Gapyeong | JOURNEYS AND DESTINATIONS.

October 21 was indeed a memorable day for all of us because we got to be Ninjas! Ninjas, in the sense that we ran like hell; jumped and skipped as fast as we could to be able to get to our destinations.

We started the day a bit late because some of my friends woke up late. From our hotel, we walked to the nearest subway station, which is Anguk. It was a good exercise because it took us about 20 minutes to the station. We bought the T-PASS card worth 3,000 Won and loaded it with 2,000 Won. Having the T-PASS is advantageous because we were not burdened with buying tickets every so often. We just had the card re-loaded with the amount of our choice if in case the load has been depleted.

Buying the T-PASS at Anguk Station, October 2010, South Korea

Using the subway, we traveled to Dongdaemun first to look for a money changer. And then we went to Cheongnyangni Train Station to buy tickets going to Gapyeong, where Nami Island is situated.

Cheongnyangni Station, South Korea, October 2010

The train going to Gapyeong was scheduled to leave at 12:02 in the afternoon and since we had time to spare, we went to Lotteria to have lunch. We were so engrossed with lunch and taking a break in the restrooms that we realized that our train was leaving in a few minutes. And so, the ninja mode began. We ran as fast as we could from the Lotte Mall (near the train station) to the train. We just boarded the first train that we saw but we were not sure if we were on the right one! We asked one passenger if it was indeed the train going to Gapyeong. Lucky for us we were on the right train.

Photo from the train, South Korea, October 2010

The travel time from Cheongnyangni to Gapyeong is a little over one hour. Almost all of my friends were asleep except for myself and another. Both of us were afraid that we would miss our stop. When we reached Gapyeong, we rode a cab that took us to Nami Island.

Reliving Winter Sonata in Nami Island

Nami Island’s popularity rose when it became the filming site of the blockbuster Korean drama series called Winter Sonata/Winter Love Song. The said drama series propelled the popularity of Bae Yoong Joon and Choi Ji Woo as Hallyu celebrities. Winter Sonata/Winter Love Song is one of my favorite Korean drama series and it has been my dream to visit Nami Island to re-live what transpired in the series.

Winter Sonata (Endless Love 2) Poster, Nami Island, South Korea, October 2010

The admission fee was 8,000 won and we immediately lined-up and waited for the ferry to bring us to the island. It was a Thursday but there were so many tourists who visited the place. Nami Island took my breath away. It can be considered as a photographer’s haven because of the scenic spots in the island. It is a pity though that there were so many people when we were there. It was really difficult to get good angles. Nevertheless, the trees which were planted in a straight line were just awesome. This was the classic image of Nami Island which was shown in the series, well minus the tourists.

Trees, Nami Island, South Korea, October 2010

The island was just beautiful during Autumn because of the explosion of colors as seen in the trees. Below are some of the photos taken at the island: