Little Big Things

Although it is not technically part of Seoul, Namiseom (a.k.a. Nami Island) is a place I would highly recommend for any tourists going to the city. It's completely doable as a day trip: just take a train to from any of Seoul's main stations (I used Yongsan) to Gapyeong (shown below), then it's just a matter of hailing a taxi. (The island is a popular enough attraction for both locals and tourists that, even with limited or no Korean, it shouldn't be hard to tell the taxi driver where you want to go. Just bring up "Namiseom" - pronounced "Na-mee-some" - or "Nami Island" and things will work out.) The thing about Namiseom is that, really, this is unlike any other place I visited during my trip, and there are a number of reasons why. First of all, it is, in a way, its own little world. Namiseom actually styles itself as a micronation called the "Naminara Republic", and attempts to make it distinct from other pla