Crocodile Island & Ondal Fortress- A day trip from Seoul with Bangawoyo Tours

by Mike Still
Crocodile Island & Ondal Fortress- A day trip from Seoul with Bangawoyo Tours

Last weekend I joined Bangawoyo Tours on one last summer outing to Crocodile Island. We took an early bus Sunday morning and headed towards Chungju and headed for a short hike.   Crocodile Island is a really a wonderfully unique lake which gives the surrounding land a slight reptilian shape. Its actual name is Chungju Lake but the locals call it Agosom (Crocodile Island).

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Getting to the viewpoint isn’t as easy as it looks. The “30 minute easy hike” was really an hour each way and steeper than we planned.

I’d advise against doing this hike in the rain as the trail will be very slick!


Find Bangawoyo Tours on Facebook and join them for an awesome meetup!

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Saienam Stream is a short drive from Crocodile Island and the perfect place for an afternoon picnic. Johnny made everyone sandwiches and brought a few giant inflatables for us to splash around in. It was a great time and well worth stopping by if you’re in the area.

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Ondal Cave is tucked away behind Ondalsanseong Fortress built to re-enact Korean history for a TV drama. As Johnny says its “so fake but so worth!” I loved that much of the architecture was the same that you see in Korean palaces and temples but they let you wander freely. I even got to sit in the throne room!

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After taking a few photos of the castle we walked through the cave. Its a few hundred meters long and gets quite narrow at times. Thankfully its well lit and very safe as long as you stick to the walkway and wear a helmet!

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Back outside you can find a massive swing nestled into the gardens and pretend to be a kid again or grab a quick bite. All in all this was a great trip and I can’t wait to go on more Bangawoyo Tours!

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Mike Still
Mike is a travel enthusiast, photographer and teacher. He loves adventure travel, meeting the locals and exploring new culture. As an outdoor enthusiast you can often find him hiking mountains or exploring forests trying to capture the beauty of mother nature. In 2013 he founded www.LiveTravelTeach.com as he left his home in America and has been teaching or traveling around the world ever since!

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Crocodile Island & Ondal Fortress- A day trip from Seoul with Bangawoyo Tours – Live, Travel, Teach – Biz Links Directory January 2, 2018 - 12:46 pm

[…] Mike is a travel enthusiast, photographer and teacher. He loves adventure travel, meeting the locals and exploring new culture. As an outdoor enthusiast … Read more […]

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