Korea Rural Tourism: Pyeongchang 21/11/2015

If you want me to make a conclusion about the three farm tours that I have joined, I would describe the first tour, which we went to Paju, as an “experience-gaining tour”. We involved ourselves in making many things. For an example, it was my first time making soap, chocolates, wine, buns, and jams. Through all the experiences, I have gained new understandings towards the makings of these daily life substances which I never paid any attention to. It was really precious, I could say.

For the second tour where we went to Damyang and Boseong for two days one night, was a “sightseeing trip”. The scenery was really breathtaking, especially the Boseong tea plantation. The damyang slow city was really nice too. We took a stroll around in the evening, where there was no car on the roads, quiet Hanok (Korean traditional houses) can be seen. That was a relaxing and healing trip, I would say.

For the last trip, which I am going to introduce in details today, was definitely a “food trip”. From the morning to the minute we get off from the bus at night, I had not felt hungry at all. It was as if my mouth did not stop eating on that whole day. For all the food lovers like me, the trip was truly enjoying. So if you are a food lover like me, you have to read this post well as I am going to tell you a secret place – the food paradise in South Korea!

Recall back that day, which was one of our farm supporters member`s birthday, our kind manager decided to do something. He treated every one of us with McDonald`s breakfast set! How kind is he, huh. Besides, they distributed sandwich for us, too! We spent about 2 and a half hours to get there by bus. The food paradise that I mentioned were Jeonggangwon and Uiyaji wind village in Gangwondo. Gangwondo is a province located in the North East of South Korea. Jeonggangwon and Uiyaji wind village are both located in Pyeongchang-gun. Pyeongchang is the place where 2018 Winter Olympics is going to be held. There is a reason why Pyeongchang was chosen as the place to hold important sports event like this. It is because Pyeongchang is one of the first places in Korea where snow falls every year. My roommate told me that the place had started to snow yesterday. If it is true, it was the first snow in this year in South Korea! So, no wonder Pyeongchang is chosen as the place for the sports event!

We went to Jeonggangwon to put on Hanbok(the traditional costumes) as soon as we reached there. 

We had the chance to match the colors of the Hanbok ourselves, and put on them. After that, we went out to take some photos. Since the building looks like Hanok, the photos came out really nice. It was as if we were brought back to 1000 years ago to the palace in Korea dynasty. 

After we changed back into our own clothes, it was almost lunch time. We had the opportunity to see the making of bibimbap (mixed rice). It was actually just mixing them all together, because the teacher there had already prepared all the cooked ingredients and all we did was just mixing, but honestly, it was one of the best bibimbap that I have tried before. Frankly speaking, I don’t fancy bibimbap because usually I prefer food with a lot of soup, such as jjigae (stew). However, I like good bibimbap (like the one in Jeonju and this one, for sure) even though bibimbap is just mixed rice with a LOTTTTTT of vegetables, but trust me, this one was really nice.

After the lunch, we spent another 40 minutes in the bus to get to Uiyaji Wind Village. It was a well-known village with its winter programs. There is a winter festival every year, which the people there said the accommodation is usually full. So if we want to go, we have to reserve the rooms earlier. Sheep feeding and shearing activities were available there. They produce fresh milk too! the village is said to be as big as 2 yeouido. The wind over there is very strong, so the wind turbines were built there to generate electricity. However, I did not have the chance to visit the sheep and wind turbines there yet because we did not have much time. We made cheese, ice cream and pizza there. The making of cheese surprised me, because I never knew that cheese can also be made in this way. The well-being ice cream was easy to make, and it was as tasty as the one sold in the Baskin Robbins, haha.

It was really a fun day spent with nice people.

If I were to given a chance to visit those villages again, I would say yes without hesitation because those are the places where we can get ourselves out from the hustle and bustle of the city.

As a university student, I understand that everyone has a really hard times struggling with all the assignments, presentations which nobody likes, quizzes and tests especially when the final exams is just around the corner. Life might sound boring to you. But, take a step behind, look around the world, find a place peaceful as those villages to visit, you will find that life is not as bad as you thought. Because of the existence of these great places in the world, you know that your life is still worth fighting for.




Posted by Tan Yee Ting http://chihewanle911.blogspot.kr/2015/11/pyeongchang-21112015.html