South Korea : Nami Island and Chuncheon Dakgalbi 춘천닭갈비

Nami Island

1st November 2012.
Nami Island, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
One rather popular sight-seeing attraction near Seoul is Nami Island where Winter Sonata was being filmed. South Korea is one country that marks out all the filming locations for their drama serials be it in Jeju or relatively secluded Sokcho.

Nami Island

Besides being the filming location for a highly popular drama serial, the island is also known for its picturesque autumn colours. Hence, couples love taking their wedding shots here especially during the autumn season.

Nami Island

It was a pity that we came a little late as the peak autumn colours has already withered away but still rather beautiful

Nami Island.
Nami Island

The island is also highly accessible from Seoul. Unsurprisingly, this place is insanely popular with tourists and locals, the amount of which makes every ferry seemed like a refugee boat.

Nami Island
Nami Island

Luckily, we planned ahead and arrive at the island earlier. While there was still a sizable crowd it wasn’t as bad compared to the afternoon when dozens of coaches, fully loaded of tourists came descending upon this modest island.

Nami Island

The Eurasian Red Squirrels here are rather aggressive. We spotted a lot of them on the island, they aren’t shy at all.

Squirrel at Nami Island

Regardless, Nami Island is still a pretty island to visit but it is not one I go nuts about.

Nami Island

On the island itself you could find several restaurants, some ridiculously priced such as the Chinese restaurant serving Peking Duck. My favourite is probably the piping hot, beautifully grilled sausages, the perfect comfort food for a cold autumn morning.

Sausages

Alternatively, you could pack some food to have a mini-picnic on the island like many of the locals did. I got these decadent chocolates from my good friend Liang Wei. He sent them over from London.

Nami Island
Chocolates from Marks and Spencer

Gapyeong borders the mountainous province of Gangwan-do and it is very near the city of Chuncheon known for its dakgalbi 닭갈비, seasoned boneless chicken with vegetables, rice cakes and other ingredients pan-fired over a large steel pan. Simple it may sounds but this was insanely delicious.

Chuncheon Dakgalbi

The best part of this dish is when the you add rice to the remaining dak galbi just before you finish the whole thing and when the gravy is at its richest to make bokkeum bap or fried rice, the rice takes in the smokey (wok hei-like) flavours from the steel pan and soaks in all the flavours from the dakgalbi gravy. The Chuncheon Dakgalbi 춘천 닭갈비 is easily one of my favourite dishes in South Korea so far.

Chuncheon Dakgalbi

Sadly if you are a solo traveler your only option would be makguksu 막국수 , chilled buckwheat noodles that is not unlike soba noodles, another speciality of Chuncheon. You could easily find many restaurants serving these dishes around the ferry terminal to Nami Island.

Chuncheon Dakgalbi

The Naminara Republic (also known as Nami Island to all of us) charges 10000 KRW for regulars for its “Visa” which is tickets to the island including a round-trip ferry fare. However, foreigners like us are only being charged 8000 KRW.

Nami Island

To get to the ferry terminal you could take the commuter subway from Seoul or ITX from Yongsan /Cheongyangni to Gapyeong Station. The ITX is slightly more expensive but faster by about 30 minutes. From Gapyeong Station to Nami Island Ferry Terminal it is a short taxi ride (about 3000 KRW one way or you could take a buses 33-5, 33-24 or 33-36 which cost about 1200 KRW one way). It is also possible to walk from the station to the ferry terminal (roughly 2km).

Nami Island

Naminara Republic

5 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Could ask you one question? How to go to Chuncheon to eat Dakgalbi from Gapyeong Staion?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, you can go to Chuncheon from Gapyeong by train such as the ITX. The ITX runs from Yongsan to Chuncheon and stops by Gapyeong as well. I haven't been to Chuncheon before, but looking at Korea, once the city/ region is known for something (i.e Gyeongju Bread in Gyeongju, Hallabong in Jeju), you can't miss it ;)

    It should take less than half an hour to reach Chuncheon by train and you can book the tickets online or purchase it at the station's ticket machines.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, thanks so much for your info :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. from yongsan station direct to chuncheon or stop at gapyeong?i a little bit blur.which is near to name island?

    ReplyDelete
  5. how much itx train fares from yongsan station to chuncheon?

    ReplyDelete

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