South Korea Journal — Day 4–19.8.17
Our day began earlier than usual — we woke up at around 7 AM, as
we had booked an organized day trip via Trazy’s website.
We were meant to meet our day trip driver at around 8 AM.
Luckily, the meeting location — Myeongdong station, was only about 15 minutes walk from our home.
I had sent our driver a message to ask about his exact whereabouts.
Fortunately, we had pocket wifi which was provided by our Airbnb host, so we had wifi access and could use our messaging app to contact people.
Once we found our driver, Scott, he asked us to wait since another couple would be joining us soon.
A few minutes later a couple, South American husband and Korean Wife, had arrived and we could finally start our trip.
In Korean, you would say — 추발 (chu-bal) — let’s go. If you are familiar with the Korean show, I Live Alone, it was what Henry, a famous singer, asked his Canadian friend to say, once they were buckled up in his car, and started their trip.
The ride was an hour long. Vera and I were a bit struggling with 7 hours time zone difference, so we dozed off instantly.
Our first stop was the Yangpyeong rail bike (양평 레일바이크), which was located in the outskirts of Seoul.
We had about 10 minutes for refreshments, and thankfully there was a resting stop where you can relax and watch a Korean drama — because why not?
After a short break, we went with Scott to the operator of the rail bikes that asked us to get on a 4-seater rail bike.
The course of the rail bike was 6.4 KM, but to me, it appeared to be much less. We had finished the entire course in 20 minutes, if not less.
Once we were finished with our first activity, it was already time for breakfast, and I was starving! I shyly told Scott that I’m a vegetarian and would appreciate eating at a place that served vegetarian dishes.
After a short contemplation, Scott took us to a local restaurant that also served vegetarian bibimbap, which was delicious!
Over the course of the meal, we bonded with Scott and the married couple, which were very nice and asked questions and made sure to include us in the conversation.
I noticed that Scott didn’t finish his rice, which was strange, as Koreans always finish their rice bowl, no wonder he was so skinny. Still, I felt grateful, as I couldn’t finish mine either.
After our breakfast, our next stop was the Dreamy Camera Cafe.
The cafe was unique as it had the shape of a camera, and it was built by the family who owned it — a husband and his wife and their sweet daughter.
They built their small house just right next to the cafe.
The cafe and the house were surrounded by green fields, and
it felt like being inside a postcard.
Once we entered the cafe, we ordered a coffee for each of us and a piece of cheesecake. The cafe was 2 stories high, we chose to sit on the second floor which had a huge round window from where you could see all the mesmerizing greenery outside.
The second floor was very cozy, it felt like home, it had a few tables and a rocking chair just beside the window, that’s where Scott decided to get some rest. The cafe’s interior was all about cameras, and you could see camera models placed neatly on shelves or drawings on the walls.
The cafe owner came to our table to explain their cafe’s concept, he said that they ask their visitors to write 5 dreams on a page — which they later will photograph via instant camera and give us the copy and keep the original sealed in a binder. They kindly ask to come back once our dreams were realized and share our story.
After we completed our list of dreams, it was time to pick up our coffee and cake. It was very calming, just to drink coffee and eat a cake and gaze at the pleasant view outside the window.
Our next stop was Semiwon’s cultural lotus festival (세미원).
The ride to our next location wasn’t long, but once we stepped out of the car the humidity knocked us out.
I pondered whether to buy a water bottle before entering the premises of the festival, but something stopped me from doing so.
It was actually the last day of the festival, therefore most of the lotuses were wilted. but at least all the greenery was real, and it felt breathtaking, so many leaves floating on the water, where beautiful lotus flowers grew among them.
At first, we decided to team up with the married couple and followed their route, we were given a map on our entry, and randomly decided on a direction. It had started raining — but only for short while, that’s when my thirst reminded of itself. The wife kindly suggested her water bottle, and I felt like falling on my knees and bowing to her to say my thanks, exaggerated reaction, but that’s how I wished to respond.
We were strolling for a few hours, taking in the fresh air around us.
There were many families and couples around us, who seemed as dazed as we were.
I wish I could remember more of that place, it was a special moment and a special day. It was so nice to be taken from place to place and bond with other travelers.
I’m pretty much a timid person when I meet new people, but I felt very comfortable with Scott and the married couple. Actually, I wanted to become friends with Scott. He seemed a good guy, but I had no clue how it was ever possible, so I tried to ignore this notion of mine, that popped in my head all the time.
Semiwon was out last stop, and it made me quite sad.
Scott let us enjoy the festival for longer than was actually scheduled in the original itinerary.
We left Semiwon at around 6 PM and had an hour-long drive back to Seoul.
It was a nice and monotonous drive.
The married couple talked with Scott about different subjects, most of which were interesting but I didn’t know these subjects well or at all — so, I couldn’t add to the conversation.
Scott asked us if we wanted to be dropped off at another location and I asked if Namsan tower is a possible place for a drop-off, and he kindly agreed to drop off us there, even though it was a detour from our original itinerary, yet again.
Once we had gotten closer to the Namsan tower’s entry where we could buy a ticket for a cable car instead of going up on foot, I felt sad that this magical day had almost ended and that I’d never see Scott again.
We thanked him and got off the car, It was already pretty dark outside.
We had a pretty long queue once we purchased the tickets for round-trip tickets. When we managed to finally squeeze inside the cable car, I was quite excited as I always saw the tower in tv dramas and couldn’t believe I was there. Vera and I tried to soak in all the sights around us, which to me were magnificent.
It was nice seeing the guardrails with all the love locks attached to them, there were thousands of locks!
We took several pictures and were in awe. Sadly, I bumped my head on something, I am such a clumsy person and hence felt super dizzy as if I were going to faint. Vera looked up a route home, as I couldn’t handle being there. The way down was particularly long, as there were many people in the queue — which was not surprising. Once we were down we took a bus and rode home.
This day was one of my greatest blessings, I loved meeting new people, and visiting different locations.
It felt like I was inside a dream and wished I could immerse myself more in the present moment.
