Day 2 in Korea!
Day 2! Day 2 was a really interesting experience I need to tell you guys about because we went for a tour!! Yes, I did say I did not like tours, but the tourist me needs to visit these places at least once and I found THE perfect tour operator. And the reason why I love them is that they don't actually follow/restrict you. It's a really efficient service that brings you to three places in one day, which technically you would spend a lot of time and money if you were on your own. But now, you get to ride on a tour bus!!! Yes with other people, but when you reach your destination, basically everybody enjoys their own free time, the guide doesn't even follow us along, we just have to get back to our bus by the stipulated timings as he says. They have different packages which you can actually choose; I chose the Nami Island-Petite France-Gangchon Rail Bike tour.
Here's their website & FB: http://ktourstory.com/
Firstly, Nami Island; OMG? You must go there. Tourist or not. Literally more than half of the people there that day were Koreans themselves. (But maybe also cos it was a Saturday.)
Petite France, a breath of fresh air from the Korean surroundings? And conquering 2 countries in one day is definitely a go.
And lastly, Gangchon Rail Bike. This one basically because it's really far if I go alone, and also because I might need reservations for this, so efficiency is key here! And because I've always wondered what it feels like to be on a bike on the train tracks. (watched too many shows with people on the bike!)
So for everything, I paid S$67 through the website before the trip, and was able to choose the pick up point of choice (subway station). There was Dongdaemun History and Culture Park, Myeongdong, and Hongik univ. I picked Myeongdong because it was nearer , BUT we ended up going to Dongdaemun that day because we missed the bus at Myeongdong (oops) (really guys be early, we had an early morning run). Fortunately for us we made it to Dongdaemun JUST in time and the person was nice enough to wait for us and not scold us hehe...... 😅 (thanks Willy!!!!)
The trip to Nami Island was about 1hr+ so we had a nap and when we reached, he woke us up and told us some history about the place. Gave us the tickets, and were free to go already! (If you're coming on your own, you can buy the ferry tickets at the place itself; according to this website it is 10,000 won.) So we boarded the ferry, which comes every 15 minutes, and takes you 5 minutes to reach the island. What you can do on the island; rent a bike and explore, eat, play water sports (didn't see many people that day though), take MANY pictures, and basically be a tourist??? We had 4 hours here, which seemed like a long time, but counting our lunch (1hr) and our travel on the ferry (30mins) and our toilet breaks (30 mins) and all that walking around the big area (a lot of time) and of course stopping everywhere to take photos. It was honestly a perfect amount of time.
Did I mention there's also an ostrich farm there? Yes, you can feed them too! And we actually saw peacocks (white and blue) and ducks freely roaming around.
So for our lunch I searched online to find that there is a halal Asian cuisine restaurant called Dongmun in the island. There's another one apparently that serves dakgalbi (supposedly the most famous food of the area, Chuncheon), but 1) Dad doesn't eat chicken and 2) I couldn't find it. Anyways i saw a lot of restaurants outside the island, where you board the ferry, so you can try those out too! (don't think it's halal though)
*update guys! I visited Nami again in winter with a tour group, so the tour guide brought us to a halal Dakgalbi restaurant which is near where the bus parking lot is! Unsure if booking is required beforehand though, pls research!
For Dongmun, my parents had a Vietnamese style noodle, I had Jjajangmyeon, while my Friend had kimchi fried rice. We also ordered a side of fried popiah. I must say that I was so disappointed that my first jjajangmyeon tasted like that because they all made it look so delicious on tv..... 😭😭 maybe it's supposed to be like that idk?? A thing to note is that they don't have drinks. They only serve plain water, so you can get your coffee fix or bottled drinks from the other shops outside.
I almost forgot but there is a zipline for you adventure seekers that will bring you to Nami Island instead of the ferry! For this, don't buy the ferry tickets, go into the building opposite the counter (honestly you can't miss it there's a tv that advertises the zip line in front) and buy the tickets there. Our group didn't get any, because the waiting time was 30 mins (like erm.... 30mins to go into the island as compared to 5mins? No thanks) But of course you reach there in 30 seconds! No pain, no gain!!! And if you're following this tour, the guide will ask if anybody wants to zipline, so he'll purchase the tickets accordingly for you. You can slowly take your time to think about it, he'll only ask when you alight from the bus.
The next destination took us 30 mins and before I could get myself comfortable, we reached petite France! Again, free time to take photos and explore on your own, just note that there are a lot of hills and climbing to be done. But perfect place for photos, the architecture of another country, and the view of the hills, plus I heard we are SO north of South Korea that we can overlook the sea that separates South and North? (Did I hear wrongly?) Here we had 1 hour, not too much not too little, quite a small area actually, not much to do though, so we ended our exploration quickly.
Whichhhh allowed me to have a conversation with the bus driver in Korean. The bus was too hot to stay in so me and my Friend stood outside and the driver was there, so he started talking to us, then I replied in Korean. Still day 2, my Korean was not as fluent, it was the longest convo in Korean (with a mix of English) I had so far, but it definitely boosted my confidence level for the next few days HAHAHA. Thanks mr bus driver (who thinks I speak 4 languages because I'm from a country with 4 Races) 😇
Last destination!! Gangchon rail bike, where you can ride in pairs or in fours, don't worry though, a whole group goes on the bikes together. (Actually make it two, there was a other tour group with us.) For this activity it is very important to bring light, we left our heavy items in the bus (always bring your valuables with you!), because there is only a small basket under your seat for your bags. There are seat belts you have to put on, and there is a brake in the middle of the two seats, two brakes for a four-seater. Be sure to keep a distance between you and the bike in front, because we actually hit the person in front once when we started and the person behind us hit us twice, once in a dark tunnel. 😐When you're going downhill especially, keep a bigger distance because you're not supposed to press the brake downhill; the brake is not gradual, it is VERY strong and sudden, so you will harm others behind you if you stop suddenly.
And yes, there are tunnels, one of them with lights and bubbles, there's even one with VCR, where you need googles, which we never got, and I will never know why. And of course the view 💯 my god Korea has such pretty views!! Especially when you're out of the city. There's SO many hills, the sky is pretty, the weather was perfect (Spring, April 2017, about 16 degrees), cherry blossoms, the peacefulness of the people's lives and to bask in all that was so good.
So anyway you cycle for about 30 mins, then you'd stop at this waterfall rest stop where there's a shop that sells eomuk (fishcakes), corndog, Hot drinks, ice cream and tteokbeokki!!!! Also there's a souvenir photo place that you can buy your photo which a camera took during the ride (like a rollercoaster, but this one you'll see it coming). Going to the end place, where our tour guide waited to guide us to the bus, we had to take a train (not an MRT, it felt like a toy train actually) for about 10 mins? It felt slower than our bike but yeah you can appreciate the view better without the tiredness. 😬
And tada! That's the end of day2. A long post for an eventful day, but be reminded that none of the day's activities were actually planned....? I just had to chose the package I wanted, and sit on a comfortable ride to the different places. And yes, they do drop you off back at the same three stations, you can choose where to drop depending on what you want to do after, (for us it was to go home straight and knock out 😬)
Last pointer for you guys is to check out what days the tour is available for! Like for mine, it was only available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, so I planned it according to my itinerary.
Our dinner for day 2 was at Taj palace, which was a great place because the curry was good 👍 it's a few shops after u turn right at Mr Kebab, and before the foreign supermarket. You go up the stairs to level two. U can choose from a buffet or individual menus, we had naan with curry and smth else, it was really delicious. 👍
Day 2: Saturday, 22 April 2017
Time
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Activity
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Address
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Cost
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Remarks
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6am wake up?
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Rise and Shine
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Bring snacks for tea break in case we hungry before dinner
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Reach by 8am
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Travel to meeting point (if using package)
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Myeongdong station
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Bus departs at 8.20am
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Travel to Nami Island
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General Rate: Adults 10,000 won
Discounted Rate: 8,000 won
* Discounted rate is applicable with proper identification to:
- Middle / High school students, Persons with a disability (Level 1-3), Seniors ages 70 years and older, Foreigners (passport or alien registration card)
| [Ferry Schedule]07:30-09:00 (Departure from Gapyeong Naru: Intervals 30 minutes)09:00-18:00 (Intervals 10-20 minutes)18:00-21:40 (Departure from Nami Naru to last ferry: intervals 30 minutes) | ||
Till 8pm
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Nami Island + petite france + Rail bike
*Mon, wednesday & sat only!!!
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$67
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Lunch @ Nami island
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Dongmun
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~10,000-12,000 won
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Dinner @taj palace/ Mr kebab
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Mrt station: Itaewon, subway line 6, exit 3
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home & goodnight
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