Thursday Trivia: Garden of Morning Calm

For my birthday in October, I took a trip to Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong to see some of the pretty fall colors before they were gone.  Last year, before I arrived, my students had gone to the Garden of Morning Calm for their school trip and I had heard much about it.  So, I was looking forward to this trip a lot.

For starters, if you are starting out from Seoul you are lucky, it's a day trip.  Otherwise, you need to plan for at least overnight...maybe two.  Since this was also my birthday trip I went wild and planned for a two night stay.  I wanted to stay at one of the numerous pension hotels in Gapyeong, but since I was travelling alone this trip it was an extravagant expense I could not afford.  Instead, I settled for staying overnight the night before in Seoul.



Now, let's talk about getting there.

There are apparently several ways to do it.  There is a bus from (I think) DongSeoul Terminal and a couple of tours that leave from Insadong(?)...Itaewon(?)...I'm not sure...if you are interested in the bus you're on your own for that information.

You can take a KTX train from Yongsin or Changnyeongni Station for about 5,000 won, but all the departing trains were sold out that morning.  The ride is less than an hour that way.

What I did was to take the slow train on the Gyeongchun Line out of Seoul.  I boarded at Mangu Station and rode all the way to Gapyeong Station for about 3,000\.  It took roughly an hour and half...maybe a little less.  However, this was is quite crowded (even in the early hours of the morning) and I had to stand the entire way.  Once I got to Gapyeong I took a taxi to the garden.

Here's the kicker...despite what travel websites or other blogs may tell you....if you are going to Gapyeong just to go the Garden of Morning Calm AND are planning to take a taxi once you arrive, do NOT take the ride into Gapyeong Station.  The cab ride will cost you almost 30,000\.  Get off the train at Cheongpyeong Station instead.  The ride will only cost you about 10,000\...I know because my super helpful taxi driver (I am so lucky that I always manage to find friendly, helpful taxi drivers here) told me.  He also told me that there is a tourist bus that goes to all the major tourist attractions in Gapyeong (5,000 for day pass, btw) and the two main train stations, and pointed out the bus stop as we arrived at the garden.  Here's the route and time table:

The garden itself is just gorgeous.  It's been the location for several Kdrama and Kpop videos....there's even a chapel that was built for one of the dramas.  And it seems to be a very popular spot for dates and family outings.  Here's some pictures for you to enjoy!