A Weekend Getaway

 My handsome husband and I just passed our second wedding anniversary.  To celebrate two fantastic years (mostly) together, we decided to take a low-key trip to Chuncheon, a small city an hour or so east of Seoul.

We didn't do much planning--showed up at the train station and bought tickets, arrived at the train station at the other end and only then decided what to do with the rest of the day.  We decided to first head for Namiseom Island--a small island in the Han River where a scene from a famous Korean drama was filmed. 

The island has been named "Naminara" or Nami Republic, and it's set up kind of like a very small-scale, less-branded, woodland Disneyland, with entrance tickets, parks, restaurants, shops, and little rides set up over the mile or so bit of land.  No costumes that I noticed, but there were a few ostriches running around.   

The day was gray and a bit rainy when we arrived off the ferry, but we didn't mind too much, since it meant less of a crowd.

Since we arrived late in the afternoon, we decided to spend the night at the hotel on the island.  It was a great room--ondol floors, art all over the walls, and a nice view of the park behind the building.

We ate dinner at a restaurant nearby, and slept early.

The next day we walked another route across the island back to the ferry.  It really is a beautiful area.

We stopped to add our stone to one of the seemingly ubiquitous rock stacks (found at every tourist site, hiking trail, and temple here).

After a pleasant ferry ride back, we went into Chuncheon proper to search out the region's specialty--ddak karbi--spicy chicken stir-fry.  We found a restaurant that looked promising (on a street lined on both sides with ddak karbi restaurants), scraped about half of the pepper paste off before the server mixed it for us so it didn't set our mouths on fire, and really enjoyed the meal.

After lunch, we went up to Soyo Dam, the building of which has created a pretty massive lake, and took another ferry up to a Buddhist temple.  We stopped on the way for a cup of some kind of medicinal root drink; I gagged after one taste of the bitter concoction and walked briskly to the stall selling tabang coffee, but Mike drank the whole thing. 

The short hike up to the temple was beautiful.

As was the temple itself.

We added a stone to the pile here, too. 

We took the ferry back to Soyo Dam, and  decided to spend the afternoon at the local sauna.  (At this point Mike remarked that we might have gone a bit native; although public nudity is not much appreciated in our native country, soaking in hot water and lounging in prison pajamas on a warm floor sounded--and was--pretty awesome.)

I'd definitely recommend Chuncheon for a quick trip away from the big city.

And while I acknowledge that inter-continental dating isn't for everyone, I'd also definitely recommend marrying the love of your life. =)