See the Autumn leaves in Nami Island, location of Winter Sonata

If you are a fan of the romantic Korean drama Winter Sonata (it was the first Korean drama I watched) then you’ll know about Nami Island- the Mecca for fans of Winter Sonata (KBS2 2002). The famous treelined path and the statues of Joonsang and Yoojin are highlights there.

I’ve been to Nami several times as it’s a nice day trip from Seoul. But when I was there back in 2014, I was more intrigued to see people using a new gadget known as the selfie stick. It was everywhere! Nami Island is the place for couples and finally couples could take pictures of themselves together!

I remember salesmen would get on the subway trains in Seoul with suitcases full of selfie sticks for sale. And even the tough, seen-it-all-before crowds of commuters would glance up from their smart phones to watch the salesman’s pitch. (The salespeople are not allowed to sell on trains anymore.)

The name Nami Island (nami seom) is engraved beautifully in hangeul 남이섬 (above) on a stone at the arrival point on the island.

The island is named after General Nami who lived during King Sejo’s reign (r. 1455-1468) in the Joseon period. General Nami’s grave is also on the island. These days the island is popular with drama fans, young couples on dates, families on a day trip from the city, and nature lovers.

In autumn, I  know there will be LOADS of people going to Nami with the exact same idea as me (grrrr how dare they?) so in order to beat the crowds, we get up early – 4:30am – to catch the first ITX express train to Gapyeoung (55 minutes from Yongsan station in Seoul). This is walking distance from the little port where you can catch the boat over to the island.

 It only takes about 10 minutes to cross over to the island on the boat.

At 8 am it was quiet on the island – just a few families with young children venturing out with their umbrellas. Perhaps the weather encouraged those staying in the hotels on the island to have a leisurely breakfast or wait in their rooms until the rain stopped. (The hotels on the island were fully booked so there were definitely people somewhere.)

Most of the people around were photographers – serious photographers with tripods and everything. I like how this photographer is trying to blend in with the yellow gingko leaves with his yellow umbrella. I think the rain actually made the island more beautiful and the leaves looked shiny.

By 9am the air was starting to fill with the sound of large groups of adjummas in mountain wear, and young couples on tandem bicycles. Everyone laughing and having fun. (Again, how very dare they?)

But we continued our walk around the island which is famous for its trees and nature. We saw lots of robust looking squirrels, (I have about a million blurred pictures of small black things to prove it), several peacocks casually roaming around, a couple of woodpeckers, and a very large wild rabbit nibbling his way through a vegetable patch.

There are also some very low key gift shops, restaurants that cater for international tastes, and a craft studio making ceramics and sculptures. But the main attraction for us was to get away from Seoul for the day and enjoy the nature.

Nami Island is a ‘country’ (Naminara Republic) so you need to buy an ‘entry visa’ and pass through immigration!

Back on the mainland the queue waiting to get on the boats was well over 100 metres long and stretched all the way to the car park. And there was a line up of cars waiting to get into the car park too. So if you are a planning a trip to Nami Island to see the leaves, I recommend you GO EARLY IN THE MORNING!