We decided to go to the Taebaek Snow Festival and to make it even more authentic we stayed at a traditional Korean home instead of a modern hotel. We had a feeling we were going to be roughing it when the intermediary for the rental was concerned about how a Westerner might not be used to the lack of amenities. I imagine my wife won over their concerns talking about her love of history and how much she like the architecture. While we survived the night I can understand why it is not as popular during the coldest time in winter. The “traditional Ondol”* heating works… but pretty varying temperature spread based on if you are near the fire pit or on the chimney side. Even being on the far cold side I wished there were little spits I was rotating on or a mechanism like the hot dogs at the QuikTrip. Just something to flip me occasionally so my cooked side and frozen side would change out intermittently. Some time around 6am the fire died out and we were up and ready to put on a coat.
After a stop at the local GS25 to get coffee and Mt. Dew we were ready to take the short drive over to the snow festival. We started off by parking and once again being amazed at the Korean festival bus efficiency. Once at the base its around a 1/2 mile climb up to the sites past multiple stands selling foods and grocers selling local specialties. The first stop was the ice slide which was a hit with the kids. There was also a grill your own food station.
Further up the mountain was the snow displays. There were many winter Olympic themed displays this year since the winter Olympics are being held in Korea. The ice maze was also quite fun. We didn’t stay too long due to the lack of sleep the night before. We stopped at the food stalls at the bottom for a quick corn dog before heading out. I think this is something we should probably attend again if we stay in Korea longer.
*Ondol Heating – I am not Meg and will not write a history lesson on it. Just Wikipedia Ondol.