PyeongChang Korail Pass

Though it's kinda sad that I won't be able to visit my second hometown to witness the spectacular winter sports event in Pyeongchang! However, I've a good news to share which you can save great amount of money on the transportation costs.

To commemorate Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, foreigners visiting Korea between 1 February 2018 - 25 March 2018 are eligible to purchase this special tourist pass and enjoy unlimited times on KTX and Korail trains throughout Korea within their selected pass validity period. Do note that ticket sales will only open until 10 January 2018.

Incheon to PyeongChang Railroad Map (Source)

KTX Wonju Gangneung line is ready and official KTX Sancheon service is expected to be from mid December 2017. Visiting Winter Olympics Games venues in Pyeongchang, Gangneung and Jeongseon will be a hassle-free and comfortable using this Korail Pass. Actually, with this card you can literally explore almost the whole South Korea Peninsula on railroads~! 

PyeongChang Korail Pass types:

PyeongChang Korail 5 Day Pass / 7 Day Pass.

 Adult (Ages 26 and older), Youth (Ages 13-25 or International Student 

Identity Card holders), Child (Ages 4-12), Saver (Groups of 2-5 people).

High Speed Trains: KTX and KTX-Sancheon
 Conventional Trains: ITX-Saemaeul, Saemaeul, Mugunhwa, Nuriro,
ITX-Cheongchun and Commuter Trains.

Tourist Trains: O-train, V-Train, S-Train, A-Train, Westgold-Train and DMZ-Train.

Purchasing process:

* PyeongChang Korail Pass can be purchased through the official website:

   www.letskorail.com/pyeongchang. 

* Ticket sales will be open until 10 January 2018. 

* Ticket sales period is subject to change without notice.

* Seats for the Seoul-Gangneung KTX line during the Olympic period (1-28 February 2018) will be

   available for reservation two months in advance. 

* Please direct all inquiries to the Korail Q&A board. 

* Ticket sales for all trains during the Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) holiday period 14-18 February 

   2018 will be announced separately on the Korail website. 

* Seat reservation period is subject to change without notice. Refer to the reservation site for updated 

   information.

PyeongChang Korail Pass User's Tutorial.

Additional benefits of PyeongChang Korail Pass:

* Free admission to City Tour Buses in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Incheon, Gyeongju, and Daegu.

* Commemorative reloadable prepaid transportation card
* 10% discount luggage storage & shipping through Airport Railroad
* Various discounts with connected duty free stores, hotels, museums, etc.
* Please see the BENEFITS menu on the official website for more detailed information:
   www.letskorail.com/pyeongchang.

Remember to bring along the printed Pyeongchang KR Pass

to retrieve your commemorative card at a designated counter.

How to reserve your seat.

I used Korail Pass during my visit in 2012, but that time tourist-themed trains such as O-train, V-train and S-train not operated yet. I wish PyeongChang Korail Pass will be extended to April because I'd like to visit cherry blossoms in other regions out of Seoul. Would love to ride on special trains such as A-train to go to Jeongseon, and visit Dora Observatory and The 3rd Tunnel by DMZ train. 

Related Posts:

 

Korail O-train.

Korail S-train.

Picturesque Pyeongchang and Nearby Attractions.

Must Try Mouth-Watering Foods in Gangwon.

Yeongju Loess Pension (풍기 황토 펜션)

We reached Punggi 5 hours earlier as tickets for V-train were sold out on that day. We just took O-train directly from Seoul to Punggi.

We took taxi directly to Loesspension, though we saw few restaurants and market around Punggi station, as we didn't want to bring our luggage around.

This cute mushroom-shaped cottage made of only loess (황토 = 黄土高原) and pine tree. It's  chemicals free and also eco-friendly, as the combination of ancient secret and science effortless keeping the room cold in summer and warm in winter. Cool, right?!

Yeongju Loess Pension 

It took about 10 minutes from Punggi Station to this pension. However, the owner was not around. Only ahjumma was cleaning the room. I told her that we booked the room. Luckily she understood what I tried to say with my limited Korean language. 

She tried to call, but no responses, and she said she'll try again later as the owner was at work. We walked around, and after awhile she told us that the owner will come back soon.

Landscape view of Loess Pension Cottage

Since this cow also has nothing to do like me... Let's take photos together :P

Hungry~~~!!! Why only have BBQ pit? Where is the food?

Peek-a-boo! Is it inside this big pot?!

Desperate for food...

See whether I can climb this wall to go in to the kitchen...

Anybody home? Please help me to call for food delivery...

KT Olleh pocket wifi has no internet connection here ㅠㅠ

안녕~ 강아지야 ^^ 

도와 주세요~~~!

Are you sure 강아지? 

You must be joking, this tree has no fruit, not even a leaf :(

Last resort... Jump! Jump!! Jump!!! to get attention :P

Finally, there's white car turning in after waited for about 1 hour. The lady owner came in, and told her that we booked through the website. Then they showed us the room, and we made payment. 

It's partly my fault, as I stated on the reservation that we'll be there around 19:30 pm. Although, she didn't confirm our booking, maybe because I wrote it in English and secondly I didn't make the payment as I don't want to bother my Korean friend to book and pay for me first. But, luckily there's a room for us. 

Just dropped our luggage there, and asked whether she can help us to call for a taxi to bring us to nearby restaurant. She said she's going out and will drop us at the restaurant.

At the same time, her 삼촌 (uncle) came back, then she asked for a name card and gave to us. She told us to call his uncle so that we can take his taxi back here. 

In her car, she said that I looked like Korean lady, and praise me that I can speak good Korean language. She asked few questions, and I tried to answer her one word by one word. When she asked how did we come there and how long we will stay. I paused quite long to digest her question, as I was thinking do I need to tell her my full itinerary... She looked at me and I looked at her (maybe with my blank and blur face) then she laughed, and I laughed too. Then she repeated again that question, and I answered that with so much difficulty... from we took flight from Singapore to Seoul, then today from Seoul to Punggi by O-train, tomorrow will go to Busan, bla bla bla... but didn't finish my full itinerary as we reached the restaurant ㅋㅋㅋ

Room No. 3 - 80,000 Won 

Address: 경북 영주시 픙기읍 금계리 177-1

http://loesspension.com

Ph: 054 6377800 / 010 25194377

The room is good to accommodate 2 person. It's quite big with attached kitchen and long wooden dining table. Bathroom is equipped with basic toiletries. Due to environmental friendly practice, remember to bring your own toothbrush and toothpaste as most of the accommodations in Korea do not provide them.

Mattresses, pillows, blankets and  wall-mounted air-heater 

As the ceiling is high, you need to switch on air-heater to keep the room warmer, even though the floor is heated (ondol floor). They came to check and increase the heat of the floor after checking with us whether it's warm enough. We had a good rest until my HP alarm woke me up! 

It's nice and cozy accommodation, but it's better to eat before you come here or maybe buy some food to BBQ. It must be so much fun munching some food and snacks and enjoying the unblocked view of vast sky... and kinda romantic under the moonlight and shy twinkling stars with some soju or makgeolli ^^

Please check the links below for recommended attractions around Yeongju:

~ Seonbichon Village (선비촌)

~ Sosu Seowon Confucian Academy (소수서원) 

~ [Yeongju] Museom Single Log Bridge (무섬외 나무다리)

~ [Yeongju] Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을)

~ [Yeongju] Legends of Buseoksa Temple (부석사)

~ [O-Train] - Railroad Trip from Seoul to Punggi

[O-Train] - Railroad Trip from Seoul to Punggi

Korea offers plenty of breathtaking scenery, though some of the region is less accessible than major cities due to its rugged geography. But, Korea never fails to win in tourism industry because they always provide visitors with lots of convenient options to access to their beautiful country.

On 12 April 2013, Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail)  introduced special railroads V-train and O-train to cater for tourists and locals to enjoy the spectacular views of mountains, cliffs and valleys along the ride.

S-train  also started its operation on 27 Sep 2013 for easier and more enjoyable ways to access the southern regions.

DMZ-train route will start operation on 4 May 2014. Korail will launch more tourism-specialized trains such as G-train for the Western coast, and B-train for the Eastern coast, which are currently in their pipeline.

Our railroad trip with O-train from Seoul to Punggi

Our V-train and O-train routes plan.

Check this link for full V-train and O-train time schedules. 

So sad that we only took O-train, as V-train tickets were sold out. I couldn't changed our schedule as I'd booked hotel on the respective destinations. Do secure your seat earlier to avoid disappointment, as they are really popular not only for tourists, but locals also love to travel with their family and friends.

The O-train, whose name is derived from the round shape of the letter “O” to suggest its circular route, stops by 13 stations including Yeongwol, Mindongsan, Chujeon, Taebaek, Cheoram, Buncheon, Bonghwa, Yeongju, Punggi, Danyang, and Jecheon. 

The train circulates four times a day with two runs going clockwise and another two in the opposite direction. It takes four hours and 50 minutes to compete the entire 257.2-kilometer loop through Gangwon-do (Gangwon Province), Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province), and Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong Province). 

 7:45 am: Seoul Station (서울역)

Upss~! How to squeeze our big luggage 

on this overhead compartment?!

I checked with train attendant whether there is other place to put our luggage. 

She asked our destination and tickets and moved us to this Couple Room 2. 

Having our breakfast (Sushi, bread, and rice cake) in O-train.

You can purchase food and drink at reasonable price at the cafe.

Observatory room for better viewing

 HD TV screen showing the real time view.

Pretty sunrise reflection on the river

Can you feel the cold outside? 

It's warm inside the train, as the heater just below our seats.

Let's Korail with O-Train

9:44 - 9:59 am: Jecheon Station (제천역)

with waiting room to shield chilly wind

11:34 - 11:44 am: Chujeon Station (추전역)

~the highest station in Korea - 855m above sea level~

O-train stops for 10 minutes at Chujeon Station

best of romantic winter scenery~^^

There are some stalls selling local foods...
We bought makgeolli, grilled cuttlefish and sweet corn ^^

The last photo shoot before the train leaving us :P

Chujeon Station

Do take note on arrival and departure time of each station. Don't miss the train, especially if your belongings still inside the train! Most of the stations only stop for 1-2 minutes. Only transfer stations (Jecheon & Yeongju), and breathtaking panoramic views from Chujeon station stop for about 10 minutes.

11:51 - 11:53 am: Taebaek Station (태백역).

Remaining snow still covering most part of Taebaek mountain.


12:12 - 12:14 pm: Cheoram Station (철암역)
O-train connects to V-train at Cheoram Station

Picturesque landscape of Korean Peninsula

14:09 pm: Punggi Station (풍기역)

For more information on Korail O-train:

www.korail.com 

+82-1599-7777/ +82-1588-7788 (Korean, English)

Stunning Scenery and Scenic Valleys

Related Posts:

~ [S-Train] - Scenic Southtern Explorer
~ [S-train] - Bukcheon Cosmos, Hadong, Suncheon and Deungnyang

~ Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을)

~ Museom Single Log Bridge (무섬외 나무다리)

~ Yeongju Loess Pension (풍기 황토 펜션)

Thankful Third Trip to Korea

Thank you 11st for return ticket that make this winter trip to Korea possible. 11st is Korea Online Shopping platform which allows you to purchase from few sellers, combine shipment for all your orders to save shipping cost. They provide international shipment for overseas buyers too. Please check this link for my shopping experience with 11st. 십일번가 짱!!!

Hurry and check this month 11st Event / Promotion:
1. Free K-Beauty: [Banila Co]  CC Cream,  or [The History of Whoo]  Soon Hwan Essence, or [Nature
    Republic] Hawaiian Fresh Clay Pack.
2. 50,000 Won Shopping point for 5 best reviews every months.

I just came back from Korea for my Birthday trip with my family in Sep 2013. Yap, this is my 3rd trip in Korea with my hubby. Initially, thought to go with my friends or my sisters, but they're not available. My hubby quite worried if I travel alone, because the chance for me to get lost is about 80%. Therefore, he bought air ticket to accompany me (hhmmm... I think it's an excuse! He likes Korea too!)

It's still winter (Dec - Mid Mar) in Korea that can be bitterly cold, especially for us that so used to tropical climate. I really wish to see snow, but really worry to see the minus degree on weather forecast. I asked my Korean friend whether I can survive the cold in Korea.  He commented: "You are cold-vulnerable South East Asian. You wont make it at all. Give it up". ㅋㅋ

Haiz! Not even encouragement~! But, I didn't give up! And these photos are the proofs that we survived the cold weather, and had pretty much fun and enjoy ourselves in Korea ^^

10 cold but cool days of fun but furry covered from head to toes! :P

 Day 1 - Day 5

Seoul, Incheon Soraepagu, Yeongju, Busan

Day 6 - Day 10

Jeonju, Muju, Suwon, Seoul

Rough itinerary was Korail railroad trip (O-train, V-train and S-train), cultural tours to other provinces that I've not visited yet. And a must skiing experience since it's winter. Seems quite straight forward, but it's actually quite tricky and headache as I need to check on the transportations (Korail, Kobus, Easy Ticket) with time schedules.

I emailed to KTO to enquire on transportation information that I couldn't find such as from Gyeongju to Masan, and Gwangju to Jeonju. They replied me with the Naver Map link (in Korean) with Departure Time, Arrival Time, Bus Type and Ticket Fare.

Initial Itinerary after few changes of places to stop / transfer 

as I couldn't find transportation from one point to the other point.

Gyeongju to Jeonju Bus Information by Naver Map

From there, I tried to explore on how to check on other destinations by bus: Yeongju to Busan and Muju to Seoul. It's really very useful with accurate information on bus timetable, bus terminal address and website.

Final Itinerary 

Well, not too much changes for Final Itinerary as I only knew how to use Naver Map 2 days before my departure date after I received replied email from KTO. There are actually a lot of Intercity Bus (시외)  and Express Bus (고속) connecting every cities.

For accommodations, I booked through Agoda for hotels in Seoul & Busan. And the rest, I reserved online through their websites, but only Muju Kookmin Hotel confirmed my booking. The rest didn't reply on the confirmation though I emailed and tried to message them through Kakao Talk. I understand that you need to pay deposit to secure the booking and they didn't accept credit card. So, it's too troublesome to transfer money to their bank account and I really don't want to bother my Korean friends as they're so busy.

From their booking system, you can actually see which rooms were already booked. Mostly just half full, so I decided to just go there directly, if the room we wanted was taken, we can just change to other room. For the worst case, we'll  just look for motel...

This time round, I reserved WiBro rental from KT Roaming. This Wifi router can support up to 7 devices for wifi. It's important, as for the first day, my hubby will be arrived in Seoul at night only. So, I need to let him know the hotel room number and most importantly I can stay connected in case I lost my way in Seoul :P

I'll be posting the places that we visited in Seoul based on the actual itinerary and update the link here:
* Wintery Seoul
* Beautiful Method Launching show in Seoul @Only Gallery
* National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
* Samcheongdong has Something for Everyone~!
* Insight into Insadong
* 월매네 Traditional Folk Pub
* Myeongdong Art Theater (명동예술극장)
* Sejong Hotel (세종호텔)
* Fusion Hanbok (by 모란배필) Photoshoot
* Incheon Soraepogu Traditional Fish Market (소래포구 어시장)
* Namdaemun Market - Cutlass Fish (갈치조림) Alley
* [O-Train] - Railroad Trip from Seoul to Punggi
* Yeongju Loess Pension (풍기 황토 펜션)
* Punggi Ginseng Rib (풍기 인삼 갈비)
* Museom Single Log Bridge (무섬외 나무다리)
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 1
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 2
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 3
* Seonbichon Village (선비촌) 
* Sosu Seowon Confucian Academy (소수서원)
* Sosu Museum (소수박물관)
* Korean Buddhist Temple
* Legends of Buseoksa Temple (부석사)
* Treasures in Buseoksa Temple (부석사)
* Buseoksa to Busan 
* 12 hours in Busan
* Busan Station (부산역)
* [Korail S-Train] - Scenic Southtern Explorer
* [S-train] - Bukcheon Cosmos, Hadong, Suncheon and Deungnyang
* Jeonju Hanok Village Hotel (전주한옥빌리지호텔)
* Hanguk Jip Jeonju Bibimbap (한국집 전주 전통 비빔밥)
* [Jeonju] - Evening at Omokdae Pavilion(오목대)
* [Jeonju] - Hanbyeokdang Pavilion (한벽당)
* [Jeonju] - Cheongyeonru Pavilion (청연루)
* [Jeonju] - Gyeonggijeon Main Hall (경기전 정전)
* [Jeonju Sago] - Joseon Wangjo Sillok (조선 왕조 실록)
* [Gyeonggijeon] - Royal Portrait Museum (어진박물관)
* [Jeonju] - Pungnammun Gate (풍남문)
* [Jeonju] -  Hyanggyo Confucian School (전주향교)
* Gain Makgeolli House (가인막걸리) - Drunk in 4 different ways
* [Jeonju] - Sweet Red Bean Soup (단팥죽) @외할머니 솜씨
* [Jeonju] - JIFF Film Street (영화의거리) 
* [Jeonju] - All That Barbecue (올댓바베큐) Salad Buffet 
* [Jeonju] - Hakindang (학인당)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (I)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (II)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (III)
* [Jeonju] - PNB Confectionery (풍년제과)
* Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal (전주시외버스터미널)
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Zephyr coffee (제퍼커피)
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Mansun House
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Let's hit Ski Slope and Slide down the Snowy Hill~! 
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Fun with White Snow
* [Muju Ski Resort] -  Haejangguk 'Hangover' Soup
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Day / Night at Carnival Street
* [Muju Ski Resort ] - Saint Hue Club Sauna and Jjimjilbang
* Last Morning in Muju Deogyusan Ski Resort
* Muju Bus Terminal to Seoul Nambu Terminal
* [Seoul] - Mogyo Samgyetang (무교 삼계탕)
* Dangui (당의) Royal Court Hanbok Dress
* March 1st Movement at Tapgol Park
* Seodaemun Prison History Museum (서대문형무소역사관)
* Unhyeongung (운현궁) Royal Palace
* Insadong, Dongdaemun and Myeongdong
* Early Morning Food Hunting at Gwanjang Market
* [Suwon City Tour] - Haewoojae Mr Toilet House
* [Suwon City Tour] - Hwaseong Haenggung Palace (화성행궁)
* [Suwon City Tour] - Suwon Fortress, Hwahongmun and Banghwasuryujeong
* [Suwon City Tour] - Experience Korean Archery at Yeonmudae (Dongjangdae)
* [Suwon City Tour] - Hwaseong Museum (수원화성박물관)
* Suwon AK Plaza (AK 플라자 백화점)
* Seodaemun Independence Park Historical Site
* Un-un-un-un-un-Unbelieveable Sinchon Shopping Street
* [Seoul] - 18 Beonji Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
* Lotte Mart Seoul Station Branch (롯데마트-서울역점)
* [Seoul] - CenterMark Hotel
* Korea Traditional Cultural Experience at Incheon Airport

Please stay tuned for more details~^^