A trip to South Korea’s new Legoland resort and beyond to Chuncheon city for cycling, a sculpture park, an Ethiopian cafe and the Folk Flea Market
- After visiting the newly opened Legoland Korea Resort and its hordes of selfie takers, a writer and his family head off around Chuncheon
- They visit the Gongji Stream Sculpture Park, enjoy an Ethiopian cafe and fill up at the Toegye Makguksu diner
It’s difficult to think of a better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Children’s Day in South Korea than by taking my four-year-old son, Theo, to the Legoland Korea Resort, which has timed its grand opening for this day (May 5).
The new attraction is on Hajung-do island, in the mountain-enfolded city of Chuncheon, which is a 75-minute train ride east of Seoul, and at 11am there is a daunting queue of families stretching a kilometre or so along the new road leading to Legoland.
The sky is powdery blue, with not a wisp of cloud. Rounded hills blanketed in oak and pine give way to equally green peaks and ridges in the distance, and from this shard of an island in Uiam Lake, Chuncheon (population 275,000) appears to be little more than a few scattered clusters of flat towers.
We inch past newly planted Asian fringe trees blooming with white bell-shaped clusters and before long, we’re close enough to the gate to see Lego pennants and hear rousing orchestral music. A knot of protesters near the entrance casts a shadow on the event. Holding up banners with messages such as “Legoland is the Shame of Chuncheon City!”, they are charging that the developer of the resort has failed to properly conserve Goguryeo dynasty (37BC to AD668) artefacts and prehistoric dolmens uncovered during construction.
