I spent this past weekend reconnecting with Korea and the kindness and beauty it has to offer. My five friends and I, thanks to Angel's amazing planning, decided to travel up to Pyeongchang for the weekend. I think we all needed some time away from Andong and this was the perfect place for it. Pyeongchang is a rural town in the northeastern part of Korea. It is high up in the beautiful mountains and will be the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. This was the constant joke all weekend.. because this town is so underdeveloped and not very exposed to foreigners, that it was hard for us to imagine the mass amounts of people coming to this town in five years. One thing is for sure, these Pyeongchang residents are in for one hell of a culture shock.
We left on Saturday morning, bright and early to make a 2.5 hour train ride to Wonju. That was followed by a 1.5 hour bus ride to Pyeongchang where we were met by one of our pension owners, who then drove us about 30 minutes up to our pension. As we packed our six bodies and all of our bags into the small van, we made our way through the gorgeous mountains on some of the narrowest one-way roads I've ever seen. The question of what would happen if we ran into a car coming in the opposite direction clearly crossed our minds. Not sure if I wanted to know the answer to that one. By the time we reached the top of the mountain and saw our hostel all thoughts of being traded were out of our heads. I know- not funny. But some of us (meaning me) were contemplating the scenarios and escapes.- (This may or may not have to do with me recently becoming addicted to the new show, 'The Following.') Our pension was perfect. Huge kitchen, dining room, two bathrooms, and two large bedrooms.. one with a view that was absolutely breathtaking. |
| View from our pension! |
As we made our way back outside, we met the owners' beautiful huskies used for dog sledding. I should mention we were supposed to do this, but the weather proved to be against us. Damn you Korea for finally having a warm day! How dare you! Yes it was an absolutely gorgeous day.. no coats for us! Hallelujah. Instead we went ATV riding through the snow-capped mountainside, through mud, ice, and rough terrain. Riding quads has got to be one of my favorite activities. Unfortunately there's not a lot of opportunity for it back home. You know the person who deliberately rides full speed into the muddy ass puddles? That would be me. Later on that day we geared up for a few games of paintball. Now, this was my first time playing and I was admittedly scared. I don't do well with impending pain. The first game I actually did pretty well- shooting my friend Lisa smack between the eyes (mask-protected of course). But the second game did not end well for me. I went home with three very large, very painful battle wounds on my legs and arm. Thanks friends! Despite this, it was still a bunch of fun! By the end of the day we were exhausted, so we headed back and showered the cow shit and the good old outdoors off of our bodies and cooked ourselves up a fantastic dinner. On our stop in Wonju, a few of us ran into Home Plus to pick up the goods, and thanks to Angel's cooler- we were able to cook up some delicious meat, a salad, and South African's famous braaibroodjies. The next morning we made traditional Korean rice cakes called 떡 "deok" and practiced archery. I strutted up to that field thinking I was Katniss herself, but damn is that sport hard!
I can't say enough about this place. The owners were sincere and so accommodating. Typical of a cute elderly Korean couple. The pension itself was clean and spacious. Perfect conditions. I'd recommend this place to anyone here in Korea. We've already talked about going back next winter for dog sledding. That's a must! Pension --->: 700 Village
This weekend proved to be a productive, action-packed two days. Not a typical "girl's weekend" what so ever. Quite the memories =)
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| Made my homemade protein bars for the trip! DELISH. Find out how to make them here! |
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