Muju

On the weekend Jihyeon and I headed to Muju to revisit where we met in 2011 and see what the resort looked like in winter as opposed to summer when we met. Jihyeon, worried that I would break a leg on the busy ski slopes, advised me against learning to ski. I'm happy I didn't ski. As you can see in the photos below it was crazy busy. At one of the ski lifts I estimate there were at least 3000 people waiting. We wanted to take the gondola lift up to the very top of the mountain and had to wait 3 hours!

One of the busy ski slopes. I saw two serious accidents on this slope, both requiring staff assistance and a snowmobile to carry the injured back down the mountain. 

Lunch time was still 2 hours away when I took this picture in the cafeteria. 

With 3 hours to wait for our gondola ticket number to come up, Jihyeon and I went for a walk around the ski resort. 

In 2011 we stayed in the lodge at the back on the far right. 

These ski slopes were not as busy, but still crowded. 

We returned to the gondola to wait for our ticket number to be called so we could join the queue. 

More waiting....

This kid had the right idea, getting mum to pull the sled while kicking back and relaxing. 

Some bored ajumma's playing hopscotch while waiting for the gondola. 

Yay, our number was called. 

Up the mountain we go~~.

View from the top of the advanced ski slope. Jihyeon was terrified I would fall down the slope. 

Mandatory selfie on top of the mountain. 

I was surprised to see how many Koreans were there to hike rather than go skiing. They were like a procession of ants making their way up the mountain. From the gondola, it was just a 600m walk to the peak, but once we got there we saw steady streams of Koreans making their way up two other paths on the other side of the mountain. I don't know where they were coming from because to my knowledge there isn't another resort on the other side of the mountain. 

After much slipping and sliding, we made it to the top. 

And then started the slow shuffle back down.

It was getting late so we headed to the pension where we would be staying the night. It was cosy and well equipped. 

Korean BBQ (samgyeopsal) for dinner. 

After a sound sleep free of noisy neighbours, we headed home the next morning.