Once the booking is made through the website, there will be a confirmation email of the tour package. Do take note on the selected meeting point and timing.

Our meet up point is at Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4), Exit 2, which was shown clearly on the confirmation email. This ease the doubts and also a better picture on the meeting point.

Once everyone is gathered, there will be tour guide to assist throughout the journey.And here you go photos taken during the day trip:
GANGCHON RAIL PARK

KR: Had a wonderful cycling experience at Gangchon Rail Park (강촌레일파크). Swipe left to watch snippets of the scenery or watch my Ig stories for more. We also went to Nami Island and Garden of Morning Calm. All thanks to @trazy_korea . Address: 1385, Gimyujeong-ro, Sindong-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do 강원도 춘천시 신동면 김유정로 1385 (신동면) #hztravelogue #hazelxkorea #iphone7plus #trazykorea #trazy #travelcrazykorea

A post shared by Hazel (@hazeldiary_) on Dec 29, 2017 at 4:26am PST

Our first stop is to enjoy the ride on the old train tracks located in the beautiful countryside. There are 3 rail bike courses starting from Gimyujeong Station, Gangchon Station and Gyeonggang Station. And the distance from the starting point to the end is 8.6km in total.

During the journey, we passed by the farms and streams. Since it is during winter time, we saw snows covered all over the places.

We also passed by few tunnels with different theme throughout the journey. Each tunnels showcase different songs and theme. Thus, it was quite interesting as we were expecting surprises each time we saw the tunnel.

There are 2-seater ( 25,000 kr won) and 4- seater bike (35,000 kr won) with different pricing. The tickets need to be purchased in advance. Lucky for us because we book through Trazy.com, our tickets are included. Thus, all we need to do is to wait forour tour guide to distribute it to us.

Gangchon Rail Park (강촌레일파크)
Address: 1385, Gimyujeong-ro, Sindong-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do
강원도 춘천시 신동면 김유정로 1385 (신동면)

NAMI ISLAND

My second time here and this beautiful island is the filming spot of “ Winter Sonata”. The island is located 63km away from Seoul and 30 minutes drive away from Gangchon Rail Park.

Nami Island is known with the tree-lined roads that gives an instagram-worthy picturesque shot! We took quite a bit of time to take the shot below because there are people everywhere. We waited patiently for people to walk away and finally I got it!
Here’s a shot that I love it very much.

KR: Same spot taken 4 years ago but different season this time at Nami Island. Making new memories all over the places… #hztravelogue #hazelxkorea #travelcrazykorea #trazykorea

A post shared by Hazel (@hazeldiary_) on Dec 30, 2017 at 4:59am PST

It was lunch time when we reached the island. Thus, we decided to have our lunch in one of the restaurants there. For muslim tourists, there are also no pork no lard restaurants as well. Apart from that, there are street snacks including pan-fried rice cake, steaming hot buns, sausages and many more along the attraction spots.

We spent 2 hours venturing the places and taking #ootd shots. It was quite fun and relaxing walking around the island.

After all the photo-taking and exploring the island, we took the ferry back to the terminal to board our bus.

Nami Island
Address: 1 Namisum-gil, Namsan-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do
Website: https://namisum.com/en/




GARDEN OF MORNING CALM

We headed to the last stop of the day, which is the Garden of Morning Calm. This place is one of the biggest festivals of lights in Korea during Winter season. Expect to see thousands of LED lights beautifully illuminate the gardens.

Here are some shots taken during my trip there:

Garden of Morning Calm 
Address: 432 Sumogwon-ro, Sang-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do
Opening Hours:
Sunday –Friday 11:00AM – 9:00PM | Saturday 11:00AM – 11:00PM
Do note that opening hours change according to seasons.
Website: www.morningcalm.co.kr
Entrance Fee:
Adult 8,000krw (weekdays)| 9,000krw (Weekends & Public Holidays)
Youth 6,000krw (weekdays)| 6,500krw (Weekends & Public Holidays)
Children 5,000krw (weekdays)| 5,500krw (Weekends & Public Holidays)

The tour bus then sends us back to Myeongdong station after the tour. So basically we only spend on food for the whole day as the entrance tickets and transportation has been covered in this tour package. The best time about travelling with tour package is that we can save time on the planning and transportation. We also get to skip the queue for entrance tickets!
However the downside is that we need to follow the stated timing for each attraction spots. If you prefer free and easy trip, you may find that there is restriction on the timing. Nevertheless, it is good for big group and family outings. This save the time and hassle-free.
If you want to cover the 3 places within a day, you can book the tour package for Gangchon Rail Park, Nami Island and Garden of Morning Calm here.

A Joseph Oregon “Rail Rider” — What a blast to ride!!

July 2014 – While roaming around the backside of the pretty town of Joseph, Oregon, we came across a guy working on the most unusual looking tandem bicycle.

It had two seats side by side and was sitting on the old railroad tracks of an unused railway line.

The Joseph Branch Railriders is a fantastic excursion on the old railway.

We discovered that this fellow was Kim Metlen, and this bike was one of his fleet of eleven “rail riders,” a clever invention he has designed so folks can ride the old railways under their own power.

What a fantastic idea!

There are 63 miles of old unused railroad tracks near Joseph

As we discovered in Baker City, all of eastern Oregon is a mecca for road cycling.

Kim has been part of the local cycling industry for decades, having owned a very successful bike shop in nearby LaGrande for ages.

Our friends Katie and Dick check out the rails

Now that he is retired, he has put his energies into creating an inventive new use for the old railroad tracks that criss-cross his beloved eastern Oregon.

We had seen the sign for his excursions next to Red Horse Coffee Traders, the wonderful coffee shop and gathering place for locals and visitors that we had been frequenting everyday.

Woo hoo!!

By crazy coincidence, friends of ours from Arizona who are both cyclists and RVers were in town, and they had signed up for the ride.  What a fun thing to do together!

Our starting time was 9:00 on a Sunday, but it was a casual affair with couples and families arriving and getting set up on their bikes and starting the ride at their own pace.

We jumped in our rail car and soon got our crazy contraption rolling – what fun!

Currently, the excursion is a six mile ride between tiny Joseph (pop. 1,000) and the “big” town of Enterprise nearby (pop. 2,000).

The two sets of pedals are independent.

It is a very mild descent from Joseph to Enterprise and then a very mild climb back to Joseph, and everyone was grinning as they took off on these super-easy-to-ride bikes.

Built of standard bicycle parts, Mark and I kicked back in our recumbent seats and pedaled independently.

Sometimes I stopped pedaling so I could enjoy the views and snap photos, and sometimes Mark quit and let me do the work.

It was very cool going over the track switches at the beginning near Joseph’s depot, sitting on this tiny open air pedal-driven train.

What a way to see the scenery around Joseph!

It is so cool to ride where the trains used to go…

The view was filled with the glorious snow-capped mountains of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and we saw deer along the tracks and pretty red barns in the distance.

Kim had been operating Joseph Branch Railriders for only five weeks when we took our ride, yet with rides offered at 9:00, noon and 3:00 pm, the weekend we went was all booked up!

There are 63 miles of rails in the region, although this fabulous rail ride uses only 6 miles of track at the moment.

Just can’t stop taking pics of those pretty red barns!!

Kim is a very clever engineer and has a hoist system to ensure his bike is always at the back of the group.

With any luck, Kim will one day obtain permission to expand his fabulous outings to run on all those other lines as well.

He accompanied the group in a specially equipped rail rider that he rode behind us all.

His rail car had a small motor (afterall, he does this ride three times a day!).

At the turnaround point in Enterprise, he hoisted his rail rider up so all the other bikes could be rolled ahead of his underneath and he could ride the back of the group on the return trip too.

In Enterprise we all turned our bikes around to point back towards Joseph.

Then we picked up our bikes and turned them around to face the other way.

And we were off once again!

Later, when we mentioned our ride to locals around town, everyone we talked to was really excited about it.

“I can’t wait to try that!” we kept hearing from folks who had heard about it but hadn’t yet been out themselves.

Getting ready for the return ride to Joseph.

Sometimes the railriders spread out and sometimes we bunched together.

There are lots of rails-to-trails programs across the country, and especially in the northwest.

We loved the 72-mile Trail of the Coeur d’Alenetrail in northern Idaho and the Wood Valley Trail System in Sun Valley Idaho.

Most of these rails-to-trails programs involve removing the rails and replacing them with pavement or gravel.

Kim’s brilliant invention is a really creative way to retain the integrity of the rails and let people ride them on their own without removing them.

The beautiful views surrounded us.

He has hopes of eventually opening these thin strips of land along the railways to a variety of modes of travel.

Rather than replacing the iron rails with pavement or gravel, he envisions a “Rails AND Trails” program.

People could not only ride the rails using his special bikes, but they could also walk or ride traditional bikes on a paved or gravel path that runs alongside.

Obtaining the agreement of ranchers whose properties abut the railways is not so easy, but these rail cars are such a blast to ride that the idea can’t help but catch on.

Everyone had a blast!

As Mark and I pedaled, we started fantasizing about being able to ride all the unused rails on this continent in this way.

Wouldn’t it be fun to do a multi-day trip, riding from town to town across the west?!

We could hop off to explore places on foot, and spend nights camping or staying in little hotels along the route…

This ride was one of the biggest highlights of our visit to Joseph!

A friend of ours who was a conductor for Pacific Union in the northwest said one of the best parts of his job was the spectacular scenery he saw out the window every day.

Riding this little six mile section of track, the views of the snowy mountain peaks grew all around us and kept our heads turning.

When the ride ended (all too soon!) and the pairs of riders came back into Joseph, everyone was grinning and saying what fun they’d had.

If you get to Joseph, Oregon, get a cuppa Joe at Red Horse Coffee Traders and look for Kim and his unusual bike display and signup area next door.

Don’t miss this train!!

For more info, visit this link: Joseph Branch Railriders.

Don’t drive on the railroad tracks? Good advice for Bill Murray but the Groundhog Day star never rode on South Korea’s Jeongseon Auraji Rail Bike route.

image: https://cdn1-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-1.jpg

The Jeongseon Auraji Rail Bike route in South Korea’s northeastern Gangwon Province runs along a 7.2 kilometer (4.47 mile) long track between Jeongseon Auraji and Gujeol-ri stations, descending from the former to the latter on a slight downward grade that won’t tax even elderly rail-bikers.

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The route utilizes a railway that became obsolete and abandoned after 1999 when coal-mining operations in the area closed down. Korail (Korea Railroad Corporation, the state-owned railroad operator) and the national Korean tourism organization were reluctant to let the track fall into disrepair and at the same time, were seeking ways to boost the region’s economy.

image: https://cdn3-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-3a.jpg

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They found the answer to both conundrums by looking to Europe, where the “sport” of rail-biking has become popular in scenic areas once served by railroads. The most expensive aspect of establishing a rail bike route is the actual rails – exploiting recently disused railroads makes perfect economic sense!

image: https://cdn2-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-4a.jpg

image: https://cdn1-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-4b.jpg

Korail even found a way to reuse and recycle some other bits of obsolete railway infrastructure, as can be seen at the rail bike route’s starting point at Gujeol-ri Station: a unique cafe called “A Grasshopper’s Dream” was built out of two disused train cars plus assorted rails and platform pieces. Never mind the cafe’s form brings to kind a pair of locusts doing the nasty – what better dream for a grasshopper than to be locked in a loving embrace for all eternity?

image: https://cdn3-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-5a.jpg

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The rail bikes used on the Jeongseon Auraji Rail Bike route are brightly colored with comfortably padded seats. 2-person bikes weighing 110 kilograms (68.35 lbs) and 4-person bikes weighing 138 kilograms (85.75 lbs) are available – a minimum of two people are required to drive either size rail bike.

image: https://cdn2-www-webecoist.momtastic.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Korean-Rail-Bike-5c.jpg

The rail bikes are the direct descendants of those old human-powered handcars (also known as pump trolleys, pump cars, jiggers, Kalamazoos and draisines) that achieved their popularity peak back in the nineteenth century. The biggest difference between handcars and rail bikes, however, is that rail bikes are pedaled like bicycles making for a more leisurely and less strenuous trip… even when riding through a long, cool mine tunnel!

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Sloping grade or not, the rail bikes typically have a top speed of just 15kph (9.3mph) and being mounted on rails, there’s no need to steer. Instead, passengers are free to enjoy the stunning mountain scenery on their way down to Auraji station… which is designed in the shape of a fish, just because! Don’t fear the return trip and pedaling a rail bike uphill all the way, as an actual train brings riders back to Gujeol-ri station in comfort AND style.

Read more at https://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2015/07/21/korean-rail-bike-route-recycles-the-railroad/#W49rbOkHvqTUugJb.99

Such eco-friendly tourism is loved by many green enthusiasms all over the global, for it has little to no impact on environment.  On the other hand, it’s high accessibility suitable for young and old, as well as making it possible for disabled or paraplegics to have a chance to go outdoors and enjoy the sightseeing and breath fresh air.

Rail Bike Australia introduced the first and only pedal Rail Bikes in Australia powered with battery assistance, so that riders can effortless cycling through up hills and go further distance.

The first trip will be available at Ida Bay Railway from the 1st Sep 2019, please be patient; meanwhile, you can book in advance for limited opening promotion rewards valued at $76 from https://idabayrailway.com.au/shop/pedal-battery-powered-rail-bike/