Visiting Nami Island in Gangwon Province, South Korea
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I went to Nami Island with a friend. Nami island is famous for being featured in many K-dramas and movies, including the 2002 drama 'Winter Sonata'. The whole trip was only about two hours each way, using very cheap and convenient public transportation. We simply took the subway by school, transferred once or twice, and then walked about 20 minutes through the countryside to get to the island. You can take a taxi or bus instead of walking, but I could not pass up an opportunity to walk through the beautiful village on a brisk fall morning. Once we got to the port, You can take a 5 minute ferry to the island, or if you are feeling adventurous, you can take a zipline to the island!
On the island, there is a lot to see. There are so many little gardens, random statues and artworks, little shops, and places to sit and admire the scenery. I was so glad I went in the fall when all the red, orange, yellow, and green leaves made the forests look so beautiful, it felt like a dream. My friend and I walked around the island for hours. We saw the Emu’s, which was really neat because we got to see them up close. We also explored the goblin garden, which had many really funny goblin statues causing chaos.
My favorite part of the trip was biking around the coast of the island. You can rent bikes for only a few dollars and then follow different bike paths around the island. We were fortunate that we arrived early, so we were able to bike across the island without needing to navigate around too many pedestrians. I loved feeling the wind in my face while hearing the water flowing down the river and the wind rustled the leaves in the trees. At one point while biking through a grove of trees, the wind blew a bunch of leaves from the trees, and the leaves rained down on me while I was biking through them. I honestly felt like I was the start of a K-drama! We finally decided to head back after walking around the giftshops.
We decided to stop for dinner in a new part of Seoul, but quickly got lost walking around. A kind woman brought us to the restaurant we were looking for. It was so sweet. Neither of us spoke much Korean, and yet we were able to have such a sweet interaction. I always am blown away by the kindness strangers show to us as foreigners. After dinner, we walked around the area, saw some local food and fish markets, and finally headed back to our dorm. It was really great to get to see new areas outside of Seoul and in Seoul. Nami Island was truly beautiful in the fall, and I hope I can go back in the winter once it snows.
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