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Pyeongchang Trout Festival South Korea

Friday, January 15, 2016
Walk with Cham at Pyeongchang Trout Festival. Pyeongchang Trout Festival is a famous winter festival in South Korea where ice fishing and other winter activities take place. It is located in the town of Jinbu, 2.5 hours away from Seoul via land travel.

Because of its distance from Seoul, we were having second thoughts of going here but because we desperately wanted to try ice fishing we figured to take the risk for the sake of catching trouts.

Festival Period
December 18, 2015- January 31, 2016

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

How to go to Pyeongchang Trout Festival from Seoul
The easiest way going here is thru a shuttle bus exclusive for foreign guests just like what Bearstown Ski Shuttle offers but unfortunately it was already fully booked on our scheduled visit so instead we rode an intercity bus going to Jinbu.

Via Shuttle Bus
Visit their website HERE (book ahead so you can secure seats)

Via Intercity Bus
1. Alight Gangbyeong Subway Line 2.
2. Dong Seoul Bus Terminal is beside the subway.
3. Take intercity bus to Jinbu (intervals from 30-40 minutes).
Fee is 13,100 won (P520). Travel time is 2.5 hours from Seoul.

Understanding your ticket
Your ticket indicates the date, time, seat number and platform number. The platform numbers are placed on each departure doors, you just have to check what door is closest to your bus.

After a couple of hours we were dropped off at Jinbu Bus Terminal where we walked for 7 minutes going to Odaecheon Stream.

When we finally arrived, we excitedly checked the ice fishing area. We were taken aback by the empty tents, upon asking an organizer we learnt that Trout Fishing at the time (December 28) wasn't allowed by the committee as the ice from the lake was too thin that would cause the ice to easily break making it hazardous for their customers. Huwaat? It was really disappointing. We came all the way from Seoul and travelled 2 and half hours for nothing… Hay. But because we didn't want to dwell on it the whole day we instead availed other winter sports activities they offer.

Rental Fees
Ice Fishing
Packaged rate (ice fishing with tent and chair + recreational facilities) | 35,000 won (P1,380)
Packaged rate (ice fishing w/o tent and chair + recreational facilities) | 30,000 won (P1,183)
All recreational facilities without ice fishing | 22,000 won (P870)
Ice fishing with tent and chair rental only |  25,000 won (P990)
Ice fishing without tent and chair rental | 13,000 won  (P515)
Barehand fishing | 15,000 won  (P593)

Recreational Facilities
All recreational activities cost 6,000 won (P240) each per person. Activities includes
Snow Tubing, Ice Skating, Ice Kart, Snow Rafting, Ice Cycling, Mini Train, Traditional Sled, Disco Pangpang, Spinning Rail Car and ATV

From the recreational facilities we availed snow tubing (me and papa) and snow rafting (four of us).

Snow Tubing
For snow tubing you can do it countless times but once you return the tube you can't go back anymore. Papa and I tried it and it was sooooo FUN!!!

My Papa said he'll try it once, then after the first try he said 'okay, one last' and so after our second try I was expecting him to head to the exit area but instead I saw him following me on the ramp. One last na daw. hehehe.

Snow Rafting
Saw this crazy activity while we were scanning the area and thought it was fun and should give it a try. A snowmobile towed us around a circular course while we were sitting on a rubber raft. The driver went on a joyride and kept on doing stunts that left his passengers helpless and dizzy like a roller coaster ride. But we had loads of FUN!

Bare-hand Fishing
Since ice fishing was not allowed, people could opt to catch fish using their bare hands in a pool full of trouts. Sadly we weren't able to witness it as we were busy with snow rafting :(

Lunch at the Cafeteria
The highlight of our trip here was THE lunch. Their specialty? Trouts of course! Even if ice fishing wasn't allowed at least we could eat trouts at their cafeteria.

Trout Sashimi | 20,000 (P790) 1 whole | 10,000 won (P395) 1/2
The main feature of our lunch is this over the top delicious trout sashimi. Melts in your mouth yumminess! Mix it together with soy sauce and wasabi and you're in trout heaven!

Grilled Trout | 20,000 won (P790)
For those of you who are not really into eating raw, you can order the grilled trout which is also delicious. YUM-YUM!

Pepper Soup | 10,000 won
Paired the fish with a good hot soup perfect for the freezing season. Another winner dish.

Eating was so much fun! If we could only take these to the Philippines with us. I can still remember the taste of the sashimi while writing this down. drools.

Building a Snowman with Mama
I know it sounds too kiddie and cliche but because it was my first time to touch snow, I convinced Mama to make a mini snowman with me.

Goodbye Pyeongchang!
After all the fun-filled activities it was time to say goodbye to Pyeongchang.

Going back to Seoul
Going back is just easy. Go to Jinbu Bus Terminal again, purchase your ticket then wait for the next bus. Here they don't put any time and seat number so you can freely sit wherever and leave whichever time you want. Last trip is at 8:00 pm though.

Our trip to Pyeongchang Trout Festival was fun and memorable but honestly it could have been perfect if we were able to try Ice Fishing. I never found any English website stating that fishing were not yet allowed so we were really expecting that we could experience it. It's really disappointing. My suggestion to the organizers is to have an English website so foreign tourists can understand and be updated. Traveling for 5 hours back and forth is no joke.

If you are to ask me if ice fishing is allowed now, as of this writing I believe it is as I saw recent photos on Instagram.

Check out our Winter Wonderland adventure on youtube



Tags: South Korea



