Music cafe train offers budget travel

By Lee Tae-hoon

Korail, the state-run railroad operator, has begun to operate the Tong Tong Tong Music Cafe Train once a month for a two-day trip exploring some of the major tourist attractions on the southern tip of the country.

The train travel package, which includes bus tours, two meals, a roundtrip ferry ticket and admission to the scenic island of Oe Island, comes at a low price of 129,000 won ($120).

For budget conscious travelers who have yet to witness the beauty Korea’s southern coastal towns can offer it is highly recommended.

And for those who want to take a peek at how middle-aged Koreans entertain themselves through music and mingle with them, it is worth a try.

But be aware that if you are non-Korean speaking foreigners who want to enjoy peace of mind and privacy, it is not the tour for you.

Departure

The Tong Tong Tong Music Cafe Train, which has a car exclusively dedicated to live performances, departs at 10:20 p.m. from Seoul Station and stops in Anyang, Suwon, Pyeongtaek, Choenan and Daejeon to pick up more passengers.

“Tong Tong Tong” is an onomatopoeic word representing the buoyant energy created by the sound of a moving train.

You can either take a nap or enjoy belly dancing and live music performances in car 6 as the train heads toward Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

If the mood is right and people are willing, a singing or dance contest is held there. Car 6 can also double as a small nightclub.

As a large number of passengers are in their 40s or above, you should not expect a funky club. But you will be able to see how grown-up Koreans have fun up close and personal.

The DJ plays requests and reads messages from travelers as the night goes on.

Upon arrival in Changwon Station, travelers hop on to a chartered bus that will take you to the tourist spots in the country’s southern region.

The first destination is Gadeok Service Area which has a viewing platform that allows a magnificent view of the Geoga Bridge.

However, at 4:30 a.m., it is too dark and too far away to have a good view of the 8.2 kilometer-long bridge that connects Korea's largest port city of Busan and the shipbuilding Mecca of Geoje Island.

After daybreak

At 6:00 a.m. a complimentary breakfast is served followed by a visit to the Hill of Wind near a wharf on Geoje Island.

The sloping grass hill with a windmill were shooting locations for famous Korean television dramas “Eve’s Garden” and “Merry Go Round,” as well as the entertainment show, “Two Days and One Night.”

From there you take a small ferry to Oe Island, a marine botanical garden owned by Choi Ho-suk who started creating a subtropical English garden with her late husband Lee Chang-ho in 1969.

The two school teachers opened the site to the public in 1995, after nearly 30 years of cultivating and developing the western-styled garden.

The garden is full of breathtaking beauty and natural wonders. It was also a filming location for the hit Korean drama “Winter Sonata.”

However, you had better make sure get the phone number of your tour guide before you arrive.

This is because there is a good chance that you may be left alone on the scenic island unless you push through the crowds at the dock to catch your ferry back to Geoje on time.

Tongyeong

After lunch, your group will visit Dongpirang Village, in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, which is covered with beautiful wall paintings.

Dongpirang, which translates into the eastern cliff in Korean, is a small hillside town overlooking Ganggu Port.

Dongpirang was once on the verge of being destroyed due to redevelopment plans. But in order to stop the old village from disappearing, a civil group held a national graffiti competition there in Oct. 2007.

University art majors and others also joined the campaign to “paint the streets of Dongpirang with colors and sketches,” decorating the old walls, fences, stairs, chimneys and even water tanks of the village with various paintings.

As Dongpirang became Korea's Montmartre, attracting a great number of tourists, the earlier plan to create a park around it was scrapped. .

The final destination is Tongyeong Fish Market, which is located right next to Dongpirang.

There you can enjoy raw fish or honey bread, a local delicacy. If you like the hustle and bustle of people eager to haggle over prices, that is a good place to visit.

After a little shopping and sightseeing at the fish market, your tour is over at around 5 p.m.

The tour bus will take you to Masan Station, where you ride the Tong Tong Tong Music Cafe Train back home.

For those who want to visit the Goseong Dinosaur Museum, Korea’s first dinosaur museum built next to one of the world’s largest dinosaur footprint fossil sites, another tour bus will be arranged to take you there instead of Tongyeong.

For more information call the Korail Tourism Development on 1544-7755 or visit https://info.korail.com