On my third day, we'd decided to go to Namiseom famously known as Nami Island / Naminara Republic. From our host's House, we went to Oksu Station to catch the 12:20PM Schedule of ITX (Intercity Train Express) bound to the province of Cheongchun hence, we alight at Gapyeong Station.
The ITX started to operate last
February 2014. It reaches a maximum speed of 180 KPH. Taking ITX will save you
around 25 minutes compared to taking an all-stop train via Gyeongchun Line that
takes you around 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach Gapyeong. Fare from
Oksu-Gapyeong Station via ITX is 4,100KRW. While taking the All-Stop Train
saves you half the price.
When we reached Oksu Station, we
were kinda confused since there are no signage to where the ITX rail was
located. We were in a hurry since it’s already 12:00NN and we will definitely
lose a lot of time if we were not able to catch the ITX. After several minutes
of breeze walking and adrenaline rush, we were able to locate the ITX rail.
Then head off immediately to the designated platform. And Yes! We made it to
ITX.
While feeling excited on our
seats, we started to debate whether our T-Money cards were accepted in
ITX. We tried to backtrack what happened and no one remembers if we tapped out or not or
if there were any tap out machine from Metro Subway going to ITX. We felt
nervous riding the train without paying the fare. I
remembered that there is this machine on the upper floor where we can buy the
ticket but we were confused if we need to purchase or not since we didn't tapped our card yet.
Few minutes had passed and we saw
an inspector checking the tickets of other passengers. We started to felt a
bit nervous. When it was our turn for inspection, we showed our T-Money. The inspector told us that it was not accepted in ITX. No major issue were
raised. We simply paid our ticket on the spot. 4,100 KRW for Oksu Station to
Gapyeong Station.
After 45 Minutes, we reached
Gapyeong. There was a long line around the Tourism Center. One of
us went inside
the center to inquire. We then figured out that the line is
for the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus (5,000KRW
unlimited used for a day). Since we’d just decided to go to Nami Island along, we simply took a Taxi from Gapyeong Station to the Ferry Station of Nami Island.
Travel time approximately 10 minutes. Fare: 3,000KRW
Admission Fee to Nami Island is 8,000KRW. It includes return ferry trip. You may opted to try the Zip-Wire (Zip Line) which is 38,000KRW which includes one way ferry.
Below is the video I made from my
Nami Island Trip.
Around 3:50PM, we rode back from Nami Island
towards the Ferry station in Gapyeong side as we need to catch
the 4:30PM ITX schedule from Gapyeong to Yongsan. Then again, we hailed a taxi
and paid 3,000KRW..
We arrived in Yongsan Station
5:30PM. Since we haven’t had our lunch yet, only snacks in Nami, we went out
from the Station in searched for any restaurants to satisfy our hungry
stomachs. By the time I went outside the station, my body started to shiver. It
was really really really cold. I already wearing 2 thermal shirts, 2 long sleeves,
1 fleece jacket and the outer thick jacket yet, I was still freezing.
I immediate bought some freshly
cooked red bean cake just outside the station to somehow place something warm
inside my stomach. Good thing that several restaurants were located just a few
blocks away.
We had a Bulgogi for dinner. It cost
6,000KRW per person. When our order was served, we took a photo of the entire
set and sent the photo to our host to confirm if the restaurant served enough
amount for what we paid for. We sort of doubted the lady in the restaurant because
she doesn’t speak English. We only do sign language and just pointing the picture
on the menu.
After are sumptuous dinner, we
went to E-Mart in the vicinity of Yongsan Station, and bought some
snack for later that evening and for tomorrow’s.
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