Week 53–54 · January 20, 2015 · Hwacheon, South Korea
The Hwacheon
Sharon and Annelise came over for a quick week around some school holidays. An unexpected treat during the week was the Ice and Trout Festival — a Meetup group notice, a 2-hour drive north, crossing the 38th parallel marker, and nearly convincing ourselves we had taken a wrong turn.
Sharon and Annelise came over for a quick week around some school holidays — ended up being a busy week as I was working and also had a quick trip to Tokyo, met up with an old friend, and finished the weekend in Beijing. Since I have 3 — 80 hour weeks ahead of me I will pace my write ups over the next couple of weeks. An unexpected treat during the week was the Ice and Trout Festival. I am in several “Meetup” groups and a notice came out for this event and although we couldn't make it with the larger group, we decided to take an afternoon and check it out on our own.
It was about a 2 hour drive and as we were heading north, we crossed the 38th parallel marker and some guards along the road and got a bit nervous that we had taken a wrong turn and ended up in that other country. But we were on the right track and ended up finding it. Not that crowded on a mid-week afternoon (but almost a million the prior weekend). It was everything to do with ice — fishing, skating, sledding, sculptures, bike sleds, hockey, and typical festival food (at least typical Korean food).
Didn't plan on fishing, but for $5 it was worth a try and we hit our “foreigner limit” — everyone was very welcoming and helpful in getting us outfitted then cooking our catch. The local press cameraman was very helpful to Sharon and Annelise — for some reason was more focused on them than he was me. Lots of ROK soldiers there — I guess they are posted in the DMZ and this was a break.
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo (Mountain Trout) Ice Festival is held annually in January in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province — about 100km north of Seoul, near the DMZ. It is one of South Korea's most popular winter festivals, regularly drawing over a million visitors over its three-week run despite its remote location. The Hwacheon River in this area freezes solid enough to support ice about 1 foot thick, as described here. The festival is centred on ice fishing for mountain trout (sancheoneo), which are farmed in the river for the event. CNN has ranked it among the world's best winter festivals. The 38th parallel marker crossed on the drive north is the approximate line of the Korean Demilitarized Zone — Hwacheon County is one of the southernmost areas before the restricted military zones begin.
Didn't plan on fishing, but for $5 it was worth a try and we hit our “foreigner limit” — everyone was very welcoming and helpful in getting us outfitted then cooking our catch. The local press cameraman was very helpful to Sharon and Annelise — for some reason was more focused on them than he was me. Lots of ROK soldiers there — I guess they are posted in the DMZ and this was a break. The crossing of the 38th parallel marker and seeing guards along the road before finding the festival was not what was expected on an afternoon trip.