13 April 2012 - Getting to Nongsan

It was a hectic morning to start my day. I woke up in panic this morning becos I woke up about 40 mins before the departure time of my KTX to Nonsan! I think my alarm snoozed several times but I just couldn't wake up. Jumped out of the bed and tried to calm my mind to think straight as I freshened up. I knew I couldn't make it in time for the train but I will still go to the train station and see what's next. Hmm...didn't know why I was so tired this trip....
The itinerary for the day was a day trip to Nonsan for its annual Nonsan Strawberry Festival, followed by a good meal at the Maneul Chicken Alley and checked out Daehangno.

Anyway, Nonsan Strawberry Festival commenced from 13 April till 15 April this year. Although many bloggers had mentioned that Nonsan Strawberry Festival is more like a Strawberry Expo, but I would still love to check it out. Still feeling kinda blurry, I almost took the wrong train! Hahahaa....
My KTX train was supposed to depart at 7.50am. I reached the station at 8.10am and went to the counter for advice of the next earliest train to Nonsan. The counter lady informed me the earliest train to Nonsan will depart at 8.35am. She helped me to cancel my previous KTX train ticket and issued me with a new ticket. I booked my ticket online using credit card, so the amount will be refunded to my account but I had to pay a fee of KRW4200. Click Korail to find out more about cancellation fees.

The new train ticket was KRW20,200 excluding the cancellation fees. I was puzzled why the new ticket was cheaper than my original KTX ticket(KRW28100) and would take a longer travelling time to reach Nonsan. The counter lady explained to me that it's a ticket for the Mugunghwa train, whereby its cheaper becos it stops at many stations and took a longer travelling time. If I had taken KTX, it will take about 94 mins to reach Nonsan. Travelling on Mugunghwa train would take about 154mins to reach Nonsan. The thought of longer travelling hours was quite demoralising... Nevermind, its okay. I should count myself lucky to be able to catch a train and reached Nonsan before noon. Reaching Nonsan at a later time would mean I have lesser time to spend in Nonsan cos my return trip on KTX would depart at 1.51pm. Ermm..I wouldn't want to miss my train again!

My new ticket on the right.  The train departs at 8.35am. 
I went to Lotteria to buy breakfast  before the train departs

I remembered it was a cold morning.
In fact, every morning was cold!

Here comes my train  ^^

Mine was cabin 3. 

Wow!  I was surprised to see the seats becos they were much more comfortable than the economy class seats on KTX.  The comfortable seats changed my mindset of Mugunghwa train!

Mine was the window seat.  

My breakfast of shrimp burger!!!  I was so hungry by then...

Finally, I reached Nonsan Station at about 11.10am!!  It was really a long...and slow journey....No wonder the seats were more comfortable! Hahahaa...

I had to cross the bridge/linkway to get out from the station.

Saw this from the station entrance.  There was an information centre at the station but the staff couldn't speak much English.  I asked her for directions to the festive ground.  I didn't know the name of the place but I only know there would be many big strawberry balloons in the air. Oh dear...I should have brought along a picture of Nonsan Strawberry Festival with me...Fortunately,  she immediately knew what I was talking about when I mentioned about strawberry balloons!!  Yeah...That was the landmark for me to identify the festive ground!
Thanks to the staff, she drew me a map to reach the festive ground.  Yeah..I wondered why there was no maps.  I walked straight from the entrance.

Cross the road.  I regretted not to check out for the buses available at this bus stop. Its not that I didn't want to walk but its informative to know and would be good to post in my blog.  In fact, walking will enable one to see more of a place.  

Facing the "Ministop", turn to your left and walk straight all the way.

Keep on walking straight.

Continue to walk straight as shown by the arrow.

Past by this shop and saw the uncle roasting some peanuts.  

Past by the shop and continue to walk straight. 
It was a quiet town.  I hardly see any people.

Past by the post office.  Just keep on walking straight.

It took me about 20 mins to reach this market. It will be on your right. Frankly speaking, I wasn't sure whether I was on the right track to the festive ground.  I did not know there was a market in Nonsan when I was doing my research.  Discovering this market was totally unexpected.