Korea 2014: Naminara Republic

Namiseom Website

One of the things I wanted to do, was to go to Namiseom/Namisum/Naminara Republic, in Chuncheon, South Korea.

Why did I want to go?

I can’t really explain. Mostly because I like wandering about in such beautiful nature.

Anyway, since I couldn’t wake up in time, I didn’t get to take the shuttle (information can be found HERE about the shuttle and other directions). So that meant that I would have to take the train.

Not a huge issue, but it did take a bit of time to get there. Try not to get lost when you transfer to the different lines. I actually decided to take a different way home, and I got totally confused at one of the stations -___- (I didn’t realize that two trains came on the one track).

Once you get to Gapyeong station and exist, you will see the Information centre on the right of you. You will also see the Taxi area (centre-ish), and the bus area to your left.

I hopped on the bus, as the Information Lady said that it was arriving soon. Because it is considered a transfer, I didn’t pay much. You take the bus ALL the way to the end of the line. Not too long, roughly 5 minutes?

Once you get off, you will have to walk towards the entrance, bypassing all these restaurants along the way. They all advertise Dakglabi, which is a chicken dish that is well known in Chuncheon.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that my dad and his family is from Chuncheon. But no one in his family is there anymore.

Once you walk to the entrance, you will pay 10,000won for your passport fee. This includes the admission and the ferry ride. If you show them your real passport, you will only pay 8,000won. Hey! Any little bit counts :P Especially in Korea as you could buy a few treats for that.

You may have to wait a little bit for the ferry, but it won’t take too long to board.

This shot was from the boat. You can see the first tower, which is the Namiseom Zip Wire. If you pay (I think) 38,000won, you can zipline into Nami Island. I may have chickened out…though I tried passing on it by saying I should save my money…lol

It takes a little over 5 minutes to get to the island…

Once there, I followed the path to the left.

Since I wanted to eat my breakfast (though it was already a little over noon I think?), I sat on the edge of the water.

There are a lot of seats long the edge, and a lot of people just open up their picnic baskets to eat together. There was this group of older women who had a radio going, and singing along :D

Its green everywhere…so if greenery bores you, this might not be for you.

This is a chestnut. You are reminded by the use of signs, all over the park, not to pick any nuts. The animals depend on them. You wouldn’t want them to starve would you?!

On a side note, do you know how chestnuts come to be? You will encounter a lot of scrubber looking things. Apparently they enclose the chestnut…I learned something new.

Namiseom supports UNICEF, which is why there are banners next to the face

The infamous row of tall trees…

Roughly in the centre of the island, you will find the food area. There are quite the number of cafe looking places, as well as restaurants. You will also find a crowd…

…where someone will be making steam bums :) There was a huge line, so I didn’t get one.

You will also find a lot of odd statues/sculptures/art work. Most are to have been created by the waste that is created by visitors. Others are to support some sort of cause.

…like I said…

I actually had so much fun with these guys…until I realized that bugs could potentiall crawl out of the cracks *shudders*

This was amusing. I tried to make my own…and failed miserably lol

Back at the docking area for the ferry

I only realized that there was a face, after editing this photo for the post. I was taking a picture because it was so pretty.

Goodbye Nami Island

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