Korean Expat Community for National Disasters

• 목록

Gangwon Province has so many good places to visit in any season.

For example, during warmer seasons, you have Yangyang and Gangneung for beach escapades and temple visits.

For winter, you can go to Hwacheon or Cheorwon for some frolicking in the ice.

This year, I managed to get a free trip to Cheorwon for the first time.

My trip to Cheorwon is mostly confined within its famous Hantan River and started with the sight of a huge red bridge that seems to host bungee jumping activities in other seasons (adrenaline-seeking readers may take note of this!). I then moved on to walk on a bridge below floating on top of the water and ice of a river. Such a bridge, along with several other copies that can be encountered at different points of the trek, was made up of curiously engineered plastic cubes that join together like Lego pieces and stretch for some length. The way such bridges sway a little now and then makes it an exciting path to walk on, all while the fact that it floating on the river itself makes the walk more "immersive".

As for the sights, you can see the mostly frozen river, ice formations on the cliff faces, an old bridge, and awesome huge and strangely shaped rocks. At some point, you can get into the most festive area where there is a small tunnel made of ice, colossal snow sculptures, several bonfires to warm up a bit or roast marshmallows, a tent where around a hundred people can eat together, a hill of snow for sledding, and an elevation where you can zipline across the river. Needless to say, there are many things you can do there!

And that did not stop there for as we ended our trek, our group went to a nearby cafe where we could see a tower that was shaped like a torch from afar. We did not have enough time to go there after drinking so we just settled to walk a little on the bridge to get there. The bridge is pretty scary and funny to walk on because you can the river below it from around a hundred feet of elevation.

All in all, I can say Cheorwon, especially the Hantan River activities is worth a daytrip at least. I can even imagine such places being interesting even outside of the cold embrace of winter!