Kayaking in Gangwon-do

Two weekends ago was Chuseok holiday (the Korean version of Thanksgiving or Mid-Autumn Festival), and my school gave us 5 days off. What do you do with such a rare break? Road trip, of course! A bunch of other native teachers and I decided to take a trip to Gangwon-do because one of them found that it's apparently THE place to do whitewater rafting in Korea. All eager to get away from the city for a bit, we hopped on a bus for three hours and made it out to Inje in Gangwon-do.

Getting to Inje was an experience because we had to take a regional bus that's kinda different from cities buses. We went to a major bus terminal, and this being Chuseok (a time when almost every single Korean visits their hometime) the terminal was absolutely packed. It was a madhouse just getting the tickets, and afterwards, there were so many buses that we weren't really sure where to go. Of course, not a single one of us spoke Korean, so we were handicapped in asking. Fortunately since the majority of our group were obvious foreigners (they were white), one bus driver parted the sea of Koreans for us and led us to the right bus. To top it off, the other bus drivers all started clapping and yelling, "Welcome to Korea!" What a great way to kick off the weekend.

Anyways, when we finally get to Inje, our rafting guide picked us up and brought us to our cabin (which btw turned out to be gorgeous and quite spacious). But the surprise was, when we got there the river was about 2 feet deep!! Apparently, we went right at the end of the rafting season and near the beginning of the dry season... So we were told the river was too low for rafting (obviously) but that we were going to go kayaking instead. Bummer, right?

But kayaking actually turned out to be way fun! Before we headed out, they suited us up with lifevests and helmets. We all laughed because we were all thinking, "Are we looking at the same river? Is all this equipment really necessary??" But actually it turned out to be quite handy. Since the river was so low, it was actually a bit tough at some parts because our kayaks would get stuck on the rocks if you didnt' follow the exact course (which of course happened to me and my partner quite a bit) and some people in our group would accidently knock someone else's head with their oar, lol!

It was my partner and my first real time kayaking through rapids, so it was quite an adventure. We eventually got the hang of it and was able to navigate through the end of the course, but that took quite a while to get down. The beginning and middle, however, was tough. It seemed like we were getting stuck or going backwards every two seconds, and at one point, we got so hopelessly stuck at one of the bigger rapids that we had to get out and haul our kayak.

Moving the kayak from the rocks was okay, but me being me, I actually fell into the river while trying. :( It was then that I realized that the seemingly tame river had quite a strong current. I tried to swim back to my kayak, but it was hopeless. I tried to get a foothold or handhold on the rocks as I passed by them, but that too turned out to be futile because they were too smooth and slippery. Finally, I was so tired I just let myself drift down the current. After I finally grabbed hold of a rock, one of our guides had to come and basically drag me back to my kayak. (I grabbed a handhold on the back of his kayak while he rowed.) I felt so bad for him!!!

Overall, the trip was a blast! Kayaking was much more fun and exciting than we first thought when we arrived, and it was really nice just chilling with everyone in our cabin later that night. Also, it was a really good deal!! 50,0 00 won per person for the kayaking tour and overnight at the cabin. Where could you possibly get such a good deal in the States??

It was so much fun that we're already planning to go back for a true rafting trip after the rainy season in April. Can't wait...