Well the focal point of why Emily and I chose to go to Korea for vacation this year was to do some Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding. I knew I wanted to go to a country that had this feature and also wasn’t far from Taiwan. It came down to China, Korea or Japan. China I ruled out because I was unsure of what visa kinds of things Americans needed for going there and just something about the choice didn’t sit right. Japan got nixed because all the reports I’d heard were that its an expensive country…..definitely no good! Thus the Republic of Korea was the lucky winner.
So I started doing some research on the different ski resorts Korea had to offer. My plan was that Emily and I would hit two of them. In reality we ended up at one for three days. Yongpyong Ski Resort lost to Vancouver for hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics by only three votes and the internet consistently listed it as Korea’s best skiing. I figured if it was almost good enough for Olympians than two kids from Michigan would definitely be able to have a good time. It also had the bonus of having a hostel right at the hill which cost a whopping $8 USD per night for a bunk.
The resort is pretty big. There are several hotels to choose from, condominiums, apartments, restaurants, and one of the hotels even has an indoor water park. The vertical at its highest, if I remember right, was around 4,000 meters…..now that I think of it though that might just have been above sea-level and not a true top to bottom measurement, I don’t know. They don’t get enough snow for skiing though. Consequently the snow is mostly man-made. Its sort of strange to see the white slopes with skiers zipping by meters away while riding the chairlift above the wooded hill with only a dusting of white directly below your feet. I think my biggest complaint was that there was a fair bit of ice on some of the runs. In some places there were patches bad enough for ski-patrol to put up mini-blocks in the middle of hills. I also felt like the grooming could have been better as well. On the good side of things it was good skiing. I’d place it above Searchmont in Canada but below Loveland in Colorado in terms of length of hills, which is pretty much what I was expecting. Searchmont’s snow is way more fun though and Colorado’s prices are way higher so I guess its hard to compare. It was great to be skiing again!
For the first day I rented a board and Emily and I skied hard morning and afternoon. The next day back on a board I was a little sore though. We took it easier and explored some more of the hills….there are like 31 runs total. We went out for a few runs that night but that didn’t last very long as we were both tired and were afraid of injury. Day three Emily decided to hit the Korean bathhouse instead of the slopes so I rented a pair of skis and got a ticket for the gondola which serves the 5 km long intermediate trail and the double-black racing section of the resort. Upon reaching the summit though I discovered the racing section was closed…..what a bummer! It wasn’t too bad though because there were other blacks and double-blacks that I had already skied in other areas of the resort that weren’t bad at all. I particularly liked the hill that was formerly used for racing called Silver. The 5 km trail was fun too. An easy ride and pretty views it wove back and forth down the side of the mountain! Perfect for couple or family skiing.
While we were at the resort there was also some sort of competition going on. We kept on seeing signs for “Pyeongchang IBU Biathlon World Competition” or something like that and saw people walking around in matching uniforms with different countries’ flags on the sleeves and stuff. I really didn’t find out what it was all about though and the events or whatever must have been somewhere besides the skiing hills because we didn’t come across any of them.
One very pleasant surprise was the crowd. Everything I had read on the internet about skiing in Korea included complaints of crowded slopes and long lines for lifts. Thankfully this led to my decision to ski during the week which was probably the reason why the longest we waited in line for a lift during our three days was no more than 5 minutes at most. I didn’t feel that hampered at all going down the runs by other people. An interesting side-note is that we heard quite a bit of German which was weird because last year scuba-diving in the Philippines there were tons of Germans as well. I guess they just get out more than the rest of us.
We also made out with prices. My lonelyplanet guide book published in 2007 put the exchange rate at 700 or so Korean Won for one US dollar but when we were there it was like 1300 Won per $1 USD. We were also grateful that at Yongpyong’s restaurants and convenience stores the mark-up wasn’t as disgusting as it is at US Ski Resorts. Lift tickets and rentals weren’t terribly expensive either, plus staying at the hostel got us coupons for 30% off. I think I figured it out to skiing all day with a rental at full-price was like $90 USD per person. Considering thats about what you pay at Bittersweet in Kalamazoo, MI, which has never even been heard of by the Olympic Committee I’d say Yongpyong is a pretty good deal!
Enough with all the money details and reports on the hills and crowds. All in all it was wonderful to be on slopes again carving up the hills on a snowboard and skis. It was great having my nose go numb while the rest of my body stayed cozy and warm under thick layers of clothing. It was wonderful to get a hot meal and a beer and be able to truly appreciate its warmth and comfort after a full day of exertion. It was even wonderful to remember simple pleasures like using a window sill as a refrigerator. I’m glad we had this opportunity and now I can proudly say: I’ve skied Yongpyong!
We’ve arrived back from in Taiwan from our vacation in Korea! It was an awesome, awesome, awesome trip. The following is a list of the free stuff we received from the generous people of Korea:
a free traditional Korean pipe during a performance at the Chongdong Theater in Seoul when Emily was called up on stage
two free cups of instant coffee from a generous coffee shop staff in Jinbu
a free power adapter for plugging into Korean wall-sockets from a generous shop-keeper in Jinbu. Why he didn’t want our money we’ll never know
a free dinner at a restaurant outside Odaesan National Park from the generous Temple Stay staff of Woljeongsa Temple
a free ride to Yongpyong Ski Resort from Mr. Joo from Odaesan National Park
two trinkets bought at a gift shop at Yongpyong for Emily by Mr. Joo
two Haagen-daz ice cream bars from Mr. Joo
two free swimsuit rentals and admission to the indoor water park at Peak Island at Yongpyong Ski Resort from Mr. Joo
free apples, chips, beer, tea, coffee, and the like from Mr. Joo
an assortment of winter clothes to wear while skiiing from Mr. Joo plus a set of skis for Emily to use so we could save money on rentals
more free food from Mr. Joo
a free ride in Mr. Joo’s Porsche Carrera to visit Gangeung and see Korea’s East Sea
a free chance for Michael to drive Mr. Joo’s Porsche for a few kilometers on the curvy roads of Korea’s heartland
two sets of these two nut shaped things that you role around in your hand for massaging from Mr. Joo
This list doesn’t even include the money Mr. Joo saved us with the serious discounts on Michael’s ski rental and lift tickets that he got us with his season pass holder abilities and the front row center seats at the Chongdong Theater that Mary Wang of Hongdae Guesthouse got us at the nosebleed wing seats price.
God is a pretty incredible provider and Mr. Joo reminds me of Jesus.
After writing a happy birthday email to my Mom (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA MUFFETT!!!!), I realized that I’d written a ton about our trip in Korea so far. It was intended to be a “brief rundown,” I said, but ended up pretty long. So, I’ll make more use of it by posting my log here, for you to enjoy. Pictures will come when we get back to Taiwan, on Thursday.
Here’s the briefest summary I can manage: We’ve been having an adventurous, crazy, bizarre, cultured, insightful, fun, FUN time here in South Korea!!! Wish you were here 
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Well – we’ve spent a crazy 5 nights in Korea so far, and only have 3 left (boo!) Why is it that adventures make time seem so much longer than normal? hm. We’ve been having a seriously awesome time, backpacking and staying in youth hostels, riding the VAST subway and finding our way by bus from town to town. Michael is such a good adventure-leader, there’s never a dull moment!
Day 1: After packing everything else, I looked for my passport and discovered it was missing. AAAHHHH!!!! But, after racing around town, I got a new, temporary one in less than 5 hours! Wow!!! We made our flight and got to Korea safely. But then…after trying our credit cards at the airport ATM, neither one of us could guess our PIN. We had almost no money in cash…not good. We got to our hostel (which was actually just a private hotel room for super cheap), Michael called the bank in the US, and we were told we could get a cash advance from any bank without using our PIN. Thank you GOD!!!
Day 2: Left the airport hostel mid-morning, took the 1-hour bus into Seoul, and got settled in at the next hostel – 3 bunks, heated beds, nice roomies and just across the street from a hoppin’ university town. After getting some cash, we spent the day wandering around, eating strange and wonderful foods, buying fun clothes, and looking for a bar that might not exist: our search for live music was fruitless, but we spent a few hours listening to a DJ at a local pub.
Day 3: Slept in (as usual), took a tour of the last imperial residence palace, which just so happens to be smack in the middle of the city. It was absolutely beautiful! Woodsy and set in with the landscape, it reminded me of the asian version of a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. You’d love it there. That night we went to a traditional music and dance concert at the Chong Dong Theater, with crazy drums, singing and perfectly synchronized, beautiful dancers. I got called up on stage but the drummers, who happened to be a bunch of hams, and after throwing a spinning disk around was given a long pipe! yay! We spent the evening popping into bars and music clubs, hoping to find some good local talent, and we did
Day 4: After less than 3 hours of sleep, we packed up and made it to the USO Korea, where we took a tour bus to the DMZ. Our tour guide was a hilarious Korean man, who was largely incomprehensible, which made us laugh constantly. I think he kept trying to tell jokes or something, and it just wasn’t working out! hehe. The actual DMZ was…bizarre. There we were, standing on the North Korean side of the room where they have joint meetings, our every move monitored, taking….pictures? It seemed so unreal. At one observation point, we could see a few kilometers into N. Korea. The day before, I had finished reading a historical fiction account of the Korean War, in which a Chinese soldier ended up in a POW camp in Korea, and ultimately had to choose whether he would repatriate to China and his family, or leave for the unknown free world of Taiwan. I saw the bridge between North and South, the same one he had to cross over himself. It was crazy. We returned to town and found our way to the city bus station, and after some attempts at sign language got bus tickets to a town close to both our ski resort and a national park. We stopped into a local restaurant, ate a hearty meal, and were pointed to a hotel in town – one that happened to be clean, cheap, and warm. We slept on the heated floors with a few blankets. Heavenly! Wow that was a long day.
Day 5: We had Jefferies church in the morning, then set out to find out how to take a bus to Odaesan National Park. While we were waiting for our bus, we stopped into a coffee shop for some breakfast. They didn’t take credit card, so we were going to leave – but they begged us to stay, and gave us some free coffee! So friendly and warm! We got off the bus at one mountain temple, then hiked 3 hours (with our packs) along the river to Woljeongsa Temple, planning to take the bus back…but at Woljeangsa we were approached by a Korean man who first asked us where we were going, then offered to drive us there! We were skeptical, but then he took us to meet the rest of the gang – other people also living at the temple. We went out to dinner with them, a lively bunch, and had sooo much fun. Mr. Joo (that’s his name) drove us to YongPyong Ski Resort, took us swimming, bought us presents and ice cream, and generally made us feel totally unworthy. What an amazing man! We slept in the youth hostel, which is virtually empty (my room really is empty), which is only $7 a night
Day 6: That’s today. Mr. Joo met us bright and early this morning with a suitcase full of ski clothes, and proceeded to outfit us with the best gear, things we definitely would have had to rent otherwise. “Templestay” members also get 50% off of lift tickets, so we are saving so much money just by having him around! Seriously…God is so kind to us. We three skied hard today, and I fell only a few times. hoorah! I’m getting better. This was only my 5th day of skiing ever, which is really amazing. Michael is a good teacher
Now we’re sitting in a cafe, Michael’s reading, and we just finished some pizza. And my “little update” has turned into a pretty long narrative. whoops There’s so much I left out, too… We plan to ski tomorrow as well, maybe Wednesday too, and then head back to Seoul Wednesday night. Our flight leaves at 1pm on Thursday. I start school again on Monday.
Life goes fast
Love you all!!!!!!
Emily
Today was quite a day. We began by packing and getting the house ready for departure. Once it came time to locate our passports we ran into difficulty though. Emily had lost hers. She researched what she could do on the interweb lickity-split and set off to the Taipei Immigration Office, then on to the American Institute in Taiwan (aka USA embassy) and then back to the Taipei Immigration Office securing her temporary passport in the nick of time.
We decided to screw the cheaper option of taking the bus to the airport and took a taxi instead (I hate shelling out money) because of the time crunch we were now under.
Once we got to the airport we got through everything just fine with time to spare and boarded the Korean Air flight without any more problems.
After the million hour flights from the US to Taiwan this measely little 2 hour 20 min flight to Incheon International Airport outside of Seoul, South Korea was nothing.
After touchdown we got through immigration and customs no problem. Then we tried to use our credit card at an ATM to get some more cash as we only had a little bit. Here is where the next fiasco overtook us. Neither of us could get our credit cards to work in the ATM because we couldn’t remember our PIN numbers. So without much cash we got on our free shuttle from the Airport to the Airport Backpacker Guesthouse where we are staying tonight. After 2 minutes in the car we got to our hostel. It is really really really nice and is only $35ish USD a night for two people….I am very impressed.
I got on the internet and made some international phone calls on my cell phone (I am not looking forward to seeing the bill) to get the credit card situation sorted out. After talking to VISA representatives it seems as though I’ll be able to get cash without my PIN by going to banks and showing my passport. They also told me I shouldn’t have a problem using it for purchases so hopefully we’ll be okay.
Those few hours thinking we were stuck in Korea for the next week without any money or way of getting any was quite the stress-test though. Needless to say we recommend everyone to locate their passports and double-check their methods of obtaining cash before traveling by at least 24 hours if not more.
On a pleasant note: Its great here. Our plane got in after dark so I can’t really see much but stepping outside of the airport into the cold winter air made me feel like I was home. It was real winter air where you could see your breath and needed a coat. It felt great!
We are excited to greet tomorrow, fix the money situation and make our triumphal entry into Seoul.
I cannot believe what I just witnessed. I’m here at our apartment. Moments ago I stepped out onto our porch where our washing machine and clothesline are (dryer’s in Taiwan are only for laundry mats and rich people) for some air. It faces Heping Road which isn’t a side-street by any stretch of the imagination. It is a four-lane road after all. This is important now so remember, too many cars and mopeds were zipping by to count while all this was taking place.
As I was standing there and gazing out at the traffic going by I saw a cab stop along the opposite side of the street. There were no passengers. The cab-driver got out of his car, walked to a little wall, and after looking up and down the sidewalk urinated with his back to me and the traffic. Finishing he walked back to his cab, climbed in and drove away.
Needless to say I am dumbfounded.
I feel its important to note that Taiwan, and especially Taipei, are quite westernized and well off. Taiwan is nowhere near a third-world country and if its developing instead of developed (no idea where the experts put Taiwan in this regard) then its on the upper end of developing. GUYS PEEING IN THE STREETS ISN’T NORMAL!
Oh the memories we make.
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