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I stood in the middle of Hwacheon Stream, holding a small plastic fishing rod, staring down at my boots.
Or, perhaps more accurately, I stared past my boots at the thick layer of ice that had formed on the surface of the stream, the dinner plate-sized holes that had been drilled into the ice, and — through those holes — the scores of trout that were darting about in the clear, frigid waters.
It was the coldest day of the season. Temperatures had plunged to -13° C, and I could barely feel my face (let alone my feet).
To some, choosing to visit any country at its frostiest may sound almost masochistic, but exploring Gangwon Province — located in Northeast South Korean and a three-hour drive from — during the winter can have its benefits.
Chief among Gangwon’s most popular attractions is the annual Sancheoneo Festival, which got its start in 2003 and which was held from Jan 14 to Feb 5 this year. Also known as the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival, the winter event is estimated to have drawn more than 1.5 million visitors from around the globe last year.
They come for activities like snow sledding, ice slides and ice skating, but the most unique and exciting events include ice fishing and, for the truly adventurous, bare hand fishing – where participants have five minutes to wade through a pool of freezing water in shirts and shorts to catch mountain trout with their bare hands. (Since most people cannot hold on to live, slippery fish for more than a few seconds, participants also have to put their trout in their shirts for safekeeping.) Those who manage to catch any trout can pay about 2,000 (S$2.50) won to have their fish seasoned and cooked at special grill centres. Those not lucky enough to make a catch can opt for the less hardcore option by ordering grilled trout or trout sashimi at restaurants near the festival grounds.
Since I was unwilling to discover how it feels to wrestle with icy, live fish and then have the wriggling catch nestled near my belly, I decided to try my hand at ice fishing. I was thrilled about the prospect of returning to Singapore, or at least my hotel, with honour, glory and 10 bags of fish.
But, armed with five layers of shirts and sweaters, a pair of pants, two pairs of leggings, two pairs of wool socks and a military-grade heat pack, I must have looked more like a Human Ball than an expert angler, because the guides quickly flocked over to me to teach me how to fish. I jolted my rod in all directions, as instructed, silently grateful that I hadn’t quit my day job to become a fisherwoman. I could see in the clear waters under the ice, and the trout were swimming leisurely above, below and even around my bait — but never actually biting.
After about 30 minutes, my guide, perhaps sensing my ineptitude, decided to steer me towards other activities. After all, there were so many more things to see and do in the rest of Gangwon Province, and there was no time to waste.
COUNTRYSIDE ENCHANTMENTS
During my five-day visit, I visited more than a dozen sights in three counties, including Pyeongchang County, where the Winter Olympics will be held next year. One of my favourite parts of Pyeongchang include the massive Daegwallyeong Sky Ranch, where cows and sheep graze freely during the summer. Since it was winter, however, we decided to spend our time sledding down a snowy hill, and about 45 minutes feeding the residents of its sheep farm.
I was genuinely delighted when, one by one, the sheep bounded over eagerly, gently nibbling grass out of my hands. Sadly, I became decidedly less interesting when I ran out of grass, and they began to turn their woolly bottoms towards me, heading for greener pastures elsewhere.
In Jeongseon County, I spent an afternoon exploring the Jeongseon Five-Day Market, thus named because the market is open every five days.
There, farmers and traders gather to sell Korean herbs, biscuits, tea leaves, pickled vegetables and traditional Korean desserts like hoddeok (Korean sweet pancakes) and rice cakes. And the food was cheap, too. A meal consisting of buckwheat noodles, toppoki (spicy rice cakes), sundae (blood sausages) and various pancakes cost about 50,000 (S$61.80) won for 10 people. I was also excited to see two tiny puppies on sale, until my guide said whether they become pets or dinner. Their fate depended on the person who bought them.
After lunch, we stopped by the Byeongbangchi Observatory, located between Gyuram-ri and Buksil-ri in Jeongseon County.
Standing on an open-air observation deck hanging from a cliff almost 600m above the ground was exhilarating, but it took me a few seconds to get used to the deck’s tempered glass floors — showing how far I would fall if the glass ever broke — before I could really enjoy the breathtaking views of Bamseom Island and Donggang River.
REAL BUNNY SLOPES FOR TRUE BEGINNERS
Jongseon County also happens to be home to High1 Resort, which comprises several hotels, condominiums, a casino, as well as a sprawling ski resort. Unlike the ski resorts I have visited in the United States and Europe, which had small bunny slopes that required beginning skiers to physically and repeatedly climb up small mounds of snow to practise skiing down, High1 Resort had gentle, beginner slopes measuring between 1 to 2km, which means that beginners can actually focus on learning how to ski.
Since I am marginally more talented at skiing than I was at fishing, but because I have always had trouble turning right on the slopes, I enlisted the help of a young and dashing ski instructor. He was teaching visitors the basics as part of the GoGo Ski Festival, aimed specifically at introducing South-east Asian tourists to winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.
I was impressed by the way he corrected my posture and technique, because in a matter of minutes, I was navigating the bunny slopes with — judging by my instructor’s enthusiasm and expression — the grace and poise of an Olympic skier.
Later, my instructor, swollen with pride, told me that I’d passed his test. I responded by lying in the snow, with my gear still on, exhausted but satisfied.
And then I realized, although it was -7º C on the slopes and my nose was running, I felt quite warm indeed.
This trip was made possible by the Korea Tourism Organization and Gangwon Province.