Woke up at 5:45am with Holly on Sunday in order to make it to our bus at 7:ooam. We decided to grab a taxi, instead of taking the subway so we could grab coffee and breakfast beforehand without rushing. The cab driver started to take us a way I hadn't seen before, so I repeated the destination. He sounded suprised. As I told him, we entered a freeway going into a tunnel. Actually it ended up to be two tunnels, through a mountain. We were totally going the wrong way. By the time he got off the expressway and turned around, we only had ten minutes until our bus left. We didn't know the word for "faster, dammit!" so I started pointing to all the other cabs that were passing us. He understood. We arrived at the bus at 6:57 and made it! There was a second stop on the other side of the river that a couple of friends were joining us at, so we begged them to pick up some food and coffee.
Thank god for kind friends. Without Greg bringing us coffee, I would have been a crabby girl.
We arrived at the river around 10am and I couldn't hold in my excitement. We were told to make teams of ten, but we were accepted
with our team of eight. It started with the six of us: me, Holly, Greg, Matt, Gabriel, and Jeff. We had the most awesome team! Holly and I sat in the front and got the most of the rapids in our face. The rapids weren't very rough, and we didn't expect them to be. We tried to make it under a waterfall and failed. We had massive paddle/water fights with the other rafters on the river. It was so beautiful there and the weather was perfect to be on the water.
We took a pitstop at a mini beach on the river. While we swam in the river, the guides set up a makeshift raft slide for us to jump onto. The first time I tried to slide on it, I took a running start, jumped on the first raft and started sliding down the second raft. I guess I didn't run fast enough because I stopped on the slide right before I hit the water. I had to wiggle in order to fall in. Oh man.
After we finished, we had a yummy korean buffet. Lots of bulgogi and kim (my favorite). Then we headed to.... the bridge!!!!
In order to bungee jump you have to pay 35k won, write and sign your name (the simplest waiver I've ever seen in my life), have your weight taken down and climb up a spiral staircase to the top of the bridge. We were given a little piece of paper with our weight class written on it. An older Korean man fitted ankle straps on us while we waited in line. I missed my weight class because I was taking pictures of ev
eryone else, so I had to wait on the catwalk for what seemed like a lifetime. The cords were changed so I had to wait until they changed it back to the one I needed. One of the women before me hesitated for quite awhile and she wouldn't let go of the railing. They pushed her off. She was crying like a baby afterward. I don't think she thought about her decision long enough. Another guy was jumping, but with a waist harness. When he started to jump, he second guessed his decision and started grabbing the cord. I thought I was going to see an arm ripped off.
Advice: never grab the cord.
My turn finally came and since I had been waiting and watching I thought I'd have the jump off down pat. I was cocky until I walked up to the edge of the platform and the operator tossed part of my cord off the side. Looking down 52 meters at a river is quite unnerving! I knew I couldn't hesitate any longer than a few seconds or else my survival instincts would kick in and tell me that I might die and to not do it.
Then I jumped.
The first free fall is so beautiful. I wish I could describe it better, but I really don't think I can. After I landed, everyone told me how quiet my jump was, and I think it's because I was overcome with how liberating it is to fly. I imagined that when the cord finally kicked in, it would be jarring, but it wasn't. I just swung back and forth until it calmed down enough for the man paddling the boat to grab my hands.
The rest of the day was spend sittting and lying on the bank of the river, splashing my feet, watching others jump and enjoying conversation. The weather was perfect.
A perfectly fantastic Sunday.
The World is a beautiful place, ESPECIALLY when you're willing to look at it in a different angle. And in this case, dangling by a cord and free falling.
ReplyDeleteThere's a certain element of adventure and pull from falling. One does not simple state that they're going into love, or they're gravitating towards love...no, we fall in love. Danger, surprise, risks and adventure all encompass that.
People forget that we fall every day. Walking is merely catching oneself from falling. Call it, falling with grace if you will.
"Never grab the cord"--hah, you could apply that advice for babies coming out of the womb! Shame we have forgotten that feeling. What a read. Thanks so much for sharing this so freely.
Lastly, of course the weather was perfect, you made it so.