Winter in Korea and our latest snow fall!

I have been complaining for the past few weeks about the lack of snow this Winter in Korea. Facebook kept reminding about all the snow we had here last year, and all we got was a measly few centimetres at the end of November. Well, the weather man finally heard my pleads for snow and we had a non-stop flurry of snowflakes which started last thursday afternoon and only let up Friday night, nearly a full day and night later.

While this was wonderful for me and my camera, it wasn't so great for my car. Poor Cherry (the VERY old red Matiz) had to spend the night at the bottom of the driveway after she failed (on more than one attempt) to get up the drive way to park. She spent the night under a tree and woke up to her handbrake and wheel frozen solid.  Farmboy and I spent a solid 15 minutes trying to pry her from that icy grip but to avail. Luckily the 1 degree increase in temperature during the day had thawed her a bit and we were able to get her started again...come on Cherry!

Here are some photographs from our early morning walk with Shadow, who simply adores being out in the snow. This will be one of the things we miss the most when we return to South Africa. 

Dominique & the Snow

During the last snowfall we had here in Korea, my stylist friend and I decided to do one last styled shoot before she left Korea to return home to South Africa. It was a freezing cold afternoon in Jeungeup, a small town in the South West part of Korea, and we broke up the shoot into two parts; one filled with snow and the other a more tropical styled shoot. These are the photographs from the first half of our shoot.

I've done a number of other styled shoots, including blueberries & temples, beaches and flowers. Click here to see them.

To Dominique our model, thank you for being so patient and for being so dam easy to photograph. Thank you for braving the old in the outfits we chose for you, and for being such so amenable to the poses we put you in. From these photographs it's impossible to guess that you you've never modelled before, you really photograph beautifully.

To Aimee our makeup artist, thank you for bringing our ideas together with our brushes and your makeup. You really are so good at what you do and I hope we can work together again soon.

And finally to Storm, your creativity and enthusiasm is limitless my friend. Cape Town is lucky to have you back.

If you're a makeup artist, model, photographer, stylist or graphic designer here in Korea and would like to work together on a styled shoot, please do get in touch with me! You don't have to be professional in any sense of the word, it's all about having fun! You can also see more of my work by clicking here.

Where to stay when skiing in Muju

Muju resort is the closest ski resort for us here in Jeollubok Province and so Farmboy and I have spent most of this and last ski season there. The last time we went, we camped (it was horribly cold but an adventure to say the least...click here to read more about camping in Muju). 

This time around we wanted to go with a group of friends and find a warm place to stay. There is accommodation at the resort itself, but you need to book before hand and it is quite expensive (we paid W150 000 a night for a tiny box of a room at one of the resorts) and so were looking for something a bit more budget friendly.

Muju town (where the bus terminal is) is a W25 000 taxi from the resort itself (you need to bear that in mind when making your way to the ski slopes). The resort area (ie where the actual slopes are) has a number of hotels around it which need to be booked in advance. Click here to read more about these hotels and to find information for booking. A short drive down the hill towards Muju Town and you'll find lots of ski rentals shops and Minbaks (a basic form of Korean guesthouse). If you drive to the bottom of the hill away from the slopes you'll come to a big intersection (there is a big CU convenience store on the corner). If you turn right and drive (or taxi) along that road you'll find a whole selection of much cheaper accommodation. There are also lots of restaurants (mostly Korean type food) and then eventually you'll come to Deogyusan National Park and the camping grounds. 

The day before our trip to Muju, we found this great webiste (click here) which lists a good selection of Pensions to stay at in Muju. The first one we called  (Dasup Pension) had space for the 6 of us and the owner spoke quite good english. It was as easy as that. It was clean and even had self catering facilities so you could take your own food and make your own meals.

The room we stayed in was Ondol style (so we slept on the floor) but there was enough bedding and blankets to ensure we at least were semi comfortable. It cost W130 000 for the night and so ended up costing us each W22 000. There are other style rooms for less people that include an actual bed. The owner was very friendly, had all the ski rental equipment needed and also offered lift passes. We rented our equipment from him (it was much cheaper than hiring at the resort) and he also offered to drop us off at the resort and fetch us again at the end of our ski session. The costs for rental were:

Skis & Poles W5 000

Jacket & Ski Pants W10 000

Here are some (terrible) snaps of the prices for this pension. You can call the owner, Mr Cheong Euk Shim on 063-322-3379 and find his website here: www.dasup.kr.

If you have any other recommendations for places to stay (or places you think people really should avoid!) please do let me know in the comments below.

Muju Ski Resort & Camping in the snow

Muju is the closest ski resort in our province (Jeollabukdo) and is a 2 hour drive from Buan. If you travel bus bus you need to get to Jeonju and from there take a bus to Muju. Then there are local buses and shuttles, or even taxi's which will take you the rest of the way to the resort where the slopes are.

We decided it would be a great idea to camp (trying to be as spend thrifty as possible) and while we all survived the cold, it was pretty darn freezing. We were no where near equipped to deal with the sub zero temperatures, and felt rather ashamed when we looked at our neighbours setups. When Koreans camp they camp properly, with no messing about. Luckily, our neighbours were such kind people and offered us tent pegs and a hammer to get our tent set up. We were also brought steaming hot citrus tea in the morning, they really must have felt sorry for us during the night. BUT it was an adventure and that's what we were after (dog included!).

There are about 7 camp sites, 6 of which you have to reserve online or by calling (click here for more information...the website is in Korean so you may need a co-worker/friend to help you). BUT the site we camped at was on a first come first served bases. Here is a map of the area highlighting the camp site & the resort (left hand side: 무주 리조트):

It cost us W13 000 to camp for the night. The camp site also has caravans (auto homes) to rent out and camp sites with electricity if you need it. The bathrooms were great, had showers and most importantly had heaters all over the place to keep you toasty when you have to leave your tent in the middle of the night.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the slopes are closed in between sessions for the snow ploughs to do their thing and get the slopes ready for the next session. Each session is between 3 & 4 hours long. Here are the session times, as of February 2015. Please confirm these times with the website by clicking here.

• Early Morning 06:30~08:30 (During the weekends and holidays only, except on Chinese new year’s day)
• Morning 08:30~12:30 
• Afternoon 12:30~16:30 
• Evening 18:30~22:00 
• Night 22:00~24:00 
• Midnight 24:00~02:00 

At the entrance to the slopes there are a few coffee shops and plenty of restaurants. There is also a JimJilBang (public bath house) for you to warm up and shower after your ski sessions. They only offer the baths and a small section for relaxing in, you CAN'T sleep here as they close at 10/11pm.

We did an evening ski session (18h30 - 22h00) which was amazing! Farmboy and I have skiied a few times all over Korea and we love the night sessions the most. It's cold, but there are fewer people.

Click here for more information on the ski session prices. If you have an NH or KB card you automatically get up to 50% off the prices...so for the 3 of us to ski one session, lift passes & equipment included it only cost W53 000 each. Ski jackets and pants are available for rent at about W10 000 a day each. The only things you can't rent are gloves & goggles so make sure to remember to pack those.

Here are some more photographs of the area around our camp site, including a photograph of me standing in front of the most amazing Korean camp set up. And yes, that is a chimney to the right of the roof top tent. It was really beautiful in the early morning, and we will definitely be going back for Summer.

Address:

Muju Resort: 185, Manseon-ro, Seolcheon-myeon, Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do (Manseon-dong)
전라북도 무주군 설천면 만선로 185 (만선동)

The last snowfall

Last month we had so much snow here in Buan, South Korea that we were left wondering whether it would ever stop. The snow is beautiful, but driving in it is a nightmare. Freshly fallen snow is soft and fluffy, but the day after it's icy and treacherous. But we enjoyed the change from our mild winters in South Africa and had loads of fun playing with our pup in it (he must be part Husky as the snow is his most favourite thing, ever!).

Here are some photographs from the last heavy snow we had in December. I took a stroll up to one of the traditional temples behind my town (click here to see the styled shoot I did there in Summer last year with my very pretty South African friend, Roslyn). 

Winter in Korea....it's going to be a white Christmas!

This is our third winter here in Korea and yet this is the first winter that Farmboy and I have ever seen or experienced so much snow. Our first year in Daejeon and last year here in Buan it snowed twice. This year has been completely different. The snow started on Monday and hasn't stopped since! We have had a few hours of sunshine in between but it just keeps on coming. It's incredibly beautiful and the first few hours of morning when the snow is falling are like magic. Everything is quiet, the snow muffles out all the usual sounds of the town and it's incredibly peaceful. 

But, the snow is not very kind on our poor old car, Cherry. Whose doors and windows freeze shut locking us out (and sometimes even in!). It's really scary driving in the snow, the roads are icy and people have very little control over their cars. But even still, we feel like little kids at Christmas every time we wake up and find it's still snowing. And our little pup Shadow is in his element. He just loves the snow. He saw it for the first time this week and even though he hates water, he can do snow. It's so cute watching him jump and burrow his way around, in and under everything. He doesn't feel the cold, unlike us!

Here are a few photographs from our first early morning out in the snow.

Enjoy!

x