South Korea: Nami Island

I had chosen to fly before the Malaysia school holidays in order to pay lower tour fee and to avoid crossing flocks of my fellow citizens in South Korea. However, I had not been informed that Friday 21 May, the birthday of Buddha according to the Lunisolar calendar in this country which has over 10 million Buddhists, was going to be a public holiday and that many Koreans themselves would take this opportunity to travel during the long weekend.

So the first day of our arrival, we were already stuck in the traffic jam even on the highway. It was so heavy that a usual two-and-a-half-hour journey from Seoul to Chuncheon finally cost us six hours in the bus! As a result, public toilets at rest areas became the first spots we eagerly visited after lunch.

To reach the offshore island named after general Nami, we had to queue up behind the mass, mostly local visitors, to take the ferry.

Once I was walking between the tall and elegant metasequoia trees in Namisum, I understood why it was one of the most famous tourist attractions in South Korea.

Along the lane surrounded by fresh green sprouts, there were small theme gardens and exhibition booths. Every corner was so picturesque that even the craft birds did not wish to be bought by tourists too soon so that they could stay longer in the island.

Namisum was well known in other Asian countries since the Korean drama "Winter Sonata".

I had only watched one episode some years ago. So I was not very keen to take a picture with the poster of the leading actors, nor their statues. I was more interested in stones

and ponds which rested my mind.

When evening was approaching, we spent another half an hour to line up to leave the island by ferry. I wished we could extend our stroll in this romantic island. If I were a bird, I would also not want to fly away from Namisum.