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| A Woman's Directory For Travel and Life. WAVE Journey is your one stop online resource for women oriented businesses and services around the world. WAVE Journey is for every woman to enjoy. If you love to travel, cook, read or revel in outdoor activities this website is for you. If you are looking to connect with other like-minded women or if you are interested in finding businesses or services that cater to women, WAVE Journey is your number one online resource. South Korea: Over the River and Through the Woods to the Mt. Taebek Snow Festival ~ Article by Tamara |
| WAVE Journey |
| Women's Adventures, Vacations & Experiences ~ Your Journey Starts Here! |
BIO: Tamara is an elementary school teacher in Seoul with a BA in Anthropology from
Pomona College in Claremont, California. She studied in Nepal as part of the Anthropology
degree. In addition, she has an Ed.M. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, and there she worked on a learning intervention involving Chinese characters in
Korean: “Hanja via Cartoons.” She lived in Korea for nearly 4 years total, the first year with
a Korean family. Her writing appeared in the Korea Herald and was selected in the Seoul
Metro Writing Contest.
Pomona College in Claremont, California. She studied in Nepal as part of the Anthropology
degree. In addition, she has an Ed.M. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, and there she worked on a learning intervention involving Chinese characters in
Korean: “Hanja via Cartoons.” She lived in Korea for nearly 4 years total, the first year with
a Korean family. Her writing appeared in the Korea Herald and was selected in the Seoul
Metro Writing Contest.
In Korea’s earliest mythology Taebek Mountain, whose name literally translates as “great,
grand, excessive white mountain,” was the location where the gods came down to the world
below and started the human race. Coming to Taebek city in midwinter on a bus that left from
Seoul ’s East Bus Terminal, the snow was everywhere. A silence, the stillness of white and a
mid-winter’s late afternoon under the low snow clouds, invaded the bus and filled it with an air
of waiting and expectation.
Taebek City itself has few apartment towers, in their repetitious march, that appear in many
Koreans cities. The bus is surprisingly, unwittingly empty, belying the busy thoroughfare the
next day, with buses filled with tourists arriving to peruse the wonders of the snow sculptures.
grand, excessive white mountain,” was the location where the gods came down to the world
below and started the human race. Coming to Taebek city in midwinter on a bus that left from
Seoul ’s East Bus Terminal, the snow was everywhere. A silence, the stillness of white and a
mid-winter’s late afternoon under the low snow clouds, invaded the bus and filled it with an air
of waiting and expectation.
Taebek City itself has few apartment towers, in their repetitious march, that appear in many
Koreans cities. The bus is surprisingly, unwittingly empty, belying the busy thoroughfare the
next day, with buses filled with tourists arriving to peruse the wonders of the snow sculptures.
| Photos courtesy of Korea National Tourism |
On this Friday evening, the first day of the festival, the field with snow sculptures, the several-
meter-high carvings of dragons, cartoon characters, traditional buildings, mythological
creatures, is relatively empty, as most travelers have not yet arrived. These sculptures are
worth seeing, done by professional artists and university students.
A stage is set up on one end of the field of snow sculptures at the foot of snowy Mt. Taebek.
Small flakes are falling and the sun has set, but bright floodlights illuminate the area.
Performances by popular singers and entertainers appear in the schedule for the week of the
festival’s duration. Vendors selling traditional Korean cuisine from pachun pancakes to pulgogi
barbeques, line the road from the bus stop to the foot of the mountain.
meter-high carvings of dragons, cartoon characters, traditional buildings, mythological
creatures, is relatively empty, as most travelers have not yet arrived. These sculptures are
worth seeing, done by professional artists and university students.
A stage is set up on one end of the field of snow sculptures at the foot of snowy Mt. Taebek.
Small flakes are falling and the sun has set, but bright floodlights illuminate the area.
Performances by popular singers and entertainers appear in the schedule for the week of the
festival’s duration. Vendors selling traditional Korean cuisine from pachun pancakes to pulgogi
barbeques, line the road from the bus stop to the foot of the mountain.
On Friday the lodges and hostel in the park vicinity are all booked, but later that night and the
next day bus-loads of Korean travelers from Seoul arrive and the road is packed, crowds milling
about in the mid-morning flurries that accumulate steadily with the passage of time. The
domestic travelers wear the black pants and primary-colored nylon jackets favored by Korean
hikers in winter.
Following a group of hikers from the beginning of the trail at one edge of the snow sculpture
area, that there would not be a moment of solitude in the whole adventure soon became
evident. Yet the winding trail with its many switchbacks, up to the “peak” of Chunje-dan
(1560m) afforded breathtaking views of “snow flowers,” as the Koreans call the phenomenon
of wet snow adhering to the branches of trees.
next day bus-loads of Korean travelers from Seoul arrive and the road is packed, crowds milling
about in the mid-morning flurries that accumulate steadily with the passage of time. The
domestic travelers wear the black pants and primary-colored nylon jackets favored by Korean
hikers in winter.
Following a group of hikers from the beginning of the trail at one edge of the snow sculpture
area, that there would not be a moment of solitude in the whole adventure soon became
evident. Yet the winding trail with its many switchbacks, up to the “peak” of Chunje-dan
(1560m) afforded breathtaking views of “snow flowers,” as the Koreans call the phenomenon
of wet snow adhering to the branches of trees.
At a stone altar on the top of Taebeksan, where in Korean mythology the heavenly god,
Hwanin sent his son Hwanung (along with 3000 followers) to establish the race of human
beings on earth, tourists are in a line to take photos of themselves. The top of Taebeksan, like
many mountains in Korea, has well-developed forests, a result of the aggressive re-forestation
projects that accompanied the development programs following the Korean War. As the myth
goes, a bear and a tiger came to Hwanung and asked to become human too, and of them the
bear accomplished this feat in 21 days, through a diet of mug wart and garlic. Hwanung, to his
credit, helped the humans to organize their society: he divided up the political issues for the
humans to manage into 360 different kinds from agriculture to punishment, devised allotted
lifespans and illness, not to mention introducing good and evil.
The tourism office staff in the Taebeksan train station was helpful and offered translation and
guide services. For those seeking to plan a trip to Taebeksan, for the snow festival or to see its
other attractions, such as the coal mine museum, natural caves, or Buddhist sites, more
information is available on the Internet.
Taebek Snow Festival Website: http://festival.taebek.go.kr,
Taebek Caves: http://tour.taebaek.net,
Taebek Mountain: http://park.taebek.go.kr,
Taebek Coal Museum: http://taebaek.coalmuseum.go.kr.
Hwanin sent his son Hwanung (along with 3000 followers) to establish the race of human
beings on earth, tourists are in a line to take photos of themselves. The top of Taebeksan, like
many mountains in Korea, has well-developed forests, a result of the aggressive re-forestation
projects that accompanied the development programs following the Korean War. As the myth
goes, a bear and a tiger came to Hwanung and asked to become human too, and of them the
bear accomplished this feat in 21 days, through a diet of mug wart and garlic. Hwanung, to his
credit, helped the humans to organize their society: he divided up the political issues for the
humans to manage into 360 different kinds from agriculture to punishment, devised allotted
lifespans and illness, not to mention introducing good and evil.
The tourism office staff in the Taebeksan train station was helpful and offered translation and
guide services. For those seeking to plan a trip to Taebeksan, for the snow festival or to see its
other attractions, such as the coal mine museum, natural caves, or Buddhist sites, more
information is available on the Internet.
Taebek Snow Festival Website: http://festival.taebek.go.kr,
Taebek Caves: http://tour.taebaek.net,
Taebek Mountain: http://park.taebek.go.kr,
Taebek Coal Museum: http://taebaek.coalmuseum.go.kr.
Lodging in the Taebeksan area is plentiful and there are a wide range of options to fit any
traveler’s desires from the budget backpacker to the business-person. The Hyosungjang
where I stayed was a yogwan, a budget traveler’s hotel, near the bus and train stations in
downtown Taebek, a few minutes walk from its shopping district with Korean clothing, Western
sports goods, grocery stores, and quaint park, which on this occasion had further snow
sculptures.
The Hyosungjang is typical of Korean yogwans in most regards. Snow covered its flagstone
parking area in front and the plants stood next to one side of its smooth granite stairs leading
to a patio, bright illumination through windows set into a brick façade. The name Hyosungjang
appears in vertical neon. A teashop and barbershop off to one side down an alley bespeak the
custom of using inexpensive travelers’ lodging as “romantic” escapes.
The proprietor of the Hyosungjang leads me to the room, commenting that it is unusual to take
a look at this room before giving her the key money. The room has an air filter, an unusual
element in a yogwan. Other eccentricities in the room include the conceit of plastic bathroom
slippers with a Snoopy picture above the word “cockers” and a venetian-blind picture window
set in the wall dividing the bathroom and the bedroom. Whoever had installed the floor
covering had politics in mind, as two pieces met in a line in the exact center of the room.
Otherwise the room was typical, with its TV, small refrigerator, and yo, the Korean-style futon.
Yet, on the glass of the picture window was a small sign listing “sukbak shisul munhwa shimin
etiket” or “citizen’s lodging facility culture etiquette.” Given the kinky weirdness of the
window, the banality of the list was a relief, things like “do not disturb the guests in other
rooms,” “keep things neat and clean,” “do not waste the water and electricity.” Such a
window harkens to Jane Goodall’s book Through a Window, about her work as an
anthropologist researching primate behavior among gorillas in Africa.
The next day, after hiking down from Chunjae-dan, the local bus back to the Taebek bus
station, there was just enough time for a quick bowl of noodles at the restaurant in the
station. The old woman doing the cooking, in plastic slippers and permed hairdo, sits next to a
boiler heater, snipping a pa-chun pancake into smaller and smaller pieces, that she shares
with the only other patron, a middle-aged man, who, by the way they talked, seems like a
local, or even a neighbor instead of a customer.
Satellite TV is the norm now on the express buses to and from Seoul, and it livens up the ride
with nature and travel or news shows. With some caution, lest he be distracted, I ask the
driver what one should do if they want to read a book, as all of the individual seat lights were
not working; it made sense that a master switch could regulate all the lights. This there was,
and the driver obliged the request and flips it. To my chagrin, however, all of the individual
lights in the interior of the bus came on. Yet the other passengers, even the ones who looked
as if they were trying to sleep or watch TV, do not seem to mind, and they do not turn them
off. Only the fellow in the seat directly behind the driver turns it off. One is left wondering why
this was.
traveler’s desires from the budget backpacker to the business-person. The Hyosungjang
where I stayed was a yogwan, a budget traveler’s hotel, near the bus and train stations in
downtown Taebek, a few minutes walk from its shopping district with Korean clothing, Western
sports goods, grocery stores, and quaint park, which on this occasion had further snow
sculptures.
The Hyosungjang is typical of Korean yogwans in most regards. Snow covered its flagstone
parking area in front and the plants stood next to one side of its smooth granite stairs leading
to a patio, bright illumination through windows set into a brick façade. The name Hyosungjang
appears in vertical neon. A teashop and barbershop off to one side down an alley bespeak the
custom of using inexpensive travelers’ lodging as “romantic” escapes.
The proprietor of the Hyosungjang leads me to the room, commenting that it is unusual to take
a look at this room before giving her the key money. The room has an air filter, an unusual
element in a yogwan. Other eccentricities in the room include the conceit of plastic bathroom
slippers with a Snoopy picture above the word “cockers” and a venetian-blind picture window
set in the wall dividing the bathroom and the bedroom. Whoever had installed the floor
covering had politics in mind, as two pieces met in a line in the exact center of the room.
Otherwise the room was typical, with its TV, small refrigerator, and yo, the Korean-style futon.
Yet, on the glass of the picture window was a small sign listing “sukbak shisul munhwa shimin
etiket” or “citizen’s lodging facility culture etiquette.” Given the kinky weirdness of the
window, the banality of the list was a relief, things like “do not disturb the guests in other
rooms,” “keep things neat and clean,” “do not waste the water and electricity.” Such a
window harkens to Jane Goodall’s book Through a Window, about her work as an
anthropologist researching primate behavior among gorillas in Africa.
The next day, after hiking down from Chunjae-dan, the local bus back to the Taebek bus
station, there was just enough time for a quick bowl of noodles at the restaurant in the
station. The old woman doing the cooking, in plastic slippers and permed hairdo, sits next to a
boiler heater, snipping a pa-chun pancake into smaller and smaller pieces, that she shares
with the only other patron, a middle-aged man, who, by the way they talked, seems like a
local, or even a neighbor instead of a customer.
Satellite TV is the norm now on the express buses to and from Seoul, and it livens up the ride
with nature and travel or news shows. With some caution, lest he be distracted, I ask the
driver what one should do if they want to read a book, as all of the individual seat lights were
not working; it made sense that a master switch could regulate all the lights. This there was,
and the driver obliged the request and flips it. To my chagrin, however, all of the individual
lights in the interior of the bus came on. Yet the other passengers, even the ones who looked
as if they were trying to sleep or watch TV, do not seem to mind, and they do not turn them
off. Only the fellow in the seat directly behind the driver turns it off. One is left wondering why
this was.