Friday, a day before the trip, there were several travel advisories shown on TV about a heavy snowfall that hit the northern peninsula and Gangwon-do (our destination) having the worst bout of snow and ice. Many roads were already blocked, accidents by the minute, traffic jam which can lead an hour drive to four. Flights have been cancelled and public transportation was inaccessible. After all the preparation and endless anxiety whether or not this trip shall be pursued, we finally departed (against all odds) for Gangwon-do last Saturday at dawn.
The weather seems promising that dawn and it was just snowing a little at that time. It's not even that cold, and I remember I had to turn the heater off while I was inside the car, cause the 4 layers of thick clothing and 2 layers of pants are a bit too warm for the weather. Then I started to notice that the snowfall becomes harder and bigger as we were pushing farther away from Seoul towards our destination. I was pre-occupied waiting for the sunrise that I didn't notice how much the weather was changed from Seoul.
We arrived in Gangwon-do at about 10 am and we directly headed to our first destination. As we were getting near we made a wrong turn and we slid to a huge pile of snow at the side of the road. I was stuck in the front seat, can't get out as the snow covers half of the door beside me. Snow was too deep that we had to dig and luckily some of the locals saw us and gave us a shovel to remove the snow. Snow became harder and visibility is getting more and more difficult. Tires kept sliding as the road became dangerously slippery (we didn't have that tire-chain thing that they use here when it snows). We were going not more that 40km/h or brakes wouldn't function and we'll slide in all direction.
We weren't able to accomplish all our plan that day but I don't have any regret. It's white everywhere... blanketed by snow. Everywhere I look it's beautiful... it's like I can feel some sense of peace and serenity.
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