungry and they were so good!

The inside of the island was too crowded so I went back to the outside of it and continued to walk around. The trees were beautiful and there were so many relaxing looking areas to just sit down. There was also a little village area with small huts where I think people could rent a room for the night so they could stay on the island.

I took some pictures for a few older ladies that were trying to take a selfie along the water and then another person asked me to take a photo of her by a tree. I stopped by a music museum but it wasn't particularly interesting so I continued on. I eventually made it back to where I started and I was still good to wander more. Since I had explored almost all of the outside of the island I took a different path to walk back to the food place.

The inside of the island seemed to be where more people typically walked around. It was much busier and there were more photo areas and decorations set up. Once I reached the tree path again I bought a roasted rice cake and took another path to walk back to the ferry. It was so relaxing and nice to wander around the island and it was a really beautiful time to go. I definitely preferred the outer pathways because they were less busy and it was more nature than anything else.

There are a few other places near Nami Island that are considered good tourist spots. One is called Petite France and the other is called the Garden of Morning Calm. Both are popular spots to film dramas at. One of my favourite dramas, You Who Came From the Stars, had a scene filmed at Petite France so I really wanted to check it out. I took the ferry back to the main land and tried to find the right bus stop.

I ended up just missing the bus I needed. I waited around for another 20 minutes trying to figure out bus routes and then I realized that I could walk to the next bus stop before the bus came. I would rather spend the time walking than sitting in the same spot so I set off.

I just missed the next bus. It was around 4 pm by now and the next bus wasn't coming for awhile. There were no options for me to get to Petite France before 5 pm, which was the latest they would let people buy tickets. I sadly realized that my only option was to head back to the subway station. I thought that if I walked to the subway station fast enough (much faster than what the map was saying) I may still have a chance to get to Petite France before 5. Unfortunately, I started walking in the wrong direction and didn't realize it until 10 minutes later. By now there was really no way I was going to make it in time.

I took my time walking back to the subway station and then started my journey back home. I grabbed a small kimbap at one of the subway stations since it would be a long time before I would get back. Since it was around 5 pm all the subway seats were full so I had to stand for over 2 hours, which was not fun after all the walking I had done. By the time I got home I was so tired and hungry! I didn't really know any good places to eat nearby but the place I am staying at is very close to Itaewon Street. It is lined with clothing stores, cafes, and restaurants so I figured I was bound to find something good there. I tried to Google places while walking and eventually found a restaurant called the meatball lounge that looked like it had yummy food. I ordered a bowl thing (I totally can't remember what it was actually called) that had egg, vegetables, and bacon all mixed together and it was good!

When I got back to the place I am staying at, Kate and Martin were watching a rap survival show called Show Me the Money. I really enjoy watching the performances and I was so surprised to see it on. It was really cool to be able to watch it live on regular TV rather than having to wait for someone to put it on YouTube. There were no English subs but I liked just watching the performances. We watched the re-run of last weeks episode until 11 and then we watched the live, current episode. It was such a fun way to end the day! :)

Hope everyone is doing well,

Emily

(November 2, 2018)

Walking distance: 14.6 km

P.S here's the route I took to get to Nami Island