용마랜드
Country: Seoul, South Korea
Address: 118 Mangu-ro 70-gil, Mangubon-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Hours: 9am-7pm daily
Nearest Subway Station: Mangu Station
Itinerary: Day 2 - #1 stop
How Did I Get There: Train from accommodation, Walk using Naver Map
Where do I even begin... It was my first time separating with my friends and going around South Korea ALONE. It was a cold morning so besides the small Samgak Kimbap that I got at 7-11, I bought myself a cup of hot Americano from Dunkin Donut at Mangu Station. Reason being 1- I need something hot and 2- it was the cheapest item on the menu.
Trusting my Korean, Naver Map and sense of direction, I took my time to walk there. However, as much as I was confident in where I was going, walking around alone in the cold was not the most enjoyable thing to do. I had to admit that I was struggling to find the entrance. It took awhile for me to locate the first arch entrance. Once I walked through that, the entrance of Yongma Land was just up the hill.
Storytime: Knowing that it is an abandoned amusement park, I was not sure what I was expecting. There were no one at the ticketing booth that was at the right side of the entrance and everything was locked. Nonetheless, there were information on the entrance fee and a phone number to call.
My mind was lost for a moment as I called out "저기요!" to the inside of the park for someone, or just anyone. Even though I heard some noise of what sounded like a television, no one replied. Millions of thought raced through my mind. Is it closed? Did I come out here for nothing? Do I go back? What do I do next?
I tried to call the telephone number, even though I knew that my sim-card has no value inside as it only had internet data. Of course the call went to some automated voicemail saying that the call did not went through as I had no money inside my account. At that point I was pretty much lost.
Fortunately, a woman came out from one of the hut and welcomed me. It was really funny for the both of us as I was the first and only one there in the cold and rain, which she couldn't believe or understand why. Me too :'-)
After paying for the entrance fee, she took me around to show me the restroom and a room (not the castle below) to warm up in case I felt cold, before leaving me on my own.
As a solo visitor, I attached a tripod to my gimbal and snapped away with a bluetooth clicker. Old-school but it worked. Not forgetting the constant rain, I placed my umbrella over my gimbal as well just to protect it.
Looking back, most of the other tourists that went had better interactions with the attractions. I was probably uncertain on where I could and could not enter hence I was restricting myself to just stand around it and not in it.
There is a lot to see and a lot to do if you are creative and actually brave enough to execute the poses. A lot of attractions are also left higher up the hill so it made me wonder what actually happened to the place.
In the midst of my "solo photoshoot", I noticed a car entering to a section of the park, near the building where the toilet is. It was relatively well-decorated which I'm guessing it is a space for people to rent out for events maybe? Another fun fact is that the toilet is quite clean as well despite the whole "abandoned park" exterior.
I was out in about a hour and a half as it was too cold to bear and I felt that I did not have anymore shots that I wanted to take. Before I left, I felt that I should inform the lady as a sign to let her know. So I called out to her to say goodbye and she very kindly gave me a basket of snacks to choose one from as a present.
Despite the cold weather, it was heartwarming to have met such as nice lady. I don’t think that she is the sole owner operating Yongma Land as I remember reading about how visitors to the park can call some LINE number for a guy to let you in? Regardless, from the space I mentioned about potentially being a rental event space, there could be an office within the space to manage the park.
Would I go back again? Not really now that I have seen everything. There is not anything more I would want to take again so I guess it was a wild and great experience for me.
Check out my 2019 Korea videos below!
(Part 1)
(Part 2)
Check out my 2017 Korea videos below!
Travel Period: April 2019
Next Stop: Yeonbat
*Kindly note that all information are correct as of date of publish. Always do your own research prior to heading down to avoid disappointment during your trip! :)
**All photographs are taken by myself unless stated. Hence, please do not use without permission. Thank you.
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