[Part 3] 149. Petite France + Nami Island

I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning but that wonderland kind of turned to a horrorland because melted snow became ice and it was a walking horror for me when I was on pavements. I thought that my new boots were non-slip but they weren't :(

So pretty!

Until I saw this...so dirty!

Walking carefully

Thank goodness for YW! The thing with us is that we don't keep up with the local Korean news (too tiring to read when everything's in Korean!) and I didn't know that the old Gyeongchun railway line to Chuncheon was closed and replaced with the new line (integrated into the subway system) on 21 December this year. If he hadn't joined us on our day trip, I would have brought everyone to Cheongnyangni Station to take the train to Gapyeong or something and find that we have no train to take. In addition, I didn't know that the free shuttle bus service to and fro Petite France had been terminated since September so my source of information was outdated and I wouldn't have known how to get there if not for YW.

If you plan to go to both Petite France and Nami Island in a single day during winter, I would strongly advise you to set off from Seoul as early as possible. We set off at around 10.40am and only reached Petite France at about 12.30pm. To get to Petite France, we took the subway from Anam Station 안암역 to Sangbong Station 상봉역 (about 20 minutes away) where we transferred to the Gyeongchun Line 경춘선 and took the train to Cheongpyeong Station 청평역 (about 40 minutes away). There were no seats available on the train and even if there were, we wouldn't be able to hold our seats for long because the train was filled with ajummas and ajusshis and we would eventually give up our seats for them so we stood all the way to Cheongpyeong.

so many people :(

Everyone was confused...the directions on the signboards for both platforms were the same! 

What a way of stopping the train! We had to squeeze between this railing and the train :(

Latest subway map

From the Station, we took a cab to Petite France which was about 25-30 minutes away for 16,700KRW. But because there were 5 of us instead of the maximum capacity of 4 passengers, the driver charged us an extra 3,300KRW. Entrance fee for adults is 8,000KRW each but students enjoy a discounted price of 7,000KRW so be sure to show your student ID card if you're an exchange student! The first place we headed for in Petite France, the film site for many dramas such as Beethoven's Virus and Secret Garden, was an Italian restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we didn't have much time to explore the galleries and only took photos outside because we wanted to catch the 2.50pm public bus which came really late! If only we had known that the bus would be so behind schedule, we could have spent more time exploring the place.

Phyllis busy making a mini snowman.

This is the front of the statue...we didn't know that we posed with the back of it! But you can't see it in the photos above anyway :)

We waited for nearly 20 minutes in the freezing cold for the bus that was late :(

The sun usually sets around 5.15pm these days so I was quite stressed about being able to reach Nami Island in time to take photos before it got dark. It was a race against time, a race against sunset and we only reached Nami Island at 4.30pm thanks to the long wait and long journey for the bus from Petite France to Cheongpyeong Bus Terminal and having to figure out our way to the Station from the Bus Terminal. That left us with only half an hour to take photos before it got dark :( The reason why we decided to go to Petite France first instead of Nami Island was because of the former's earlier closing time. The last ferry from Nami Island is around 8 or 9pm on a weekday. Although Petite France and Nami Island are somewhat near to each other, you are better off taking a cab from Petite France to Cheongpyeong Station after you're done with sightseeing in Petite France. If not, you would have to wait for the public bus in the biting cold, endure a long journey to the bus terminal, and then have difficulty finding your way to Cheongpyeong Station which is actually quite a distance away.

I got a shock when we reached the terminal because I thought the bus would go to the train station :(

Trying to find a way to the train station

Long walk to the station and we were racing against sunset :(

The new Gapyeong Station!

Nami Island was nice but as I said, we should have gone earlier to take more photos there. Do wear proper footwear with non-slip soles because its icy grounds can kill you. I walked up a bridge and before I knew it, I slipped and fell, camera first and left knee second. On my way back, I had to use the bridge again. I fell on the same spot AGAIN and injured the same knee on the same spot AGAIN. The first time after I fell, Kenneth pushed me up the bridge of death. The second time after I fell, YW took over and pushed me so that I wouldn't slide back down again. No joke! Now I have an ugly bruise on my leg and I'm supposed to wear a nice cocktail dress for my lil bro's upcoming social night. Oh yes, admission fee for the island is 8,000KRW, inclusive of a round-trip ferry ride.

The bridge of "death" for me because I fell while walking up

Kenneth still at it -.-

Good actor and actress :)

And the solemniser comes in

Kenneth in shock over what he had just agreed to.

What's wrong with Kenneth?! His facial expressions...

And I fell again on the same leg when I was walking back. Life sucks.

I love Jeannie. 

Doing her thing in front of so many strangers. 

Some tourists really thought they were going to perform. 

Shortly after it got dark, we left the island and went back to Chuncheon. Along our way to Nami Island's ferry wharf from Gapyeong Station earlier, YW asked the taxi driver for recommendations for delicious 닭갈비 which Chuncheon is famous for. The driver said that the dakgalbi served in the eateries in the vicinity of Nami Island aren't nice at all and that we should go to those near the station instead. But I was thinking that we might end up having to take the taxi twice: once from the ferry wharf to the eatery and then from the eatery to the station. It's not easy to get a taxi, especially when you're out of Seoul, so I suggested eating at an eatery near the Island instead. As the driver said, the food really wasn't delicious at all :( It wasn't anything special.

Back in the cold after our dinner, the whole place near the ferry wharf was rather empty and the worse thing was that there was no taxi in sight -.- We went into a convenience store to ask for the number to call for a taxi but the number the cashier gave us was wrong :( In our midst of panicking, YW actually met his friend who's doing the same major as him! His friend had brought his Malaysian friends to Nami Island and like us, they were stranded near the wharf because they couldn't get a taxi. While they were talking, a van I had seen earlier and tried flagging down when I mistook it as a taxi turned in our direction and drove towards us. An ajusshi got out and asked if we were heading towards Gapyeong Station. He said that he could give us a lift but we had to hurry! I couldn't believe it and he was in a rush so when I got into his van, I couldn't help thinking that it was too good to be true... that a random Korean would just pick us up and send us to the train station for free! But he did so! In fact, there was a Korean girl inside the van before we got in and I think he picked her up before us. 5 of us (YW, me, Jeannie, Phyllis and Kenneth) plus YW's friend and his friends plus the girl plus the ajusshi, the driver and some Korean guy(s)...there were about 12 of us squeezed into 1 van! Amazing and I was really touched by that ajusshi's kindness. Someone later told me that he was probably working and sent us to the station along the way when he saw us stranded. I doubt you'll get such kindness in Singapore!