Day 5
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| It is still freezing between 4'c to 8'c daylight. |
During the night it became even worse as it drop to -2'c...
Having thick gloves doesn't help much as i could still feel my poor fingers is icy cold..:*(
Holding warm drink & hiding from the breezy wind.. Oh boy !
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| Jayden enjoying his hot drink, while Abang C. hiding behind from the breezy wind. Haha |
a) Petite France (http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=815994)
b) Namiseom (http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264244)
which also known as Nami Island where part of the drama "Winter Sonata" is film.
Going to both of the place is convenience & cheap; but slightly outskirt from the Seoul City; which also means start your journey earlier as you need to reach Cheongpyeong (청평) Station latest before 11.30am, so you can take the next bus to Petite France at 11.40am from Cheongpyeong Station.
For this whole journey, you will need to take Subway, Bus & 5min Ferry Ride to Nami-Island.
Petite France is still quite new as it is still not a 100% tourist area as Nami Island.. You will see mainly local Koreans instead of tourist which is good too; so it is not too pack for this small little lovely place.
From Hongyik Station , we stop at Cheongpyeong (청평) Station.
It took us 91 Minutes subway ride, 26 stations stops which cost us KWR 1,850 @ RM 5.55
Departure from Hongyik Station--> Transfer @ Wangsimni Station -- > Another Transfer @ Mangu Station --> Arrival at Cheongpyeong (청평) Station, Exit 2.
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| Transfer from Wangsimni Station To Mangu Station |
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| Someone is selling mask & gloves inside the train. |
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| Last Stop is Cheongpyeong Station before we start our journey to Petite France |
Once you reach Cheongpyeong (청평) Station, Take Exit 2 and you will see the bus stop in front of the station.
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| Wait for the "Gapyeong Shuttle Bus" at the bus station in front of Cheongpyeong Station. |
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| Seems like deserted ! And yea, we are the only 3 people waiting for the bus! |
We are the only 3 people waiting for the Gapyeong Tourist Shuttle Bus.
Wait for the "Gapyeong Tourist Shuttle Bus" which is a hop-on bus.
By just paying KWR 5,000 (RM 15) , you can go to 10 different places as below :
a) Gapyeong Bus Terminal
b) Jarasum Camping Site
c) Gapyeong Subway Station
d) Namiseom Island (남이섬 종합휴양지)
e) Geumdae-ri Hall
f) Petite France (쁘띠프랑스)
g) Cheongpyeong Bus Terminal
h) Cheongpyeong Subway Station
i) Imchogyo Ap
j) Morning Calm Arboretum - Garden including 300 species of autogenous plants of Mt. Baekdu
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| The Gapyeong Shuttle bus Brochure. Get it once u are in the bus |
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| The Bus Route for KWR 5,000. Hop-on Bus |
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| The Bus Route of Gapyeong Shuttle Bus |
Normally, those on this bus who are mainly locals ; will normally go to Morning Calm, Petite France & Nami Island as it is just enough for a Day Trip.
But if you are to include Morning Calm in your trip, the earliest bus from Cheongpyeong Station is 10.30am, and the next bus is 11.30am.
Hence, you need to leave the Seoul City earlier in order for you to catch the earliest bus at 10.30am from Cheongpyeong Station to Morning Calm.
But since we're skipping Morning Calm due to the freezing cold weather (yes! Morning Calm is another open air garden and you will be freeze to death with the wind blowing at 4'c ! Haha)
So we started to catch the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus to Petite France at Cheongpyeong Station around 11.40am
If you see a bus heading towards you, asked the bus driver "City Tour to Petite France?"
If bus driver say, "Yes. City Tour to Petite France"...
Pay KWR 5,000 to the bus driver & keep the ticket safely as you need the same ticket to hop-on to Nami Island & lastly to Gapyeong Subway Station.
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| Our KWR 5,000 hop-on City Tour Bus ticket |
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| Scenery along our bus journey |
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| Petite France's Bus Stop..Looks damn deserted.. |
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| View Opposite the Bus Stop Above. |
Petite France, a French cultural Village Set in the Korean Countryside; consists of 16 French-style buildings where visitors can lodge & experience French Food, Clothing & Household culture.
The Village contains a memorial hall dedicated to Saint-Excupery, the author of the celebrated French Novel, Le Petit Prince (1943) And as such it is called the Little Prince Theme Park.
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| At last Jayyden is here with the weather is not helping at all @ 5'c |
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| Petite France in Drama "Secret Garden (2011) |
Moreover, it was also used as the filming locatio for Korean Dramas "Beethoven Virus (2008)" & "Personal Taste (2009)".
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| Adult :KWR 8,000 (RM 24), Teen : KWR 6,000 (RM 18), Child : KWR 5,000 (RM 15) |
And Residents in the guest house doesn't charge for admission fee.
Yes, there is 28 guesthouses for 120 persons & each house has its own unique style. Some of them has window obliquely so that residents can see stars in sky nestling down in bed.
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| Welcome ! Welcome ! |
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| Amphitheater, suitable for small performance |
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| Fountain Square Cul-De-Sac (Building D) - Souvenir Shop, Coffee Shop, Concession Shop |
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| Le Petite Prince Shop |
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| With our prince :) |
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| Push! Push! It's heavy! |
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| Patung Bergantung |
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| Small little Beca |
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| Jayden Admiring.. |
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| Vintage Books |
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| Small little Tri-cycle |
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| Checking out his pictures |
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| Wooden Plane |
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| Olden Days toys which will freak me out if i have one during my childhood days..Reminds me of "Chucky". :( |
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| Jayyden & the prince.. |
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| R u selling that too? |
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| This is way heavier than i taught |
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| The Canteen @ Petite France |
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| Our Lunch |
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| Very French lunch & cost us a boom! But this is the only place to get food & we are starving. :( |
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| Self Service. After u finish your meal, you are to put your empty tray here |
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| Our lunch cost us between KWR 9,500 to KWR 12,000 (RM 28.50 to RM 36) |
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| Lovely Sea View |
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| Beautiful picture of doves flying into the air.. :P |
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| My Favourite Churos @ KWR 3,500 (RM 10.50) for a stick |
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There will be few different design cops whereby you need to find & cop.
If not mistaken, once u get all the cop (which i also not sure how many), you will get a surprise gift ! It is not an easy task as the cop is well hidden around Petite France.. But it is fun if you have the time to find all the cop, furthermore..it will be a memorable cop for you since it has different design :)
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| This is how the cop is hide around Petite France.:) |
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| Maestro's Office of Drama "Beethoven Virus (2008) |
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| Mission Piece |
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| Some of the signature of the artistes |
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| Capture the Guesthouse |
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| Local Visitor |
We spend nearly 2hours here just taking photography, before our next bus at 2.15pm to Nami Island.
It is a must come since this place is still less tourist and mostly local people came here which is good too!
We love going places where local people as we can venture locally.
You may feel slightly insecure since we don't speak Korean & might be afraid to have language barrier. Some may even take tours to come which might be costly then taking public transport.
Don't be :)
Koreans are really helpful. There will go extra mile to help you.
Be polite to them, and they will help you.
Smiling & Saying "Thank You" is the universal language.
Asked and you will be answer.
Furthermore, this is way adventurous then taking tour !
Travel locally with budget :)
Thank you very much! Your info has been very informative and helpful for us budget travellers!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by here! Glad my info could help you..
Do drop by again as i will update more about budget traveling :D
Hey, thanks for all the information! I am planning to visit Seoul in Oct, doing my research now. Your post has most detailed information!
ReplyDeleteHi Sherryxie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping by too ! Hope you will have a great time in seoul this october!
Do let me know if you need any extra information.
Will be glad to help :)
Hey, thanks for this informative post! Planning a trip there in dec and this is v helpful! Hope you could clarify a qn though.. I'm not quite sure how to read the timings of the bus schedule. If i exit from Cheongpyeong (청평) Station, I'll be looking at the Morning Calm Arboretum to Gapyeong Terminal time schedule to get to Petite France right? Then to see what time the bus will arrive at Cheongpyeong (청평) Station, is it the time 11.25am? Thanks in adv.!
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteYes. Look from "Morning Calm Arboreturm to Gapyeong Terminal" Time Schedule to get to Petite France since you start your journey from "Cheongpyeong (청평) Station"
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing how to get there, I am planning to go there next week and your posting here is real helpful.
The Traveling Cows
Hi Vari,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by & glad that it helps ! Enjoy urself in Seoul ! You will love it :">
Hi Jayyden, I have a question. Since we will not be availing the Gapyeong Tourist Bus (does not fit our sked), do you remember if there are taxi available in Petite France? Thanks!
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeleteyes. There will be taxi around.
Hi Jayyden, when you ask the bus driver "City tour to Petite France", did you use korean or english?
ReplyDeleteI spoke in english. Just say "CityTour. Pettite France" to the driver. :")
DeleteThanks :)
DeleteHi! Thank you for your info, it's really useful. But may I know how to get to Nami Island from petite france?
ReplyDeleteDear Doreen,
DeleteGlad that it can help you.
Go back to the same busstop where the CityTour bus stop you at petite France. There is only one bus stop in front of Petite France building. Keep the same bus ticket safely, as you need to re-used it back to go to Nami Island :)
oh, That means the CityTour bus will arrive at Nami Island, and from there I can purchase the ferry ticket to get to Nami Island? Do you know what are the time intervals for the ferry?
ReplyDeleteYes. Take same bus to nami island. Then once u reach, u buy the ferry ticket there. U can check out my blog at "day 5:- nami " as I have blog about it too :)
DeleteOh! I missed out that page.. Thank you so much for your information. It's really very helpful! Nice photos too! :)
DeleteThank you & Happy New Year..
DeleteWill update more backpack travel in future..Been very busy lately :(
Hi jayden, thx for sharing with us this info, btw what card do you use for internet in seoul? and how to get one?
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThank q for dropping by. Basically i did not purchase any 3g or egg (wifi) during my staff in seoul.
Ann's Guesthouse provided free wifi and when i'm able to get free wifi anywhere, i will used it.
I'm a heavy internet user but i don't used it a lot while i'm in seoul (except in our guesthouse) as i downloaded some useful apps such as "itranslator" (to translate frm english to different language) and "subway" (for seoul, but not sure it is still available for iphone now cause i downloaded it 2 years back)...these 2 apps is really useful and can be used offline.
Now we get to add another popular drama taken in Petite France... drum rolls... "You from the Stars (2013)" :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your detailed review. It is now in my "wish list" to visit in my next trip~
Hi Yuna,
DeleteThanks a lot for dropping by! Ya! u should go there since it is not so many tourist yet as the hop-on bus we took, mostly are locals.. :)
Hi Jayden, thank you so much for this detailed post. It really help for budget traveller like me ^^ Cheers from Lion City.
ReplyDeleteHi Ly22,
DeleteThanks for dropping by ! Really glad that this post could help u plan your trip !
Do go and try their jiljimbang !!!! i already start to miss it a lot after came back from korea.. :"(
Any nice food there ?
ReplyDeleteHi Geraldine,
DeleteThx for dropping by. Nice food here in Petite France? Mmm, it is just a small place so not many variety u can get it here and slightly expensive too. But u can get slightly more varieties in Nami Island instead if u go there. :)
Hello! Not sure if you are familar with other places in Korea. Or maybe u can help me on how many days to spend in Seoul (I have a list of places I wish to go) Thank u :)
ReplyDeleteHi tinky,
DeleteThanks for dropping by. Which part of korea u wan to go? Busan? Seoul itself u can actually spend 8 to 9 days if u really wan to go corner by corner..i've been a few times and it still amaze me as always..Seoul itself a huge city..so u can actually spend a lot of time there.
Hello, do u mind sharing with me through email? :)
DeleteHi, my original plan was to go to Nami Island first > Petite France > Garden of the Morning Calm? Is this a good idea? What do you suggest? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteG-Dragoness,
DeleteThanks for dropping by. It will be too squeeze pack if to go 1 day. But it's a good try to start with Nami Island. Once u reach Nami, u still hv to wait for the ferry to take u to the island, which is about 5 to 6 min ride. The only thing is u hv to wait for the ferry for u to take u across which is schedule every 30min.
Since u're deciding to start ur journey from Nami Island first, u should look at the green colour bus schedule which is from "Gapyeong Terminal" to Morning Calm. U hv to take the subway to "Gapyeong Station" and not stop at Cheongpyeong Station like i do.The earliest bus from Gaypeong Station to Nami Island is at 9.15am. Bear in mind that u still need to wait for the bus from Nami to Petite France, and ur plan is to go 3 places. So u will need to adjust ur time not to spend too much in a place. But it will be a good choice to put Morning Calm as the last place of the day..In the event u spend too much either on Nami or Petite, u still can skip Morning Calm..As Nami & Petite is a must go places. Not to be missed :")
Hi Jayyden, the info of the Petite France are very detailed...my question is if I only wanted to visit Petite France,which means I have to take the same shuttle bus back to Cheongpyeong station or??? Please advise..thanks..
ReplyDeleteHi Pauline,
DeleteThank you very much for dropping by.
Yes. U can take the same shuttle bus back to either Cheongpyeong Station or Gapyeong Station depends on what time you finish touring Petite France and when is the next bus will come when u're waiting.
For example, when u finish touring in Petite France and wants to take the hop on bus to Cheongpyeong Station, u will need to go accordingly to the "Green Timetable" which is in the ascending order.
If you wants to take the bus back from Petite France to Gapyeong Station, you will need to go accordingly to the "Brown Timetable" which is the descending order.
For this trip, i am actually using the "Brown Timetable" which is the descending order. Seoul --> Stop at Cheonpyeong Station --> Petite France --> Nami Island --> Gapyeong Station --> Seoul
Hope this helps :")
hey, I wanna ask if I wanna go to petite france from nami, will I still be able to buy the bus tix from the nami island stop? because my first stop won't be gapyeong station....or we MUST buy the bus tix at gapyeong station? thank you :D and thanks for writing this it's really helpful :"D
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThank you very much for dropping by.
Basically, there is no bus counter to purchase the hop on bus ticket.
U just wait for the bus. Once the bus come, u just pay KWR 5,000 to the bus driver and he will give u your hop-on ticket.
Which means, u can purchase the ticket after u visti Nami :")
aaah I see! thanks a lotttt! :DDDD
DeleteU are most welcome. And oh ya! make sure u keep the ticket cz u will need to used the same ticket to show to the bus conductor/driver once u hop onto the bus again
DeleteHi Jayyden, am planning my Korea trip now and appreciate it if you could clarify this. The hop-on bus is by 1-hr intervals. Are you aware how many buses are running per hour? It would be impossible to fit all the tourists into just one bus in every hour I think? I am just wondering if I should be in the pick-up spot like 15-30mins in advance in order to secure a seat in the bus? Thanks a lot ^^
ReplyDeleteHi Liv,
DeleteThank you very much for dropping by.
Yes. The hop-on bus is by 1-hr intervals. If u miss one bus, u can hop on the nxt hour bus. Sometimes tourist will spend more time at one place. For example, in Petite France we actually spend 2 hours there. As for how many buses are running per hour, i'm not actually very sure about that. Should be 1 bus cause this place is actually quite outskirt and not many tourist knows about this bus. When we took this bus, it's only less than 10 people including us & we're the only tourist there riding the bus.
Normally, tourist will take their bus from either gangnam area or in seoul city straight to nami island. Not many tourist knows that this Hop-On bus exist, but only the locals. So the bus won't be full with tourists.
And it is impossible for you to go to all the places listed in the hop-on in one day.
Mostly people will go to Petite France, Nami Island & Morning Calm (If u're lucky and u start your journey from seoul city earlier so u can get the earliest hop-on bus)
I see. Thanks for the clarification, really is useful! Haha.. I plan to ditch Morning Calm and put Gangchon Rail Park into the plan since they are all within the same area. Anyway, thanks!!! ^^
DeleteI'm sorry. Another thing. Are taxis available between Gapyeong Wharf/ Petite France/ Gapyeong or Cheongpyeong Station? I am just wondering if the hop-on timings don't fit in, whether taxis are feasible and affordable for a party of 3? Thanks :)
DeleteYea! U can go to Ganchon Rail Park but also depends on the weather...if it is too cold like the season we went on March..going outdoor is a no-no to us..freezing! Haha...
DeleteBut the rail park seems very fun : http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1889922
Yeah! There is taxi available ! When we finish our Nami & waiting the bus to go back to Gapyeong Subway...we took taxi instead of waiting the bus..The Subway frm Nami is only 5-8 min ride. very near. But i forget how much already.
Hi, I am also planning for Gangchon rail park, with Petite France and the Garden of Morning Calm. Do you think it is feasible to complete in a day? I tried on google maps and it seems the rail park is very far from Petite France.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to gangchon rail park too & i tried to google map. It is indeed very far from petite France. Unless u take the same shuttle bus back to "Gapyeong Station" & Stop at "Gimyujeong" Station, it is only 4 stations frm Gapyeong Station. In a day for 3 places, for me i don't think i can make it...cause you have to wait for the bus schedule..Cause i love taking pics, one place it will easily take me 2+hours.. Even by just going Petite France & Nami Island, it took me half day.Haha Frm Seoul to Cheongpyeong (청평) Station, i start my journey frm seoul about 9+, reach the station before 11.30am . By the time u wait for the bus to petite france, spend 2+hours, wait for another bus to Nami Island, spend another 2+hours..it is already 4+ to 5+ am...and it is time to head back to seoul...
DeleteHi! Thanks for your post! I just have a question. Lets say I alight at Cheongpyeong Station and head to Petite France via the brown timetable and from Petite France > Garden I'll be using the green timetable instead? Can I assume that for each bus stop there will be buses running on both the green and the brown timetable? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes. The buses is running on both green and brown timetable.:") Before you align the bus, you can double confirm with the bus driver if u're in the right direction of bus.
DeleteHi how long will it take from petite to name or vise versa?
ReplyDeleteAs per the timetable, it will take about 35 min.
DeleteHello!!! Just wanted to ask that if we'll go to Morning Calm first then last is Nami Island, which bus schedule should we follow? the green one or the brown one? We'll be coming from Gapyeong Station. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHi Alyssa,
DeleteIf u wanted to go to Morning Calm first, advisable stop at "Cheongpyeong Station" like how i do, then take the "Green Colour TimeTable's direction to "Morning Calm", then from Morning Calm to Nami, u take the "Brown Colour TimeTable's Direction to Nami Island according to the stops shown in the timetable. It will passby Petite France before you reach Nami, so if u hv time, it will be fun to stop by Petite France :")
Hi, I am a bit confuse in reading the bus timing. If I am taking the same route as you, I will be taking the bus at cheongpyong station at 11.25am (2nd course) to petite france. And from petite france, I will take the bus at 1.50pm (4th course). Am I right?
ReplyDelete