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Date: 6 October 2025
Just an hour from Seoul, Nami Island feels like a page from a dream painted in the hues of nostalgia. As the ferry approaches, the first thing you notice is the hush — the kind that wraps itself around your thoughts like a woollen shawl. Rows of maple trees stand in disciplined silence, their red and gold leaves swirling down like whispers from an autumn sky. Children run along the narrow lanes, laughter echoing off tree trunks, while couples cycle past with hands nearly touching.
The smell of roasted chestnuts mingles with the sweet chill of river air. Cafés play soft Korean ballads, each note dissolving into mist. Time here slows to a graceful rhythm, reminding you that wonder doesn’t always roar — sometimes it rustles gently beneath fallen leaves. When dusk spreads its amber light across the river, the island glows — not from lamps, but from the quiet contentment of those who have learned, for one afternoon, how to simply be.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah,
Guwahati, Assam, India
Instagram: @rajatchandrasarma
musingofrajat.wordpress.com 