18.03.2018
Nami Island
We took a few trains to reach Gapyeong train station in Chuncheon. From there, we rode in a taxi to go to the Naminara Republic jetty which was only 5 minutes away. We paid around 4000 won for the fare. I was pleasantly surprised to see children's book and animated series by two Malaysian writers and illustrators, Haslam Anuar and Azzah Abd Rahman, being displayed on the the TV at the jetty. Actually, Nami Island is famous for publishing children's books and conducting workshops and activities for children, the writers and the public themselves. Several Malaysians writers including the famous ......... are regular visitors and participants there.
The ferry ride across Han River took about 10 minutes. There were a lot of tourists around. Even though it was already March, the weather was still very cold and we could see remnants of snow on the grounds of Nami. All the tourists clamoured on to the snow-covered ground to play with the ice and more importantly, to take selfies and wefies!
Nami island is beautiful and serene. It is actually a man-made island in the middle of Han river and made famous by the drama Winter Sonata. The winter scenery was awesome and when the temperature droped below zero, even the river would freeze and harden! Just imagine the scenery in Autumn colours...
It is easy to find halal food at nami. There are a few restaurants / cafes that serve halal food. You can try the nasi goncang served in a hot aluminum container and pancake / pajeon there. We went to another restaurant this time and we tried a few dishes like seafood noodles, bibimbap, rice with bulgogi and japchae. They were yummy! Kimchi was a side dish but not many of us liked it because of its sourness. The soup was a bit bland too... :P
After lunch, we prayed at the Musolla located in the same building of our restaurants. There was quite a long queue for Wuduk since there were so many Muslim visitors that day! After spending a couple of hours exploring the beautiful island, we headed back to Seoul where we went to the DDP Plaza where the LED flowers are. I am sure they llook pretty at night! When we reached there, it was evening and it had started drizzling...
We hurried to the Dota Mall where we bought a lot of souvenirs to take home. the price ranges between 1000 Won to 50,000 Won.... There were so many cheap souvenirs to choose from including those that I liked - bookmarks, hand mirrors, linen bags and purse, metal spoons and chopsticks, cute socks and t-shirts!
Dinner was at Jyoti Indian restaurant near our guesthouse which also serve halal food. We ate delicious biryani, curry and naan breads. My friends preffered the Indian meals to Korean food so we would return to this restaurant again for dinner... Besides, It is only about 200 metres to our accommodation.
So, that ended our second day tour of Seoul! It was cold at night but we went back to our rooms which were warm and comfy..... Good night! :)
