Nami Island could very well be the mecca for all Korean drama fans. After all, this is the setting of some of the scenes in “Winter Sonata” which started the Korean Wave. Being big “Winter Sonata” fans, me and my friends decided to visit this iconic place once and for all when we went to Korea autumn last year.
Our timing could never be more perfect with the island teeming with color because of the season. We could see trees with green, yellow, orange and red leaves. It was really wonderful and we felt happy that we were able to see the beauty of the island. The only downside was that there were really a lot of people. Most were tourists but some I think, went there for a field trip because they are wearing similar shirts and have picnic baskets. It was quite difficult to find a spot where there are no people to take pictures so what we did was to go away from the usual route and traversed a different path.
We didn’t join a tour group so we went there by ourselves. We took the subway to Cheongnyangni Station and then went to Lotte Department store which is adjacent to the Korail train station. We bought tickets going to Gapyeong and arrived there after more than an hour traveling. It’s not that long because we were able to enjoy the countryside scenery (before I fell asleep). Anyway, after arriving at the station, we took the taxi to the port where we will take the boat to Nami Island. The taxi drivers already know where we are going so I was spared from speaking my broken Korean. The boat ride lasted for 5-10 minutes and then finally, we arrived. Yey!
Here are the pics that we took.
If you wanna go there the same way we did, here’s the breakdown of the expenses (one way):
Korail Train from Cheongnyangni to Gapyeong – 3,800 won.
Taxi – 4,000-5,000 won
Ferry ride – 8,000 won
There’s also a shuttle bus directly to Nami from Insadong. You need to book it a week beforehand though because it is always full. For more details, click this link to the Visit Korea website.