D-11 The how-tos of Olympic travel- A tale of 3 cities

Inside of the Gangneung Ice Arena / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-young

• Published Jan 28, 2018 5:04 PM KST
• Updated Jan 28, 2018 5:04 PM KST

By Yun Suh-young

PYEONGCHANG, GANGNEUNG — With 11 days left to the opening of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, it’s soon becoming time for foreign press and tourists to enter the country.

Some staff from the American broadcaster NBC, which is the official global broadcaster for the Olympic Games, have already settled into their main accommodation venue in Gangneung, one of the cities where the sports event will be held.

When coming to the country, however, the Olympics should surely not be the only reason to be here. It’s also a great excuse to visit the cities where the games will be held. The three major regions where the Olympic games will take place are Yongpyeong, Daegwallyeong and Gangneung.

But it may not be easy figuring out where to go, what to do or where to eat because PyeongChang (encompassing Yongpyeong and Daegwallyeong) isn’t exactly the most convenient or popular place to travel.

Trying to experience being in foreign travelers’ shoes, this reporter made her way through public transportation on a PyeongChang odyssey.

Here are some personally visited travel routes to help visitors.

Yongpyeong

It took an hour and a half by the new KTX train (Gyeonggang Line) from Seoul Station to PyeongChang Station. Although it’s called PyeongChang Station, in essence, the region is Yongpyeong, to be exact. It’s where Phoenix Park is, the venue for snowboard and freestyle skiing events.

When I got off at PyeongChang Station, I was picked up by Airbnb host Lee Woo. Lee, 59, was a retired businessman who built a house to live in PyeongChang but also runs it as an Airbnb with his wife. I didn’t stay with the host, but I asked Lee prior to the trip to recommend some places to visit because I wanted a local’s honest opinion. I chatted with the couple over coffee at their beautiful house tucked away in the mountains.

As expected, Lee didn’t recommend the usual — the places in the tourist guidebook — but suggested places he felt were worth visiting. He was way too honest about it, saying there’s nothing really to see in PyeongChang.

“PyeongChang is about nature. It’s about the snow. It’s about skiing. It’s sometimes about the food. But it’s never about entertainment,” he said, when asked what there is to do other than visiting Woljeong Temple, the representative temple in the region.

There were, however, two places he did recommend he thought would interest foreign visitors — Jeonggangwon and Bongpyeong Market.

Jeonggangwon is the Korean Traditional Food Culture Experience Center (

www.jeonggangwon.com

) where, if booked in advance as a group of 10, visitors can experience making Korean food with instructors. They don’t have interpreters, so visitors would have to come with someone who can translate for them. It also has a restaurant and an inn where they can stay overnight.

After taking a quick look at Jeonggangwon, Lee dropped me off at Bongpyeong Market located in Bongpyeong, 10 minutes from PyeongChang Station, before he went back to work. Fortunately, the market was open on the day I visited. It is open only on dates that end with the numbers 2 and 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. When I arrived, it was nearing closing time, but I did manage to buy some local ingredients. Bongpyeong is famous for buckwheat, as there is even a classic novel written about it by writer Lee Hyo-seok. The market isn’t big but it’s interesting to see how the items there differ by region.

At around dinner time, I met with the host couple again to visit a duck meat restaurant they recommended in their neighborhood. It was called “Duckie Duck Farm” and was in a remote location. They offer pickup service for guests from and to anywhere within PyeongChang. (033) 333-5262)

The restaurant was a great choice — clean with good quality duck meat and wine to pair it with. It was quite a surprise to find a restaurant like this in the countryside. It turns out the owner is originally from Seoul but had moved there 20 years ago with his whole family.

The other recommended restaurant by Lee, who claims to be a picky foodie, is a buckwheat noodle restaurant called Todam Makguksu which serves cold noodles. Although we skipped it because it was too cold that day, he recommends anyone visiting the region to try it out.

By the time we were ready to leave with bloated bellies, snow was bucketing down outside.

It had begun gently falling when we arrived at the restaurant and I was worried about the roads because I had to head to Daegwalleong where the Alpensia Resort is.

“Set your worries aside. People here are used to driving in the snow. In fact, PyeongChang is truly PyeongChang when it snows!” Lee said.

But with snow falling like that, it was deja vu of my trip to Lapland, the northern region of Finland, during the coldest time of year — January — when the thermometer hit minus 38 degrees. PyeongChang reminded me of the Nordic winter wonderland; no wonder the Winter Olympics are being held in PyeongChang.

The restaurant owner’s son drove me to Jangpyeong Bus Terminal, the most convenient place to take the bus to Hoenggye Bus Terminal, which is closer to Alpensia than Jinbu Station. The bus ride took around 40 minutes, slower than usual due to the snow. From the terminal, the taxi ride was 10 minutes.

While hopping from car to bus to taxi in the pitch-black night with snow falling from the sky, I noticed the drivers in Gangwon Province weren’t afraid of the snow. They drove as if snow weren’t there, causing me to gasp. Apparently, due to their mountainous qualities, the people in the province are adept in maneuvering in the snow.

Daegwallyeong

Driving into the Alpensia Resort complex, where nearly half of the Olympic games will be held such as alpine and cross-country skiing and bobsleigh, I asked the taxi driver if he could feel the Olympic vibe. “Not really,” he said, groaning that there are fewer passengers to pick up since the ski slopes have closed due to the Olympics.

“It’s worse than last year. I’m worried there won’t be a lot of visitors. Who will come to Alpensia if they can’t stay here?” he said.

Alpensia will be unavailable to the public for accommodations as it will be used entirely by foreign dignitaries and Olympic-related staff as their official venue. Regular tourists must find places nearby if they are planning to attend the events. Available options are Airbnbs or local business hotels.

“The Olympics organizing committee’s office will be built here. Regular guests will need to stay at hotels elsewhere,” said a blunt hotel staffer at Intercontinental.

I purposefully booked Alpensia to see the situation there with Olympic preparations. Venues were still being prepared as half of the games will be held there. Being in mountainous terrain, there’s nothing really exciting to do there except winter sports. If there’s one thing Daegwalleong is famous for, it’s the animal farms — notably sheep. Yangtte Mokjang (

www.yangtte.co.kr

) is a go-to place for couples and families because of the beautiful scenery of sheep grazing in the fields — a great Instagram moment. However, during the winter the sheep are all inside the kennel so it would be difficult to spot them outside.

Gangneung

From Alpensia Resort to Gangneung, the best option is to take the KTX train from Jinbu Station to Gangneung Station. It was a 20-minute ride. When getting off at Gangneung Station, there are plenty of taxis to grab. These taxis will be offered at a rate of 20,000 won for the full day during the Olympics if you carry tickets to Olympic events or concerts.

Gangneung is where all the skating and ice sports — speed skating, figure skating, short track, ice hockey and others — will be held. The Gangneung Ice Arena was going through last-minute adjustments when I visited.

Being a popular tour destination for locals, the city is well-equipped with interesting places to visit.

Gangneung is well-known for coffee and is where the popular coffee brand Terarosa was born. The brand’s original store is a little way from the city center, so taking a 20 minute ride to sip some quality coffee may be worth it. Otherwise, there’s the Anmok Coffee Street right along the Anmok Beach which is a street full of coffee shops. Although they lack authenticity (many of them franchises), a few local ones boast of winning barista competitions. Until Feb. 28, the

Gangneung International Coffee Festival

is held at the beach.

Gangneung is also historically significant. It’s the birthplace of philosopher Yulgok Yi I and female poet Heo Nanseolheon — two important figures of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. Their birthplaces are well-preserved and open to tourists, and are a frequent school trip location. Seongyojang, a town preserved with traditional houses, is also nearby.

Due to the Olympics, the city has also established what’s called the 2018 PyeongChang House (Olympic Promotion Hall) where visitors can view this year’s Olympic medals and the Olympic torch. It’s a small container building five minutes from Gangneung Station, so unless you’re really eager to see the Olympic-related items, it may be too fast of a tour to take.

The city also recently built the Gangneung Arts Center, a concert hall to hold various performances during the Olympics. All the performances will be offered for free during the period. At the moment, the PyeongChang Winter Music Festival is underway and will be held until Feb. 16.

While in Gangneung, don’t forget to try out Chodang Sundubu (soft tofu) which is a representative dish of the region. The tofu is made with seawater from the East Sea. Across from the PyeongChang Olympic Promotion Hall, there’s a town full of Chodang Sundubu restaurants. The one I visited was Jung Eun Sook Chodang Sundubu. (033) 652-3696)

Being a tourist city that it is, finding accommodation in Gangneung won’t be too difficult although the high-end Seamarq Hotel will be occupied by NBC staff.