Joyful laughter resounding on an atmospheric foggy riverside

An atmospheric landscape of a foggy riverside at dawn. Dumulmeori had often appeared as a background in films or drama series about tragic love. But recently, the image of the area has changed, since 2013 when a photo spot frame was installed at Sowon Resting Area. While Dumulmeori was reminiscent of a beautiful but tragic heroine of a melodrama whom you would find difficult to talk to in the past, today, it feels like a merry and talkative protagonist of a romantic comedy film. The photo spot attracts people of different ages and interests. From middle-aged in mountain clothes who gather for a group photo to young ladies in elegant dresses who pose like models among many others. Those waiting for their turns are talking about how they will pose for the camera with broad smiles on their faces.

Across the river, a 400-year zelkova tree that has guarded Dumulmeori, looks down on the crowd. For centuries, standing on an old ferry dock, this tree has welcomed those arriving from Jeongseon, Gangwon-do, and has sent those leaving for Mapo, Seoul, off, providing a resting place for travelers dreaming of making a fortune.

The ferry dock had two zelkova trees in the past. The other was submerged due to the construction of Paldang Dam in 1973. The flooded one was called "Halmae Namu (Grandmother Tree)" and the remaining one "Halbae Namu (Grandfather Tree)." The latter is 26 meters in height and 6 meters in girth. Its trunk is split into two from the roots and one part extends towards the river shore. On windy days, the branches wave their hands to the river. There were as many as twelve ferry docks in Dumulmeori, all of which have now disappeared. Only a sailing boat restored at the site recalls the days where the ferry docks were crowded by boats and people.

Dumulmeori is, as its name suggests, "a point (meori) where two rivers (dumul) meet." Here, the two rivers are the Bukhangang and Namhangang Rivers. The Geumgangcheon River, which is a branch of the Bukhangang River, rises in the northern part of the Taebaek Mountain Range, passes through Cheorwon and Hwacheon, and flows into Dumulmeori. The Namhangang River that rises in Geomnyongso, Taebaek, Gangwon-do, passes Yeongwol and Yeoju, and then reaches here. The two waters integrated here after a long journey throughout the country creates a mystic and strong energy.

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