#cheorwon

I am heading to the north from Dongducheon!

The first destination is Bidulginang waterfall in Pocheon city.

First of all, I would say a couple of words about Pocheon city. Why is it a city? It has a population of 151,767 people but covers quite a great as for a city area of 826.48 km. I will go through this city a few…

Trip to Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province (16 to 17 Dec 2017)

Trip to Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province (16 to 17 Dec 2017)

Trip to Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province (16 to 17 Dec 2017)

Trip to Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province (16 to 17 Dec 2017) - Part 3

- White Horse Hill Battle Memorial

- Traditional Activities - Tofu making, Injeolmi making, Cloth dyeing

- Bonfire night

The White Horse Hill Battle was one of the key battles during the Korean War, where the North and South fought 12 times within only 10 days to take control of the hill - high ground that provides a good strategic location in the midst of an otherwise flat ground. The battles were so fierce and so many shots were fired that when the South finally gained control over the hill, there was so much gunpowder that the hill was completely covered in white - thus making it look like a white horse. Now, the South has a GOP (my guess is gentry outfield post, but i have no idea and the soldier who brought us around also had no idea what the acronym was for lollll). This was our last destination for the tour, and we went back to learn some traditional activities in the warmth of the cheorwon community centre that we were also staying in that night. 

We learnt how to make tofu, injeolmi and dye cloth. I had some vague idea from previous about the process of tofu making, but it was my first time seeing it in person. What was most surprising was after getting the tauhueyzhui (the liquid from squeezing the soya beans through a filter), they added seawater that had been kept for a year to remove the toxins, and this sea water helps in the process of coagulation to make soft tofu (순두부). We were allowed to try eating the soft tofu with soya sauce - it was so fresh and soft and AMAZING!!! To make the harder tofu, put the soft tofu into a box and put under pressure and it will harden - i think HAHA. 

Injeolmi is rice cake covered with powder grounded from soya beans. We were made to hit the rice cake (which I reaaally sucked at), and then batch by batch of the pounded rice cake were brought to a tray filled with soya bean powder to be rolled into a long snake-like rice cake, and then cut into smaller pieces to be rolled in soya bean powder. It was warm and hence less sticky than the usual injeolmi and I loved it!!

We then were taught cloth dyeing in the traditional method using a yellow dye made from marigold. Don’t think i’ll actually use the yellow handkerchief, but i will definitely keep it as keepsake!

Trip to Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province (16 to 17 Dec 2017) - Part 2

- Cheorwon Peace Observatory

- Woljeongri Station

- National Labour Party Building

Within the Civilian Controlled Zone, we also visited the cheorwon peace observatory. There, we could see key battlefields during the Korean War. 

Woljeongri station (월정리역) is the last station within South Korea of a old route that used to go towards the North. They left the remains of an old train at the station and it was filled with bullet holes - shot to prevent those trying to escape to the South. Freedom is not free.