춘천으로 떠나자

Depart for Chuncheon

Cheongnyangni Station was under renovation to incorporate the KTX.

Our Saturday programme was cycling in Chuncheon (춘천-春川). As the journey to Chuncheon was going to be quite long, we left our dormitory at 6:30am and walked from Hoegi to Cheongnyangni station (청량리역-淸凉里驛). It took us a while to reach the station and by the time we bought our tickets, we have to run towards the platfrom to catch the train departing at 7:05am. Our next destination was Namchuncheon station (남춘천역-南春川驛). The train ride took about 1 hour and 40 minutes with multiple stops along the way.

Gangchon Station, one of the station we stopped by along the way.

This is Gangchon station (강촌역-江村驛). Gangchon is also a recommended place to go for bicycle cycling. There is a dam and waterfall in this area and it is promoted as an ideal getaway where city-dwellers, like Seoulites, can escape the hustle and bustle of city life and relax in its natural surroundings. However, it was not our destination for the day. Though very much like to visit it, we could not possibly go two places in one day so we gave it a miss.

Gangchon's mountain and river. An expressway runs in between them.

As the train moved off from Gangchon station, I could not take my eyes off the beautiful scene of moutain and river at Gangchon. I thought it would be a pity if I did not take any picture of the scene. So I tried my luck and took some picture through the train window. Fortunately, most of the pictures turn out well. Looking at the pictures now, I wish I can be walking by the river side. Natural scene like this always inspires me.

Myeongdong at Chuncheon


This is the Myeongdong street in Chuncheon. However it was not as happening as the Myeongdong in Seoul. But it was famous for being the filming sight of "Winter Sonata". As I did not watch the Korean drama, I was told by my friend that Chuncheon Myeongdong was the place where the lead actor and actress were supposed to meet. Unfortunately, the actor met with an accident on the way and was not able to turn out for the appointment. I guess that was the point when the sad story started.

The two palm prints belong to the lead actor and actress of Winter Sonata. Chuncheon Myeongdong is located at the heart of Chuncheon city and it is just beside the City Hall of Chuncheon. We arrived at the place after taking a 10 minutes taxi ride from Namchuncheon station.


Bicycle Ride in Gongjicheon

We had a 2-hour bicycle ride by the lakeside in the vicinity of Gongjicheon (공지천-孔之川). Gongjicheon scenery didn't seem as natural as Gangchon. There were quite a number of construction along the way, the road was busy and the lake water was muddy. We didn't really feel like we had left the city. The feel was like cycling in a park within a city. If there is a reason to go Gongjicheon it is probably to see the stretch of white fence by the lakeside - another filming site of Winter Sonata.









Famous Food of Chuncheon

This is Dakgalbi (닭갈비) something like stir-fried chicken in Korean chilli sauce or gochujang (고추장-苦椒醤). We had this for our lunch at about 11am. The chicken meat was stir-fried together with ddeok (떡) or Korean rice cake, cabbage, potato and some other vegetables. The cooked chicken meat, added with onion or garlic and spiced up with more gochujang, was wrapped in a leaf of vegetable and eaten in one mouthful.

This is Makguksu (막국수), another Korean food that Chuncheon is famous for. During class, our teacher, Mr Yun said that Baebat Makguksu (배밭 막국수) in particular was the best in Chuncheon and almost anyone there would know where to find it. Believing him, we went around Chuncheon asking strangers about the place. But nobody seemed to know it, not even the people at the tourist information centre in Gongjicheon park. We finally settled for a reasonable eating house which specialised in makguksu. The makguksu noodle was served cold but not like cold noodle or Mul Naengmyeon (물냉면). Before I ate, I poured some vinegar, sugar, mustard sauce and pear juice into the noodle and mixed them thoroughly. The noodle was spicy but tasted delicious.

Return to Hoegi

By 6pm we were back at Namchuncheon station. We bought the train ticket for the train departing at 6:25pm. It was about sunset time and the sky over Chuncheon looked great.