By Honorary Reporter Faranaksadat Solat from Iran

I went to Seoul City Hall Station in the early morning of Jan. 24 to catch the bus to Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province. As part of a Korea.net-sponsored trip, I was excited because not only was I going to see an event of the Gangwon Youth Winter Olympics (Gangwon 2024), this was my first time to visit a beach in Korea, having only seen waters next to Incheon International Airport from a plane.

The bus left after all the passengers boarded, and the weather was so cold that the windows had frost or were fogged up to blur the outside view. To see outside, I had to scrape the frost off with my fingernail.

Gangneung Hockey Centre (Faranaksadat Solat)

After a three-hour ride, we arrived in the east coast city of Gangneung. Since it was noon, we had lunch comprising seaweed soup with fish, rice and banchan (side dishes) such as kimchi and black beans. 

Following our meal, we went to the beach facing the restaurant. It felt great because it was my first time at a Korean beach and the nature there was pristine despite the freezing cold.

Then it was on to watching the curling competition at Gangwon 2024. Korea faced Germany in the mixed team event in Group B, and many spectators cheered for Korea.

Curling competition at Gangwon 2024 (Faranaksadat Solat)

After watching an exciting competition, we went to Arte Museum Valley Gangneung. I had imagined a boring environment there but contrary to expectations, it had fascinating digital art depicting things like a forest, beach, cave and waterfalls. The mysterious and attractive section Stars made me not want to leave.

Another space used artificial intelligence to show the image of a deer reflected in the movements of people. Outside of the museum included convenience facilities like a coffee shop, restrooms, storage closets and souvenir shops.

Gangwon 2024's mascot Moongcho (Gangwon 2024)

Afterwards, we headed to Gangneung Coffee Street as Gangneung is known as the "city of coffee." My friend and I went to one cafe and drank hot chocolate while watching a beautiful view of the beach.

Thus marked the end of our trip and we boarded our bus to return to Seoul. Fortunately, there was no traffic.

So please visit Gangneung as its beaches are beautiful. The city is also famous as one of the filming locations in the hit K-drama "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" (2016).

jihlee08@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.