For a clearer information you could go to the previous post Winter in South Korea (Day One)
Here is my whereabouts at the second day of my trip in South Korea. Still in the outskirt of Seoul until day three, for your information. So if you are looking for information about Seoul, hang on a little bit longer!
1. Oak Valley Ski Village Condominium, Gangwon Province. Rate: around 100,000 won
A Cafe on The Condo's Neighborhood
Entrance of The Room (The bed room is behind the left door just before
the television, too bad I forgot to take a picture for we arrived there at 11 pm
and already so exhausted)
Kitchen Area
Living Room
We were staying at Oak Valley Condominium on our first night in South Korea. Because the style is in condominium, they do not provide us full service, welcome drinks or amenities kit like what we usually find in a 3 and up star hotel. Clearly I never bring any soap, shampoo, toothbrush and another bath amenities while traveling, because simply it is unpractical if I stayed in a 3 & up stars hotel. I do not expect that this type of accomodation in South Korea do not provide us basic amenities. My bad, of course, for not research it carefully in advance. Thankfully there are nearby store which open until 12 am so that I can buy some shampoo and soap, which cost around 8,000 won each.
But other than that, the room is very very spacious! The standard room include a living room, one bedroom, two bathroom, and a standard kitchen. And I find a very beautiful surroundings around this condominium,what a relaxing resort this one!
Most people which stay in this hotel those time of the year, in winter, is the one who is about to do skiing in the morning. So when I enter the restaurant in the morning to have breakfast, most of people are already dressed in ski clothing. We only stay for a night in this hotel and in the morning after having breakfast, off we go to the ski resort to enjoy some skiing experience!
2. Oak Valley Ski Slopes, Gangwon Province. Skiing rate (includes ski clothing and ski equipment rent): 500 USD/person (yes, in USD).
To be honest, that was my first encounter with skiing. So that was also my first time getting to know all of the ski clothing and equipments which consist of a warm pants and jacket, a pair of skiing gloves, helmet, skiing goggles, skiing shoes, a pair of skis and bindings, and a pair of skiing poles.
What shocked me the most is the shoes and skis & bindings, ones which we wear so that we can slide on the snow. I do not expect that they are so heavy, I barely can even move freely in my first minutes wearing them. But after my trainer teach me how to walk, how to move and how to stop I finally can manage it a little. Yes, a little, because I still find my self out of control most of the time, I slipped and fell three times on my attempts to slide on the beginner slope.
But all was great though, despite all of the unfamiliar feelings for getting to know something for the very first time. The ski slopes itself have a very beautiful surrounding, a lot of parents stay in the cafe facing the ski slopes while waiting for their children getting the ski course. The beginner slopes tend to be a lot more crowded than the advance slopes, so if you are good at skiing I think you will be able to enjoy this place more.
Tips: if you never try skiing before like me, although it is rather expensive, it is a fine experience you should try at least once in your life. Let go of the fear of trying something new and a little bit dangerous, push away that thought which tell you that you are too old to try something new. Life is all about a never ending learning, no?
Egg Muffin Picture Taken from Here
After having enough time spent at the ski slope we moved onto the next schedule. Pyeongchang Trout Festival is a festival which is held at Jinbu-myeon in Pyeongchang province every winter. There are a lot of group activities in this festival, some of them are ice and lure fishing for trout, trout bare handed fishing and traditional folk games like sledding and top spinning or snow rafting.
No I do not participate in the folk games or the trout fishing, I was only just a spectator for we only have an hour in this place. I saw the trout bare handed fishing and it was so exciting! A number of participant have to wear only a short and shirt, yes they have to take off their coat and warm clothes in a cold winter day, and catching trout in a cold water pool! What a challenge, no?
And of course like any other festival, it includes street snack vendors! I tried some muffin, a sweet hot muffin which consist of half boiled egg inside it. So it was sweet and also at the same time salty, I loove the taste! Too bad I do not have the picture for I busy eating them but above is a picture I get from this website.
Tips: if you do not like traditional festivals or activities you can as well skip this festival. But it is worth to see this festival once you already in Pyeongchang, in my opinion, so you can see a deeper culture of the place you travel to, not to mention it is a good place to find traditional snacks!
This is the only farm in Pyeongchang which raises sheep. Span in an area of 195 km2 if you walk along its path it will take around 40 minutes. The scenery along this farm is beautiful! In winter I may not be able to see a green farm covered in beautiful grasses but a vast area covered in snow with a comfortable walking path is also beautiful!
Here we can do a lot of outdoor as well as indoor activities. I tried to give foods and touch the sheep until they were full and then move onto a cheese and chocolate making activities afterward. After our chocolate and cheese were ready to eat, they served us strawberry natural jam, natural chips, and wine to enjoy along with the cheese and chocolate. The perfect snack in the winter afternoon!
Tips: if you do not like a DIY program such as chocolate and cheese making, you can as well not signing up for the program, just enjoy the walking path along this beautiful place!
No comments:
Post a Comment