After much procastination, I decided to put Nami Island into our itineraries on the day just before we departed for Korea. My indecisiveness to go Nami Island was not without a reason. On the mention of this island everyone will link it to the drama series Winter Sonata, which irks me. No offense intended for the fans of Bae Yong Jun or Choi Ji Woo but I hate crying dramas and Winter Sonata happens to fall in that category.
Thanks to Zarina from budgettravel2korea, who detailed ways to get to Nami Island, we got there by taking a shuttle bus from Tapgol Park in Insadong area straight to Gapyeong Wharf with ferries embarking for the island. All we need to pay was 23,000 per person for admission, roundtrip bus and ferry trip.
Our bus tickets and the entry visas (more like a ferry ticket) for NI.
I might as well mention here, although that we can buy the ticket on the spot for shuttle bus, it is recommended to book the ticket via online to avoid disappointment. As far as I noticed, there’s only one bus departing for the jetty daily at 9.30 am sharp. A little side note, the bus is parked at the road side across the Tourist Information Center, so do not look for a bus station or even a stand that sells bus tickets (buy the ticket from the bus driver).
Cute little ferry called Nami Maid. Notice Malaysia’s flag in the picture?
The one and a half hour bus trip took us to the jetty with cute little ferries. As NI is not known for delicious or inexpensive meals, we packed our own lunch – 12 big pieces of mandu, grapes, water and my favourite makgeoli wine. Out of 12, 4 pieces are kimchi mandu and I was excited to try them until……. an auntie vomited a hell lot of kimchi in front of us when we were embarking the ferry!!!
It was stuffy in the ferry but fortunately the journey only lasted 8 minutes. I would recommend going to the deck to enjoy the wind if it’s not raining.
Paid a little respect to the person, whom the island is named after – General Nami who was falsely denounced as a traitor and executed.
The squirrels are not too shy and easily tempted with fruits.
This sight is everywhere in the island but we never got bored of it.
The most sought after photo taking spot.
This bike must have something to do with Winter Sonata which is why it was ‘enshrined’.
The Museum of Music is a good place to hangout as it houses a lot of traditional musical instruments from asian countries. The picture above is at its small foyer/library which looks a lot like Edward Cullen’s room in Twilight.
A big art piece made from colorful fabrics exhibited at the Museum of Music.
Cute little bungalows for visitors who would like to stay over night. There are a lot of designs, themes and sizes to choose from.
Nami Island is a car-free small island. Every corners of the island can be easily explored on foot. The bus we came in earlier will leave for Insadong at 4 pm, which perfectly gave us enough time to explore the island without a rush.
By the way, packing lunch is the most sensible thing we did amidst this spring coldness. We got hungry faster than usual and food taste better in this weather. There are plenty of benches and gazebos on the island that made perfect picnic spots. Just choose one of them, drink your makgeoli wine and enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
