One of the best activities to carry out during the season, in my opinion, is “Glamping”. If you haven’t heard of the word “Glamping”, it is a shorthand for “Glamorous Camping”, a global trend that has tapped into the Land of Morning Calm in recent years. Mixing up the word “Glamorous” and “Camping”, Glamping is an idea of providing luxurious “tents” in the remote areas of the country, aiming to cater campers with comforts and convenience without giving up on civilization. Just bring your food, drinks and clothing and leave the rest (utensils, camping essentials, tent and etc.) to the glampsite owner! How convenient?

Important Notice: Please note that I have stopped updating all South Korea-related content published before 2020 on this blog. You may find all updated South Korea travel content at my dedicated, new travel site here: www.thecalmchronicle.com 

I spent an amazing weekend glamping at ‪Gapyeong. My friend booked a tent at the Gapyeong Serapim Glampsite 가평 세라핌 글램핑, which is about an hour’s drive away from Seoul. We purchased some fresh ingredients for our BBQ dinner at a market near my friend’s place before heading to the glampsite. Just in case you do not have the luxury of time to do your grocery, you can request the glampsite people to prepare your BBQ dinner, which usually includes pork belly, sausages, mushrooms, garlic, sweet potatoes and lettuce – Your typical Korean campsite staple. Cool enough, yeah?  

This is what greeted us when we arrived at the glampsite. A row of sturdy, lavish tents tucked away next to a stream overlooking an impressive autumn landscape. The tent itself was installed with wooden flooring and Ondol (Korean underfloor heating system) at the bedroom area. Everything looks clean and new.

The tent consists a pantry and dining area on a wooden deck, dressing room and a bedroom-cum-living-room area with a queen sized bed. (A bed in a tent!) The size of the tent comfortably fits three adults, and I think it would fit a family with two kids or two adult couples perfectly. The sleeping area is completely screened to keep mosquitoes out. Additional boilers and heater fan are prepared for the colder days. It is not the most luxurious glampsite I encounter, but it is certainly very well equipped.

The pantry was equipped with a mini-fridge, a stove, cutlery, pots and pans and even a water boiler — everything you’ll need to whip up a sumptuous Korean campsite meals such as Budae Jjigae (Army Stew), a hot bowl of Ramen and Oden Soup. The army stew and Oden soup are the two classic campsite dishes, which is semi-instant, delicious and of course, very easy to prepare.

We decided to make Army Stew for the first meal of the day. It is one of the easiest South Korean dishes to make. Just get an army stew stock from any supermarket, put in all the ingredients and voila! One of my go-to brand for Budae-Jjigae aka army stew stock is from Baek Sul (백설 다담 부대 찌개양념). It is my personal favourite when it comes to army stew stock. I find the rest of the brands either too sweet or less spicy. Baek Sul is the only brand that provides an authentic taste of a good army stew. It is hot and spicy, yet at the same time, full of nutty flavour — This description might sound weird to you. However, in the Korean expression for such flavour, you’ll often come across with this phrase —  “얼큰 하면서 고소함”

There is no exact translation of 고소하다 (go-soo-ha-da) in English. It is usually translated into a the flavour of sesame oil or nutty flavour, but it can be used to describe dishes like army stew as well. It could only roughly be translated to “rich and velvety” in describing go-soo-ha-da for army stew. Anyway,  if you ask for a recommendation, I would say go for Baek Sul’s.

Ingredients to make Army Stew:

-Baeksul’s Army stew stock 1 pack
– 1/2 can of SPAM, cut into smaller pieces
– a few sausages, cut into pieces
– a handful of mushrooms
– 1/4 onion
– cloves of minced garlic (optional)
– 1/4 cup of Kimchi
– 1/2 box of tofu
– some Korean rice cakes (ddeokbokki, 7-8 pieces, optional)
– small bowl of sweetcorn removed from cob (or get the tinned sweetcorn)
– scallions
– a piece or two cheese
– a packet of ramen

Add the stock paste to the pot. Then use the empty Baek Sul stock packet to measure 3 packets of water (300cc), pour them into the pot and cook. Notice there’s a marker at the back of the stock packet “◄100 cc x 3회►“, use that to gauge.

When the stock is boiling, add all the ingredients (except scallions, ramen, and cheese) into the pot. Then, add the ramen and scallions when everything is almost ready. Lastly, add the cheese before you serve!

We toured around the glampsite after the meal and discovered a shower room, a dish-washing station, a general office that sells campfire logs, snacks, instant noodles, drinks and even frozen pork belly. At about 630pm, the person-in-charge came to set up the campfire and the BBQ pit.

The night falls, and the BBQ party begins. We brought some of the finest pork neck meat, beef, sausages and fish to grill and washed them down with beer. Good food, the right music and great companion —  one of the best moments of the night indeed.

After the BBQ, my friends prepared some sweet potatoes and threw them into the campfire pit. While waiting for the sweet potatoes to be cooked, we sat down near the campfire chit-chatting, and finished up another round of beer. Before tucking in the sweet potatoes, my friend whipped up some Rösti, and again we washed them down with some fruits, then back to drinking, again! (This is South Korea, after all!)

The temperature falls to single digit as the night grows late. We brought out the electric blankets and heater fan for extra comfort. By the time we decided to go to sleep, the bedroom was in a nice, warm and fuzzy temperature. We woke up to a misty mountain view the next morning and prepared the typical Korean fare of camping food — Ramen and Oden soup for breakfast.

After the check-out, we visited the nearby Yumyeongsan Mountain Natural Recreation Forest (국립 유명산 자연 휴양림) which is famous for its autumn foliage. If you really want to experience South Korea’s awe-inspiring natural beauty, Yumyeongsan Mountain natural recreation forest is definitely an ideal location. You can even check out Petite France on your way back to Seoul!

Writer’s Note: If you love camping out but always feel intimidated by the preparation work and the clean-up thereafter, glamping is what you should give a try. Just bring your own clothing and leave all the other preparations (tent, utensils, sleeping bags etc.) to the glampsite people and you are all set for a fuss-free, fun and comfortable time with nature. For those who want a memorable South Korean experience, Glamping in Korea is not to be missed. It gives you a chance to peek into the local lifestyle in a Korean countryside setting, yet at the same time, enjoying the service similar to a hotel.

Contact Details:

Serapim Glamping 세라핌 글램핑
경기 가평군 설악면 묵안로 626-17
Gyeonggi-do, Gapyeong-gun, Seolrak-myeon, Mukan-ro. 626-17.
Tel. +8210-2183-3917
Check in: 2pm
Check out: 11am

There are many different glampsites around the country. But not all are English-friendly. Non-Korean speakers may check out Glamping.com (click me)  or Related Airbnb for fuss-free booking. However, you’ll need to get there by yourselves. For those who speak/read Korean, you may check out Glamping Korea (click me), which offers a greater array of choices in the country.

These are a few options for your reference to book a glamping site. Please note that I am not an affiliate with these companies listed above nor I have tried out any of the services from the above. The Serapim Glampsite that appeared in this post is booked by a Korean friend and I was tagging along.

[facebook_like_button] [facebook_send_button]
[facebook_follow_button href=”{$facebook_profile_url}”]
[facebook_embedded_post href=”{$facebook_post_url}”]

Like the post? Why not share it? ; D

↓↓↓↓

Sharing buttons are located below the tags.

Introduction: Petite France

Petite France is a cute and romantic village full of French elements. If you like the literature “The Little Prince” (Le Petit Prince), I bet you’ll like the place as some of the drawings in the village are illustrated in the story. To add more fun to your trip, you may want to pick up a canvas fabric at the entrance when you purchase your ticket. There are totally of 8 different stamps hiding in the village, you can get 2 Petite France postcards from the tourist information counter if you managed to collect all the stamps; )

Public Transportation to Petite France

According to Visit Korea, there are several buses that travel to Petite France from different directions.

From Dong Seoul Bus Terminal or Sang Bong Bus Terminal: Take the intercity bus to Cheongpyeong.
From Cheongpyeong Terminal: take a local bus bound for Goseong-ri (고성리)
From Cheongpyeong Terminal: take Gapyeong Tour Bus to Petite France *bus runs 7 times a day, from 830am to 530pm.

Important Notice: Please note that I have stopped updating all South Korea-related content published before 2020 on this blog. You may find all updated South Korea travel content at my dedicated, new travel site here: www.thecalmchronicle.com 

Introduction: Gapyeong 가평

Located at the border of Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do Province, Gapyeong is right at the centre of the Korean Peninsula. Encompassing various mountains, rivers and the beautiful Cheongpyeong Lake, it is well known for its natural beauty. The Cheongpyeong lake, which is the main attraction of Gapyeong County, is an artificial lake due to the construction of the Cheongpyeong dam. Surrounding the lake is numerous summer pensions. One can enjoy water sports such as water skiing, jet skiing and various water activities, which made this place a popular vacation spot all year round.

Famous Tourist Attractions: 
The Garden of Morning Calm
Petite France
Cheongpyeong Lake

Public Transportation to Gapyeong

Commuters can take a bus from Dong Seoul Station (동서울 터미널) to Gapyeong Bus Terminal (가평 터미널).  Buses transmitting to and fro these two terminals are No. 1310, 1810, 8142,8147 and 8153.

Gapyeong Attractions Circle Bus:
Once you reach Gapyeong Terminal, you can take a Gapyeong Attractions Circle Bus, which brings you to the attractions below:

Gapyeong Terminal (가평터미널)  Jaraseom Island (자라섬)   Gapyeong Station (가평역)  Nami Island (남이섬)  Petite France (쁘띠프랑스)  Cheongpyeong Terminal (청평터미널) Cheongpeyong Station (청평역)  The Garden of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원)

Splashing The Summer’s End Away

And so here we are at our destination, the Four Season Pension which is located right beside the lake. After checking into our rooms, we gathered at the water sports platform and get ready for the water games. Life jackets were distributed. Good intention, but some of the jackets stink. Anyway, please put on your life jacket and made sure they are fastened before splashing away your summer blues. Deep waters here at Cheongpyeong lake.

Flying Fish

Certainly one of my favourite water games out of all. All you need to do is to lie down on the float and clung to the handgrip. The float will then fly off from the water for about 45 degrees. I love the feel of flying like a seagull (maybe. lol) and the scenery was great. The best part? You don’t really get wet. (Unless you fall off from the float, which is quite rare.) Just make sure you hold tightly onto the grip and enjoy!

Pang Pang

Pang-pang is my other favorite too! I think this ride is quite an adventurous one as you can see from the picture below that there is nothing else on the float to prevent you from falling into the water. However, there are hand grips on both sides of your butt but once the staff starts dragging, be prepared to spin off from the float, especially those that sit at both ends  ; D

Blob Jump

A very common summer camp activity, but something brand new to me. It is a 3 tier tower, with one platform at the 2nd level and the other at the 3rd level. The one who wants to fly off from the blob will have to first jump onto the blob at the 2nd level. Then two of your friends (preferably guy friends) have to jump into the blob together from one level higher (the 3rd level), for you to fly up into the sky and launch into the water. It is not an easy task as those that are jumping off from the 3rd level has to reach the blob at the exact same time for the “flyer” to fly off nicely and high up.

So far, I only have the pictures with me. I will upload the video of a successful blob jump demonstrated by one of our members from the KTO and the two staff once I got them up on my youtube channel.

Soon after the water sports, we went back to our rooms with aching arms for a shower. On a side note, the room condition is quite dated, with very basic amenities. Not exactly a comfortable place to sleep in I would say, as they only have Korean-style beddings. That means you’ll have to sleep on the floor without a mattress. But for a 2d1n group trip with friends, also judging by the amount we pay, I think it is quite acceptable.

Dinner:

Dinner was a BBQ party by the lake. I was expecting to do all the grilling and setting up the bbq pit by ourselves but everything was ready on the table. Surprisingly the dinner was quite elaborate, with nice kimchi, soybean paste soup and various side dishes. Everything tasted so good. The best thing? Nice unlimited meat!!!!

Alcohol is such an excellent mood-lifting supplement. After a couple of drinks, the atmosphere became high and someone volunteered to sing. It eventually led to funny sexy dances by representatives from certain countries. Time slipped away and before it gets darker, we decided to call it quits.

I got up at 6 am the next morning. It feels surreal to wake up to such misty and mysterious surroundings. As I have mentioned in my previous post about Chuncheon, most of the mornings here at Gapyeong and Chuncheon are foggy and misty because the county is surrounded by various mountains and waters.

While my roommates were busy getting ready, I came out to the water games platform to enjoy the beautiful scenery where the lake and the misty fog blend harmoniously into the landscape of the mountains in the background. Such a magical moment!

I also filmed a short clip while I was enjoying the fresh air from the mountains. Feel free to check it out ; )

This 2D1N water sports trip at Gapyeong Four Season Pension cost KRW85,000 per person. It consists a 1 night’s stay at the pension, and 3 water sports (Flying Fish, Big Marble, Banana Boat, Bandwagon, Pang Pang) + Blob Jump (Extra charges if you need their staff to jump for you, which guarantee you to fly higher) + playing at the mini water park + breakfast + BBQ Buffet Dinner (free flow of meat). 

Disclaimer: This trip is sponsored by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). However, opinions are my own.