I am planning to spend 2 weeks in South Korea in October traveling alone. One of my destinations will be Andong Mask Dance Festival.
I am wondering how difficult is to book a hotel during the festival. I am also looking for anybody who ever attended this festival.
Emilia
ewojanczyk
1
onbeingtrue
I'm sorry I can't help you with your questions about the Mask Festival... But if you'll be in Korea between October 1st-12th and have the time you should also consider the Lantern Festival in Jinju, in Gyeongsangnam-do province. Motels might be hard to come by on the spot, but if you're keen for some couch surfing you can PM me or check out any of the other numerous folks around here who would gladly host. You can also always try out a jimjilbang for a real Korean experience... Some bath house/saunas are open 24 hours and you can stay the night, use the baths, take a shower and sleep there for the low cost of around 7-10,000 won (approx. US$7-10).
Good luck with the Mask Festival!
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=292766
2
horusmatt
Hi, we were at the mask festival last year and had no troubles getting a place to stay on the afternoon of the first day of the festival. You can see our blog post about it here http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/matt-n-ida/1/1285368248/tpod.html Any other questions just let us know.
3
ewojanczyk
Thank you Horusmatt for your feedback! I have some additional questions:
1. How many days did you stay there?
2. Did you get tickets for the performances you wanted?
3. When did you arrive there, how much time did you spend looking for a hotel?
4. What kind of hotel did you have, what price?
5. Do they sell masks during the festival?
4
horusmatt
Hi again,
We only stayed in Andong for 2 full days and had no problems getting in to see the shows we wanted, just queue up for a bit and buy a ticket or if the shows are on the main stage there's loads of room to sit and/or stand.
It took us 10 minutes to find a place to stay, we arrived at about 3pm on the afternoon of the opening of the festival, it may have been tougher to find a place the next days but it was easy for us! There are loads of "love motels" not far from the railway station, we spent 30,000 won per night.
There are also loads of craft stalls selling masks and lots of make-it-yourself stalls too if you're in to that kind of thing.
If you plan to go to Hahoe while you're there I would highly recommend an early visit, it really gets crazy busy around lunch time and in the afternoon.
I hope that helps, enjoy your trip :-)
Matt
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