Having had an accommodation disaster in Seoul I decided to head out into the countryside and chose Chuncheon as my destintion. I had read some good things about it online. The journey on the train was beautiful and very cheap but took around two hours.
Mind you, I wouldn’t have minded if it had taken 3 hours because the views of the forests turning red and orange, the lakes, river and villages were a sight for sore eyes.
This is real countryside, not the horror which is the Chinese countryside. This is a pristine landscape, almost European in its appearance.
The trains are clean and not so busy – walkers in sturdy boots, carrying trekking poles – something I have never seen in China. These were mostly older people, going walking in the hills with backpacks and a handful of friends. It reminded me of the Lake District.
I had decided that Chuncheon would be a good place to stay the night – that was until I arrived there. The folk at the Tourist Info centre were very helpful and even found me a room but with every step I took up the hill into the town, I became less keen on the idea.
What a miserable place is Chuncheon. I asked the TIC people what there was to do there and they shrugged their shoulders. If they live there and they can’t think of anything, then the place has serious marketing problems.
I looked at the map and decided to go back to Gapyeong and take a look at Nami Island which I had planned to do the following day after having marvelled at the wonders of Chuncheon (lucky escape).
I chose a small pension some distance away from the island and made friends with two Singaporeans in the next room. We set off to Nami Island together. The place was packed with tourists even at 5pm.
There were thousands of people on that tiny island in the river. I walked around for an hour or so looking at the multi-coloured trees and almost getting run over my dozens of rented bicycles. It is hard to truly hard appreciate a place when there are so many tourists. You can’t see past the bodies.
At 7pm, after treating myself to an expensive pizza (Korea food is terrible BTW) I decided to join the long queue of people waiting for the ferry to get off the island again. A taxi ride later and I was back in my silent pension with nothing but bird song, cockerels and a donkey sounds cutting through the peace.
Nami Island is a great place, especially in the autumn but either get there early or be prepared for massive crowds, especially at the weekends. It’s an easy day trip from Seoul so many locals make the journey with their picnics.