Day 4: Nami Island (남이섬) Part 1 How To Get There

Nami Island! One of my favourite part of our itinerary! Nami Island is called Namisum in korean. Although it is a small leaf-shaped island, it is actually a republic by itself and even has its own flag!

As Nami is an island, you need to get to Gapyeong Wharf first before crossing over to it:

1) By shuttle bus
- the most economical way
- reservation in advance is a must if you want to secure your tickets
- you have to take the shuttle bus from Tapgol Park, (near Insadong area) and you will arrive at Gapyeong Wharf. Take Zip wire or ferry to Nami Island.

2) By train
- cheapest way but the most complicated
- take subway train to Songbong station (line 7), transfer line to the Gyeongchun Line, take a normal rail train to Gapyeong Station and finally take a taxi to Gapyeong Wharf.

3) By taxi
- most expensive!! we spent an average of about 100,000 Won (SGD 110) PER way!!! Ridiculous? Yes but we had no choice as the shuttle bus reservation was full for the whole week!! My advice is to call at least two weeks before your trip to reserve the tickets. If you are going during peak seasons like a weekend or school holidays, you need to book few weeks in advance as the tickets are highly sought after!

T-money card can be used in cabs

 

N Seoul Tower seen on the way to Nami Island

We went there on a weekday hoping to see less crowd as it is a very popular spot for tourists. However, the crowd is still HUGE!! There is a long queue for the ferry!! Feeling adventurous, we opted to zip-wired across to Nami instead.



the queue begins from here to.....




.....here!



After we bought our  zip-wire tickets, we realised that we have to wait for almost 1 hour for our turn!! But the advantage is we do not have to queue up. We were told to be back at a specified timing. Luckily it was just the right timing for us to have lunch while we waited for our turn. There are a few restaurants that seemed to sell similar items, chicken galbi, which is the fried marinated meat in a huge pan cooked with rice, noodles and other ingredients. I picked the restaurant that is facing the sea and a bungee jump. While waiting for our food to be served, we took some shots and watched bungee jumping.

 

restaurant with a nice sea view!

 


Our "entertainment" while waiting for lunch to be served


After our meal and strolling around, it was time for our zip-wire ride! We were taken to the top of the building by the lift and I was so excited when we reached. The staff demonstrated the procedure of the ride and we waited for our turn. As both of us were wearing slipped-on shoes, we were told to remove our shoes and places them in the pocket behind our zip wire seats. You will not alone for the ride as your partner will do the ride together with you. However since the speed of it is determined by your weight, the heaviest one will enjoy a faster ride.

To be continued on the next post.....