South Korea 2022 Day 11: Nami Island, Garden of Morning Calm and Gangchon Rail Bike
DAY 11: 6 DEC 2022
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| Gangchon Rail Bike |
Day tripping!
We booked a day tour on Klook comprising of 3 attractions:
Garden of Morning Calm
Nami Island
Gangchon Rail Bike
It costs S$73 per pax and includes admission and ferry tickets.
On the night before our tour, our guide, Jack, whatsapped over details about our meeting venue.
The meeting venue changed to Namsan bus station located near our hotel.
We were told to be there at 8am and look out for flag no. 7.
It started to snow when we left our hotel!
We arrived at the station at 7.40am and many people were there waiting including other tour guides.
At around 7.55am, Jack arrived from Hongdae and we left the bus station on time at 8am!
The schedule on Klook indicated that we will go for the rail bike first.
However, Jack told us there is a change and we will first explore garden of morning calm.
At that point in time, I was fine with it as it was too cold to bike then.
The bus ride took at least 1.5 hours and we finally arrived at garden of morning calm.
We were given about 1.5 hours to explore the gardens which was sufficient!
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| Dried hydrangea |
The trees were rather bare due to the winter season.
We were unlucky too as we missed the winter night exhibition which only started on 9 Dec.
The light installations were up and even though some lights were turned on halfway through our visit, we can imagine how beautifully lit the gardens will be at night.
The gardens will also be nice during the peak of spring and autumn seasons!
After garden of morning calm, we had dakgalbi for lunch!
Jack recommended that we have lunch before entering Nami island as it is more expensive to eat on the island than at the restaurants near the ferry terminal.
The entire tour group went with his suggestion and he brought us to Nami Dakgalbi.
For the dakgalbi, there was only spicy and non-spicy. Options to vary spicy level were not given and so we decided to try 2 servings of the soy sauce stir-fried chicken (28,000 krw) this time round.
A lot of vegetables were given and we had to stir fry the ingredients on our own.
The soy sauce version was good too.
However, I still preferred the chicken we had yesterday as it was marinated better and more tender.
This time, we ordered a bowl of fried rice (2,000 krw) which we added halfway through our meal.
Yummy!
After lunch, Jack guided us to the ferry terminal which was a short walk from our restaurant.
The ferry interval was about 15 - 20 minutes and the ride took less than 10 minutes.
This time, we were given 2.5 to 3 hours to explore the island.
Nami Island was bigger than I thought it would be.
The island even had a small ostrich farm.
There were also wild bunnies hopping around the island.
You will see a lot of tall trees planted along the sides of the paths.
Do remember to take photos here as it is really pretty!
Nami island was one of the filming locations for the famous korean drama, Winter Sonata.
There were boards telling you where the scene happened and you could attempt to take the same photo.
We were greeted by clear waters at the end of the rows of trees.
The sun started to shine through the clouds and it was perfect for photo taking!
The both of us found a lovely area to film videos of each other walking.
Zhi Sheng came up with the idea to video ourselves while I fine tuned the way we recorded the videos!
We used iPhone's cinematic mode to record and the videos turned out like music videos (:
After nami island, we moved onto our last attraction which was Gangchon Rail Park.
There was an option to top up for a 2-seater bike on Klook and we topped up 10,000 krw for it.
Without the top up, we would have to share a 4-seater bike with another couple.
Jack made the reservation for 4.30pm which was the last slot.
We could see the transition from day to night during our bike experience.
There were only pedals and a brake in the bike.
We were the last few bikes to set off as the 4-seater bikes set off first.
The first part of the experience was the 6.5km biking.
It was a breeze to cycle as we were mainly going down slope and there was constant traffic ahead of us.
During this segment, we passed 3 unique tunnels with the first decorated with small windmills!
After the 6.5km biking, we alighted at the rest area and transferred to an open-air train.
Initially, we were told that there will be a 10 minutes break upon alighting from our bikes.
However, as we were at the back of the pack, we arrived later and hence we had to transfer to the train immediately.
The both of us were fine without the break as we did not need to use the bathrooms then.
The train travelled a distance of 2.4km and we enjoyed the surroundings with the sun setting in the background.
Upon alighting, we reunited with Jack who quickly brought us to the restrooms before the long journey back to Myeongdong.
As there were other tour groups, the restrooms were packed to the brim and it took me at least 20 minutes before my turn came.
Zhi Sheng helped to guard the Men's restroom as some ladies were using it.
It was a long bus ride back and we arrived in Myeongdong at around 7.15pm.
We haven't had bibimbap throughout our trip.
As our trip was coming to an end, I thought we should have it as dinner tonight.
Our restaurant for the night was:
Jeonju Yuhalmeoni Bibimbap (전주유할머니비빔밥 북창동본점)
This restaurant is located away from Myeongdong shopping streets and we had to walk a fair bit to get there.
There was no English menu but the ahjumma simply asked "bibimbap?"
We replied saying "yes, 2 bibimbap".
I guess they often have foreigners like us who come just for their bibimbap.
Their bibimbap came in the hot stone pot.
Gochujang was provided on a saucer and we could add as much as we wanted.
The bibimbap was good and they had good side dishes, including the anchovies one which Zhi Sheng loved.
It was also nice to be in a small restaurant away from the touristy areas.
After dinner, we walked back to Myeongdong shopping street to get my beloved hotteok.
It was my second last hotteok for the trip, so I had to eat it!
And that's it for day 11!
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