South Korea : Nami Island and Chuncheon Dakgalbi 춘천닭갈비

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.

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.

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

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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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Naminara Republic

http://www.namisum.com/