Durumi bird watching, Gangwondo

A week before mid term, Min Young's dad brought the whole family to Gangwondo for Durumi watching. Min Young told me it was a bird and she phrased the rhyme occassionally spoken by Hyun Bin in Secret Garden.

Red crowned crane or 두루미 is symbolizes luck, longevity and fidelity. 
It is one of the rarest crane in the world and during autumn they will migrate
to Korea and some parts of China to spend the winter. Info from Wikipedia.

This was taken outside of the DMZ area.

"김수한무 거북이와 두루미 삼천갑자 동방삭 치치카포 사리사리센타 워리워리 새프리카 무두셀라 구름이 허리케인 담벼락 서생원에 고양이 바둑이는 돌돌이

Kim suhanmoo keobugiwa durumi samcheongabja Dong Bang Sak Chichigapo Sarisarisaenta Woriwori Saepeurika Moodoosella gureumi heorikaein dambyeorak seosaengwonae goyangyi badookineun Doldolri" - more detailed explanation by Otayamin


Ahhh...apparently even my other Korean friends haven't had the chance to see Durumi personally. Wow..am I lucky or what!! This was my first time ever for bird watching so my initial expectation - I will be bored to death!

Tada...it wasn't so bad. Unfortunately, there's some disappointment as we were not allowed to shoot pictures of the birds.

The Durumi location was inside DMZ area so we couldn't shoot any picture due to military restriction. I had to leave my Alien Registration Card with the soldiers before entering the gate. As usual you must have Korean guide with you before entering DMZ and in my case they are Min Young and her family.

The DMZ area that we visited was near Yeoncheon-gun and by car from Incheon was about 2 hours. We were about 800 metres away from North Korea! There were some binoculars available for 500won for 10 minutes view of the border area but we didn't have 500won with us. Then the soldier did the unexpected! He used a kind of ruler to bypass it so we didn't have to slot a coin. Heheh..

With a soldier at DMZ and he spoke fluent English.
It's a 9 to 5 job as he mentioned and he will finish
his term this October.

Gangwondo is so gorgeous!! Especially during winter and its frozen
river, just like this. I was smitten by the view although its @#$#$^^& cold!

If you wish to go on your own for DMZ tour at  Cheorwon, Gangwondo you can actually book a tour from Goseok-jong. 

Checkout www.dmz4u.com
From Cheorwon it costs only 10,000 won per pax.
From Seoul to Cheorwon is another story though.^^
  1. Take a bus from East Seoul Terminal to Sincheolwon. The bus operates every 20 to 30 minutes between 06:00 and 22:40 and the journey takes about 2 and a half hours.
  2. At Sincheolwon, Dongsong-eup, take a bus (runs every 20 minutes) and get off at Goseokjeong Bus Stop (20-minute ride) or taxi takes 15 minutes.
More adventurous souls can also visit the small town of Cheorwon, some two hours northeast of Seoul. Once a sizable town and major railway stop commanding the Geumhwa Valley, Cheorwon was literally obliterated during the Korean War - brutal frontline warfare that earned its name, “The Iron Triangle.” - KNTO

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3 Comments

meee said…
i think i saw u and ur friends juz now in kbs saturday freedom. episod this guy tunjuk balance technique dgn rope.. was that u?
Anonymous said…
assalam...
same here. i was about to ask u the same thing. i do believe it was u i saw when the MC asked to have a female audience to try the slack line balance thingy. how was it in real life? was The Master friendly? (Kim Byeongman)Looking forward to ur reply!

izah.