Holiday Journal

• Start
•  
• Mountain Trout Festival
•  
• Hwacheon Market
•  
• Seondeung Street
•  
• Makeshift stage
•  
• Ice fishing place
•  
• Fishes
•  
• Finish

Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival

What is Mountain Trout Festival? It is ice fishing to catch mountain trout that is known to live in the cleanest water water in a hole that you drill on the ice of Hwacheoncheon that freezes thicker than 30cm due to cold weather every winter. A plastic fishing rod (called Gyeongjidae) or small-sized fishing pole is used for fishing, live baits are prohibited to prevent water pollution but you could use lifelike worm or metal fish lure depending on the weather. Once you catch trout, you could eat it raw, roast or steam them. (Extracted from festival website)

Time : Jan. 10, 2015(Sat) - Feb. 01, 2015(Sun) 08:30~18:00

Place : Members of 3 eups or myeons including Hwacheoncheon, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do ('186-5, Jung-ri, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do')

More info

Fees & Prices :

Lodging : Paroho Pension (95, A-ri, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do)

In the afternoon of January 29 (Thu), we headed for Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival. Starting from Gaepo-dong, Seoul, Hwacheon is 134km away through Seoul-Chuncheon Expressway, and it took 2.5 hours including a 10 minute break at an expressway rest area.

Paroho Pension where we arrived is 1.5km away from the festival so you can say it is pretty much close. You could choose Korean-style house or a two-story log house and I chose the log house. It was during the weekday but I paid the price for busy season because of the festival. (150,000 won)

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It is quite the same as the photos on the internet but I say the maintenance was not in the best condition. However, it had basic articles and the room was warm. The bathroom was clean, had enough hot water, and the quality of shampoo or body cleansing product was quite okay.

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On the second floor, the room was equipped with a bed and a TV, and it had a clear view of the stream right in front.

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In front of the pension, the river and the mountain covered with snow showed the typical view of winter in Gangwon-do. I could feel winter atmosphere like a piece of landscape painting.

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This is the otter statue that I met on my way to Hwacheon city downtown which is 1.5km away. In order to heighten the winter festival atmosphere, they made an ice world that lets the water flow and freezes on the hill, and in front, there was a statue of an otter which is in fact known to live in this river.

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Hwacheoncheon Stream starts here where the otter statue is and this leads to festival. The sign says you will get to Chuncheon Dam if you go on the right and Peace Dam on your left.

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The residents were acting as guides here and there. This was for sure the festival that everyone who lives in Hwacheon participates in.

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Follow along the river then you will see decorations that symbolize trouts.

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Clear river and the mountain covered with snow in Hwacheon looked like an oriental painting. If I put a black album frame it makes me feel that I'm looking outside the window.

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숙소에 짐을 풀고 시내로 나서니 머리 위가 색색의 물고기 모양 전등으로 가득했습니다. 축제 분위기에 걸맞는 알록달록한 산천어 모양 전등이 떼를 지어 헤엄치는 것 같습니다. 밤이 되면 더욱 예뻐질 거리입니다.

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You would easily find famous franchise branches in downtown but small street markets co-exist here and there.

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This alley seems to sell roasted sweet potato truck but it has red snow crab truck instead. Yummy red crabs were emitting steam on the truck.

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Trouts flying the sky in the early evening look so fantastic and dreamlike.

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It's like beautiful mind and spirits of people from Hwacheon-gun are lighting up the sky in the shape of fish.

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As it gets darker, the Seondeung Street gets more colorful like in an amusement park.

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There are a few army bases around Hwacheon so that I could see shops that sell items for soldiers that you could hardly see anywhere. To think about young soldiers who come in and out, it makes me laugh and sad at the same time.