Holiday Journal

• Start
•  
• Uirimji
•  
• Cultural Properties Complex
•  
• Resort
•  
• Villages
•  
• Naeto Traditional Market
•  
• Finish

Dyeing Handkerchief with Indigo Leaves, Natural Dyeing in Sanyacho Village 산야초마을

Have you ever tried natural dyeing before? Jecheon is very famous for medicinal herbs so that day we wanted to dye something using herbs collected in mountains. Natural dyeing is dyeing cloth in daily life using charcoal, red clay, gardenia seeds, persimmon, mugwort and indigo leaf. So I was about to dye towels with indigo color with different patterns as well. Shall we?

From Jecheon Water Sports, drive following the road to the right facing Chungjuho(Cheongpungho) for about 30 minutes and you'll get to Jecheon Sanyacho Village.

Before dyeing anything, they gave us instructions first. The tourists in groups came here by tour bus. I sat there with them and listened to the instructions for about 5 minutes, then I was ready~!

Now the class started. I sat down and listened to it.

The handkerchief that I was about to dye. I don't know which one should I pick. Most women chose the one with red fruit but I chose one embroidered with daisy fleabane in thread!

This is pretty already and how much it would be prettier if I did?

I tried to put pattern on the handkerchief just like the instructor told us. You wind it up a few times and tie it up, then it makes whirlwind patterns.

After you wind it up like this,

and loosely tie it with rubber band. If you tie it too tight, the hidden part won't be dyed so you should tie it loose.

Some people twisted and some used chopsticks. Aren't you wondering what it would be like?

This time, what I'm going to show you is dyeing a handkerchief using indigo color. Indigo in 'indigo blue sky' and Nam(Ram) in Cheongchuleoram(student better than teacher) refers to this indigo blue leaf so I am going to use this to dye my handkerchief.

Behind the center, I saw the fifth best scenery of Jecheon, mountain top of Geumsu Mountain. It's a very high mountain that's over 1,000m high. If I have a chance, I would like to take pictures of Cheongpungho from there.

This center is certified by Chungcheongbuk-do education office and designated as cooperation organisation by Chungcheongbuk-do and Jecheon-si, so it's trustworthy, isn't it?

With the indigo leaf, make liquids and let's dye the handkerchief now.

It's not official dyeing process but rather simple process.

You just put it in the liquid and keep pushing it in the liquid not to let it float. So after twenty minutes, take it out.

At first, they all look like green and if you put them in water with small amount of citric acid, it turns into dark blue like this. Isn't it something? Indigo leaf is the material of jeans called Indogo Blue jeans and the handkerchief also looks like jeans, doesn't it?

The handkerchief I put using chopsticks turned into this. It's dark blue because it's still wet but once it's dried up, it would look like natural blue!!! Amazing and strange~

Stick the handkerchief between chopsticks and put it in the liquid then it would make this pattern. It would be really fun and informative for kids. Of course you could bring your girlfriend or boyfriend and you'll have a nice time.

Everybody made their own patterns. Funny patterns, aren't they? They were all in indigo color liquid but the parts under the tied rubber band or stuck between chopsticks were white, which was amazing. I'm surprised even now.

So after this fun activity, we had lunch in the building down the center. It's a restaurant run by the village, and it would be convenient to have meals here after the dyeing activity because you won't be able to find any restaurant anyway. However, you'd better make a reservation just like the dyeing activity in order to eat on time. If you don't, you won't be able to eat rice!

What we booked was Hanbansuyuk(boiled meat slices with medicinal herbs) which costs 12,000 won for one person.

The vegetables grown in Sanyacho village were all fresh. Nothing smelled bad nor looked old, they were just neat and refreshing. Deonjangguk(bean paste soup) tasted so good and it'd been a long time since I had this proper meal in the countryside.

Port slices were boiled for a long time with diverse medicinal herbs and pine needles to remove pork scent, and the meat was so soft and savory even for women who're sensitive to scents. Even those women who were sensitive to smelly food didn't have problem with eating it. It's quite much for one dish so you'll be full!

Ssam with a piece of meat on lettuce and salted shrimps tastes amazing. Because the pork was boiled with medicinal herbs, it wasn't smelly and I liked every bit of it. There are nice restaurants if you look for, but if you already booked natural dyeing activity, I suggest that you have a meal here. There are other activities other than natural dyeing in Sanyacho Village as well. You could lift potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts or corns, or make pockets, pillows, soaps, cosmetics or air freshners using medicinal herbs, or dye handkerchief or t-shirt like I described. What a wonderful place for family trip.

Address : 815, Oksunbong-ro, Susan-myeon, Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do (충청북도 제천시 수산면 옥순봉로 815)
Telephone : 043-651-3336
Fees for natural dyeing activity : Handkerchief - 5,000 won, scarf - 20,000 won, T-shirt - 15,000 won (Material cost included)
Website : http://sanyacho.go2vil.org

'Kkotdanji Village' Monorail Activity 꽃단지마을

In the southernmost area in Jecheon-si, there's a mountain village called Kkotdanji Village. This is a traditional village that makes a living from gathering shiitake mushrooms and it's been developing as an experience centre for children by building monorail courses and raising deers and elks funded by Jecheon-si. It's not a famous village yet but it has a potential to be one so I'm going to introduce you a little.

You're going to have to follow the winding road along Cheongpungho and on your way, you'll meet Geumwolbong made of strange rocks and bizarre stones.

Geumwolbong is a spiritual rock mountain where it has a legend that you'll get your prayers answered just by looking at it, and it's also called Smaller Version of Geumgang Mountain' because it looks exactly like twelve thousand peaks of Geumgang Mountain.

You won't be able to assume the size and magnificence by looking at pictures but if you see it with your own eyes, you'll be overwhelmed. Anyone who sees this would be having extraordinary views that you've never seen before.

Cameras cannot capture this whole thing because the angles are limited but our eyes can see over 180 degrees and you'll be moved by it. If you take your car and drive along Cheungpungho, you won't miss and you shouldn't. It's too great to just pass by.

Address : 1316, Cheongpungho-ro, Geumseong-myeon, Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do (충청북도 제천시 금성면 청풍호로 1316)
Telephone : 043-642-6069

After appreciating Geumwolbong, you'll have to run 34km for 40 minutes then you'll finally get to Kkotdanji Village. That day, I wanted to take the monorail where they provide places to stay for the night, to eat and to join activities.

Walking along the real(?) country lane for about 100m, I saw a Korean-style pension made of red clay. It had 5 rooms and each room can occupy 4 to 8 people. Each room costs 80,000 won on weekdays and 100,000 won on weekends during off-seasons, and in July-August, it costs 100,000 won (weekdays) to 120,000 won (weekends). If I go there with my family next time, I promise I'll show you pictures.

Now, it's time to do some monorail activities! There were four monorail cars and five people are allowed in each one. There are course No.1 and No. 2. If you aren't in groups, you could use course No.2. Each course takes the lane as follows.

■ Course No.1 : Boarding platform → Trail → Animal Farm → Boarding Platform
☞ Around 20 minutes
☞ Fees : 20,000 won, only for groups
■ Course No.2 : Boarding platform → Trail → Octagonal Pavilion(Observatory) → Wild Flower Experience Center → Animal Farm → Boarding Platform
☞ Around 1 hour
☞ Fees : 10,000 won for one person (30,000 won for less then 3 people)

Could this small engine bring 5 people along this uphill over 45 degrees? I am heavy so I was worried…

With other people who accompanied us, we were getting ready to run~

The train started to go up making so loud sound like cultivator engine.

You can't see in the photo but if you walk up the very steep hill about 45 degrees for 25 minutes, you'll see octagonal pavilion.

On both sides of the lane, we saw shiitake mushrooms grown in village, and wild berries bloomed on the roadside so we picked one or two. The head of the village said it's 100% chemical free so it's safe to eat. It was tasty, sweet and sour.

Along the steep hill, we arrived to the top almost laying there. While we smell the scent of forest around us, it arrived soon. On the top, we could see octagonal pavilion and the mountain from here looks amazing.

Hey, you did real good carrying me here. Can you see the angle of monorail? We were almost lying there like on a roller coaster.

The head of village gave us one bowl of magolli and pajeon(welsh-onion pancake) that we did good coming there. Well, their generosity was definitely different from the city. He had Chungcheong-do accent and a sense of humour, what a character he had! I could see instantly that he's not a businessman but a farmer.

So we shared a few bowls of magolli with people who were there. I feel like everybody could get close to each other once they join this kind of activity in the country. Magolli and welsh onion pancake during the day tasted like heaven.

The view from 600m forest was just mind-blowing. It was a hot day so we were sweating but we couldn't feel better.

Look at this way and you'll see shape of a person on the top of mountain! The vivid mountaintop would remind you of a person's face. Only good people could see it.

Huh, this tree…is called Kim Yuna tree, I don't know if you noticed anything. This is Kim Yuna performing Spiral skill sliding on ice link with one foot bent back! This is really mysterious. Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet.

Now we had magolli and enjoyed the view, it's time to go down. The way down is further than the way up so it takes 30 minutes and you gotta hold on to the rail because it's steeper than before. Of course you shouldn't worry because there's a safety belt on every seat!

By the lane, there were wild flower habitats. Beautiful flowers were scattered everywhere.

The monorail lane was amazingly built along the ridge. I tried monorail a few times but normally they had two rails and still call it MONORAIL but original monorail should have one rail like this.

After we passed the wild flower habitat, there came the animal farm. It had deers, goats and elks. If you want, you could stop it and feed them.

These are baby elks that look like puppies. Their mommy died while giving births to them so they're raised by people and that's why they're not afraid of people but rather chasing after them. Don't they look adorable? ^^* Kkotdanji Village is not commercial village run by businessmen but a small farm run by countryside people. Most of them including the head of the village were farmers, and they were selling acer, balloon flower roots, shiitake mushrooms, onions, peppers, edible shoots of a fatsia, garlic and potatoes which they grew, and it was a friendly country.

Address : 19, San, Tanji-ri, Hansu-myeon, Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do (충청북도 제천시 한수면 탄지리 산19)
Telephone : 043-653-0880