Winter Trip with Family - Sancheoneo Ice Festival, Hwacheon

Assalamualaikum. 안녕.

Previous post (here).

Huwaaa! Time flies so fast. It's already our 5th day in South Korea!! Rasa macam baru jak sampai. Gitulah ayat orang yang mau cuti berpanjangan & ndak payah risau pasal kerja. Macam duit akan jatuh dari langit, kan. Sedih.

Anyway, as usual every morning ever since we arrived Seoul, memang yang lain akan tanya aku sejuk or tidak haritu. Kiranya tambahan role aku trip haritu adalah sebagai 'peramal cuaca'. Apart from being the guide, tukang masak, tukang kira budget & list goes on. And aku akan dengan sukacita inform diorang pasal weather forecast of the day. 

Because we will be going somewhere up north; I predicted that it's going to be colder than Seoul. Hwacheon is the first to get the winter's breeze, and also the first county to froze in South Korea. So logik lah kan kalau dalam mindset aku area tu akan sejuk gila gaban.

Last year I went to Pyeongchang Trout Festival in Jinbu, it snowed heavily on our way to the event venue. And blizzard lagi masa di sana. Pasal tu aku dengan yakin suruh diorang pakai extra layers. Aku siap pakai 2 helai sweaters & down jacket. Tu belum campur long john. Stoking pun aku pulun pakai sampai 2 helai. And so did the rest of my family. Mengikut jak guide ndak bertauliah diorang ni.

Kami gerak awal pagi tu sebab ndak mau sampai lambat. Hwacheon is approximately 4 hours away from Seoul. Kalau bertolak lambat, haruslah akan sampai lewat. Haruslah ndak cukup masa untuk explore sepuas hati. Ndak mau lah setakat touch & go jak di sana nanti kan.

22 January 2015

Hwacheon, Gangwon

We took the subway to Gangbyeon Station. Crossed the street to Dong Seoul Bus Station. Sebab sudah tau destinasi, I straightaway headed to the counter & bought the intercity bus ticket to Hwacheon (화천). The bus frequency from Seoul to Hwacheon is every 30-40 minutes. Earliest bus departs at 705am & last bus departs at 735pm. 

# Our bus tickets. We got the 0835hr bus. Adek & Girl both entitled for discounts sebab masih students. As for us adults, we paid 13,900 Won (one way). 

And drama started after an hour on the road. Sebab winter so Ahjussi driver switched on the heater. Angah, Adek, Bunda & Ezza yang perasan kulit badak complained panas! panas! non stop. And masa tu aku tengok semua sudah berlong john cuma. Jadi lagi dramatis haru bila diorang ndak dapat tidur sebab budak² yang duduk belakang bas bising gila. Ntah apa jak lah cerita diorang, memang tiada kenal full stop. Rimas sebab panas + ngantuk tapi ndak dapat tidur = grumpy them!

Another 2 hours before we arrive, Adek sudah keluh kesah & repeatedly tanya aku. Jauh lagi kah. Sudah sampai kah? At first aku gagah lagi melayan tapi bila every 5 minutes dia buka soalan yang sama, aku pun apalagi! Buat² lah tidur. Semua jadi annoying sebab rimas keadaan panas dalam bas. But surprisingly, Aunty who sat in front of me langsung tiada bunyi. Selalunya dia lah yang paling anti-panas. I guess kali ni dia super steady sebab asyik layan view awesome along the road. Or maybe sebab seat kami tepi tingkap so ndak lah rasa bahang sangat. Tingkap pun berkabus. Ala sejuk dingin gitu. 

# Different view from what I saw last autumn. Subhanallah.

And after nearly 4 hours on board the bus, akhirnya kami sampai Hwacheon Intercity Bus Terminal. Alhamdulillah. Turun dari bas, semua cari kerusi. Aik macam ndak kepuasan duduk dalam bas nampak. Pastu aku pun 'set bearing'. First thing first, kena beli tiket bas balik pi Seoul.

Suddenly ada Oppa ni tegur aku & bagitau cara mau balik Seoul. Taulah muka aku tengah serabut proses info dalam otak. Actually memang tau pun dari Hwacheon either boleh naik direct intercity bus (macam yang kami naik dari Seoul tu) or turun di Chuncheon Train Station. Considering pagi tu kami naik bas, so balik nanti aku mau bawa diorang naik train pula. At least heater dalam train ndak macam dalam bas; gitu dalam fikiran aku. Jadinya dapatlah elak geng kulit badak dari rimas & panas.

# Hwacheon street
Kalau malam ni lagi lawa, those fishes will be lighted. Terus jadi lampu jalan. 

# Street sign
Walkertapaki jak dari bus terminal to the festival site. 

# Landmark for the festival venue

# One of the two ziplining
Sepatutnya Ezza & aku naik benda ni all the way to the main venue. Yang lain will meet us there. Tapi masa aku pi kaunter untuk beli tiket tu, Ahjussi bagitau close for 'lunch' (bagi signal makan). Pasrah!

# Hwacheon River which was frozen for acres!
Yang ni memang spot untuk trout fishing.

It was weekday so orang ndak berapa ramai. Kalau pi weekends, confirm trout fishing area tu penuh. Masa kami di sini, cuma 3 jak yang buka. 

# Big tents provided for visitors.
Ada khemah yang jual tiket, fishing equipment, foods & also macam khemah di atas. 

Ada gerai juga. Mostly jual ikan bakar. And winter snacks i.e hotteok. Tapi sebab dia jual sekali ngan tteokbokki & satay bulgogi aku terpaksa lupakan hasrat untuk beli hotteok. Telan liur jak dulu, nanti cari di Seol. 

# Buah berangan!
Last year pulun makan benda alah ni juga, so kali ni pun gitu juga. Isi perut selain buns & bread yang kami beli dari bakery on the way pi fishing site ni.

# Ice sculptures.

# Eolgomiseong Cave where the Ice Tunnel is located.

# Ice tunnel

Banyak aktiviti lain boleh buat sini apart from trout fishing. Such as snowmobile rides, ice sledding & sleighing, ice race car driving, ziplining, skating & mini ice hockey.

# Frozen river

# Eolgomiseong slide (blue slide on the right)
We didn't ride the slide because the cousins were more intrigued to ride the Bob-sleigh bicycle.

Unlike the winter festival in Pyeongchang, where I just have to buy the ticket once. Pastu sangkut tiket di jaket to be seen by the staffs. Senang. But at Hwacheon, I have to pay admission entry for each activity. Nasib baik lah counter ticket dekat. Else, memang confirm aku jadi spectator jak. 

# The bob-sleigh bike.
Cuma ada tayar di belakang.

# Paid 10,000 Won for 1 bike (2-seater). Girl got hers for free. Huntunglah jadi budak sekolah ndak cukup tinggi.

# Creative sleigh competition
Some of the sleighs invented by the participants. Too bad there are just for display, maybe di hari pertandingan baru boleh try test.

We played the bike for 30 minutes. Totally good exercise for the lazy me! Lama ndak cycling ni, rasa macam mau tercabut jak paha aku. Sudahlah jalan licin. Pastu gerakan tangan yang pegang handle kena sync dengan gerakan ur partner juga. Aku memang banyak kali kena marah sama si Ezza sebab aku cakap turn right, but I turned the handle to the left side. Kalau sugar rush memang macam tu, jadi bingai melantun². Pasrah jaklah wahai kajen!

# Musang eyeing on the sheep.

Well macam biasa, kalau sudah cycling...haruslah energy depletion. So masa untuk recharge tenaga. Aunty & Angah memang lepak dalam tent jak, diorang malas main game bagai. Jadi pemerhati katanya.

# Lunchbox we brought from home.
Sebab memang sudah aku kestau susah mau cari makanan di Hwacheon. Vegetarian restaurant pun tiada.

# My favourite section!
Bayar di kaunter, pilih ur choice of drink. Then isi hot water. Self service but pretty convenient. 

Lepas recharge diri, kami explore lagi area yang lain. Tapi ndak larat jalan pi area yang tangkap trout by hand. It was further up the frozen river. 

Games lain pun kami ndak main. Adek wanted to join the ice hockey but masa tu game belum start. Dia pun malas mau tunggu. Aku pula ingatkan lepas makan mau pi main ziplining tu. Tapi sekali tengok queue yang panjang, terus terbantut impian. Walhal bukan panjang mana pun queue tu. Apalah kejadian semua pun malas, ndak mau tunggu lebih masa sikit. Last year aku semangkit gila semua games aku main regardless the queue.

Ended up kami just pusing² before making our way out from the festival venue.

# The ice sledding counter.

# Ice sledding.
Didn't try this sebab baru lepas makan, so haruslah sendi semua kureng berkerjasama untuk dilipat.

Upon arriving memang nampak ramai askar. Ingatkan their day off because there is a military base in Hwacheon due to its location. Its northern border is parallel to the DMZ. Simply saying, it's actually located less than 20 kilometers away from North Korea. Puas lah juga cuci mata tengok askar handsome! Slurp!

# Variety act at the festival.
Seriously suara Ahjumma ni best gila. Part dia tarik bahagian chorus, memang pergh! Suara maintain, langsung ndak pecah. Siap menari ok!

# Walking out from the festival. 

Sebenarnya sangat berharap akan ada snowfall masa ni. Ndak lah berharap snow lebat macam last year but at least dapatlah rasa macamana kalau seleji di Northern area ni. Barulah feeling pi winter festival kan. Weather memang a bit gloomy ever since we arrived tapi tulah awan pula banyak. Walhal area Hwacheon ni memang ada seleji turun almost everyday. Memang tiada rezeki untuk ber-seleji haritu. 

# Wall art; aku suka!

# Selalu respect orang yang kreatif & pandai melukis.

Dari festival site, kami walkertapaki lagi pi another venue yang ada dalam map Hwacheon Festival. Sebab temperature pun suam² kuku; bak kata diorang! Jadinya jalan kaki berapa kilometer sekalipun tiada yang komplen penat.

# Festival map. Found aplenty here.

If ada yang tanya mana lagi best between Hwacheon & Pyeongchang. I will happily answer I like the latter better! I don't know about others, but ni based on my personal experience. Ice sledging dia ndak mencabar, snowmobile cars tutup. Maybe sebab kami pi weekday, orang ndak ramai. So feeling ber-festival dengan crowd berhimpitan adalah tiada. Sobs tiba² penyakit salahkan crowd lah kan.

So ke mana hala tuju lepas dari Ice Festival? Tu nanti aku update next entry. Panjang betul sudah entry ni aku rasa. Annyeong!

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 5: Pyeongchang Trout Festival, Jinbu

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Yeah, ada progress with the update. Less busy at the cafe so mari kita curi tulang update blog. Another 5 days to go. Hwaiting Bie!

We celebrated the first day of 2014 somewhere 2 hours from Seoul. Oh yeah! Terbabas sikit dari plan asal. Kunun mau bangun awal to catch the shuttle bus provided by Korea Tourism at 7am near Gwanghwamun Square. We've made a reservation prior coming. Naik shuttle bus ni dapat jimat banyak. We only have to pay 10,000₩/person for return journey to & fro Seoul-Jinbu. 

Tapi sebab tidur pun dekat 2am maka lambatlah kami bangun pagi tu. 

Alang² sudah terbabas, marilah breakfast di hostel jak. Ingatkan mau tapau nasi ni & menjamu selera dalam bas. Ndak pa, bukan rushing pun. And dapat makan nasi goreng kampung panas² di kala pagi yang sejuk membunuh adalah heaven. Breakfast pagi tu tajaan Pak Brahim's. Reheat jak.

Dong Seoul Bus Terminal. Located opposite Gangbyeon Station (Subway Line 2; Exit 4). 

We departed from the hostel around 930am. Reached Gangbyeon Station 15 mins later. Crossed the road & terpacaklah depan kaunter terminal. 

Beli tiket adalah sangat kacang pis. Itu sebab Jinbu ndak susah mau pronounce kan. Dapat aku kena beli tiket to Hoenggye?? Harus pengsan! 

Melayang 6,200₩ gara² lambat bangun. Ndak palah, bukan selalu pigi Jinbu. Apadehal RM 24.00. Sob. 

Dong Seoul Bus Terminal. 

Macam dejavu bila aku berdiri di area parking bay ni. I was here in 2012 en route to Hoenggye Intercity Bus Terminal. Masa tu destinasi was to Yongpyeong Ski Resort. This time, we headed to Jinbu Bus Terminal for the Pyeongchang Trout Festival.

On board the bus. Han River (Hangang) view. 

Lepas jak snap gambar di atas, aku pun simpan phone. And bermulalah aktiviti memproses taikmata. Tidur ndak hengat. Ahjussi driver pula bawa bas sungguh berhemah. 

I woke up after one hour. On the way to Jinbu, we passed by few villages kiri kanan highway. Pastu ada lintas tunnel twice if I'm not mistaken sebab masih mamai kan masa tu. 

White winter holiday for us. Syukur! Dream came true.

Seleji lagi!

After snowfalls yang sekejap di Chuncheon, aku ndak lah berharap sangat akan jumpa snowfall lagi. Sudah tertunai impian haritu, jadinya bersyukur harus. Yet when it snow again that day, memang aku rasa macam mau melompat dalam bas. Lebat pula tu. Semangkit gila I woke my cousin from her deep sleep. Pastu dengan paksa rela dia melayan aku. 

Apartment LH tu landmark yang Ahjumma di Jinbu Terminal bagi aku. Bangunan apartment ni berdepan sama terminal bas jak. And venue for the festival is just opposite the road of this apartment. Memang jalan kaki less than 5 mins pun from the terminal.

Gloomy weather. Terus aku buat assumption, mesti ada lagi ni snowfall. See? Mula tu bersyukurlah, ndak berharap sangatlah. Sekali nampak yang lebat on the way tadi, teruslah tamak kan. 

Open for public from 20 Dec to 2 Feb. The entrance is free. So sila masuk jangan segan². More info about the festival here.

First, tinjau kawasan. Sebab masih blur apa boleh dibuat apart from memancing trout. 

Ok boleh main snowbuster. Since aku ndak sempat main di Everland, mari lepas kempunan di sini.

Ada khemah tempat berehat. And panaskan badan. Pastu ada gerai jual macam² jenis snacks. Hot drinks too. 

Rasa² berapa bah suhu di Jinbu for this to happened? Tinggi ais ni jak dekat 5-6 meters. Frozen lagi. How long will it take to melt, eh?

Ukir ais jadi living area pula. Pastu aku pun poyo mau posing duduk atas kerusi tu. Ampun! Sejuk & beku bontot terus.

Sudah meronda & kenal pasti apa boleh dibuat...masuk building ni untuk beli tiket. 

Pastu bingung & blur. I can read Hangul; yes! But I don't understand them. Yang ada translation hanyalah nama games tu. How the system works memang ke laut aku faham.

Suddenly, ada Ahjumma ni approached us. With little English she explained to me things I need to know. Punyalah helpful walau ada masa tu dia gagap sikit sebab mau cari ayat yang aku boleh faham. 

Admission ticket.

We paid 18,000₩ per person for six games. That's the cheapest package available. Kalau mau beli tiket for each game pun boleh tapi rugilah because one game already cost 6,000₩. We skip the fishing part because it's quite expensive. Few benda i.e net, bait; need to buy separately. Ndak dapat ikan memang rugilah. So marilah kita hiburkan diri main games jak. 

Ada Ahjussi tolong pasangkan cangkuk tu. Tiket ni kena visible to the staffs. 

Jadual bas untuk balik Seoul. Informative sungguh, sana sini jadual ni ada dalam area festival tu. Column untuk Dong Seoul is the one on the far left; pink colour gitu.

Facilities! Hatta merokok pun ada cabin sendiri. Health-conscious kan. And I like it.

Heading to the trout fishing area. Semangkit tunjuk tiket walhal bukan boleh masuk dalam area memancing tu pun. Sob.

Comel kan all the tents; sangat organized. This area is accessible only to those with tickets. Ndak da istilah, anak temankan bapa memancing yadda yadda. Mau teman, sila beli tiket. 

Mampu? Sampai berbaring kau memancing punya pasal. 

Sudah puas cuci mata tengok orang memancing pelbagai gaya, pastu kagum lagi sama orang yang keluar bawa berekor² trout...kami pun jalan heading to the games area. And suddenly, ribut salji. Punyalah lebat, angin yang menampar muka jangan tanya level sejuk dia. 

Blizzard.

Gaban punya sejuk. Aku yang pakai tudung ni pun boleh terasa telinga berdesing. Mata pedih gila sebab masuk habuk salji tu. Terpaksa jalan membelakang.

Snow storm lasted less than three minutes tapi pedih di muka aku ndak payah cakap. We queued at the first game we wanted to try. The snow rafting. Yang ni cuma boleh main sekali so staff yang jaga ticked our ticket to mark yang kami sudah main game ni. Kalau pun boleh main banyak kali, memang taubat aku ndak mau. Once is enough. 

Paling extreme.

Main game ni memang paling mematahkan pinggang. Tunggang terbalik, sikit jak aku terpelanting keluar should I didn't grab tightly to the rope attached at the tube. Since both my cousin & I ikut tube yang sama, we have no picture of us riding it. Jadinya curi lah gambar dari website festival tu. Ngeks.

Snow-sledding. Memang superb ah. Rugi aku ndak bawa phone naik atas as the view from the departure area lagi lawa. Kan tempat tu tinggi. Yang ni boleh ulang alik main sampai muntah.

4-wheels ATV ni pun boleh ulang sampai pengsan. Punyalah susah aku mau control benda alah ni. Berat ok, berat.

We spent the longest time at this area. Alhamdulillah finally dapat main their traditional folk game; sledding. Selama ni teringin gila bila tengok Running Man & other K-variety shows. Sledding is one of the most popular folk winter games among Korean.

Lenguh gila kaki main benda alah ni, tapi gagahkan juga main. Bukan selalu dapat main atas sungai beku!

Selang seli main ice bicycle pula. Kaki yang sejuk gigil, memang berzaman lah ambil masa to cycle. Demiii pengalaman manis kan. Gagahkan juga mengayuh.

Lemak berlaci² di perut made it triple times harder for me to cycle. Sob sob! Nasib juga ndak cramp kaki aku time ni.

We wanted to try skating but there weren't any ice skate available. There is no limit of time to play the games here. So I waited manatau ada yang mau let go like the ice bicycle yang kami jumpa tengah² rink tu. After almost an hour of waiting; tapi sambil main sledding lah near the ice skate booth...we gave up. Lagipun kami plan to take the 5pm bus back to Seoul. 

Besar gila heater. Try taruk muka, memang hangus total terus. 

I spent my first day of 2014 with the little cousin of mine; who I used to babysit when she was a kid. 

Jinbu Bus Terminal view from the apartment. Masa ni matahari pun tiba² memunculkan diri. But only for few good minutes. 

Bus arrived early but departed from Jinbu on the dot. Journey back to Seoul took nearly four hours as there were massive road congestion along our way back. Ahjussi sempat take a break at one of the RnR at the highway. Should I know the cousin is going to vomit on the bus, I will definitely go search something for her to eat. Perut kosong & dalam bas pula panas sebab heater kuat sangat, then she only had nasi goreng for breakfast & roasted chestnut at the festival thus she vomited twice while on the bus. Masa di Jinbu aku tanya lapar or ndak, she told me she's quite full with the chestnut & soya drink that we bought at the festival. 

Lucky us Ahjumma sebelah hulur beg pelestik & tisu. Penat aku bow ucap Kamsahapnida sama Ahjumma tu. Sungguh ndak ternilai bantuan pelestik tu. Else memang kena sumpah seranah lah sama passenger lain if my cousin vomited on the floor. 

I forced her to take my magical gula² Hacks. This candy memang benda paling sentiasa ada dalam beg aku. Sampai Seoul, memang lembik habis sudah budak kecil tu. So we headed straight to our hostel. Selamat tinggal plan untuk dinner di Sindang Tteokbokki padahal yang mau sangat makan sana was her. Malam tu aku jadi masterchef ndak bertauliah lagi sekali. Buat mushroom soup, telur dadar & makan sama nasi panas. Memang superb kenyang! 

I'll leave u with the videos I took at the festival. Ntah apa jak lah kualiti video ni. But ni lah sumber memori terbaik for us both. Apart from the hundreds of pictures we took that day. 

Syukran Allah for the opportunity. Moment at Pyeongchang I will cherished my whole life. First time merasa ribut salji kan. Albeit only the mild storm. 

eryantierdabdulkarim