Sunday, August 31, 2008

Danyang Rafting, Ondal Caves, Fortress Wall

23 Aug 2008, Saturday

Desperately wanted to leave the city to get back to normal life after the recent tragic events. Had had enough of being morose.

And, as it turned out, one of the Chinese guys I am friendly with, was thinking of rafting... and in Korea, the rafting season is short, just July and August...so there was a sense of urgency to it; which is a good thing!

A group of 9 people was ready to go. 2 couples, 5 men...and I, the lone Indian!!!

Having two car owners amongst us was very useful-cuts down the net travel cost compared to hiring cars .

Danyang, is around 2.5 - 3 hours away from Suwon, but as it happens during weekends, the whole of Korea hits the highways in droves. Expecting a delay on the expressways,we planned to hit the roads by 7:30...but then it got delayed to 8:00...despite living in Korea, getting late is something we cannot change...!!! So, by the time we reached Danyang, it was past 12:00...The drizzle and the mountains make a wonderful pair...

The mist on the mountains reminded me of similar scenes of Lonavala in India.

The whole place looked so ethereal...and the air is surely much much better once we leave cities...and it seemed more calmer...We couldn't wait to hit the long winding river...but first we needed to have lunch....


As is usual for me, I opted for bibim baap(비빔밥)...We had lunch, rafting and the Ondal caves included in the package of 25,000 wons. We were taken by the complimentary bus to the rafting site.

I really love the fact that things are organised and taken good care of by these touring companies...atleast until now I have had only good things to speak of. After a demonstration of how to wear a life jacket and a helmet(even now I wonder why the helmet was given!), we had some warm-up exercises to do (wow!). And then it was fun, carrying the raft down to the water... A photographer was in place there and we had a Kodak moment!

Suddenly, I felt overawed, since I was at the very front, and the gentle currents were throbbing the raft. But, I soon overcame the fear...and we rowed in sync...It was awesome to see those steep rocky walls of the mountain range so close by...The fun was about to begin! As soon as we rowed on to a shallow and quieter stretch of water, the guide had some games for us...people sitting on both sides of the raft had to rock the raft...and the guide was more than keen to throw people overboard! shock gave way to fun! The water was a little frigid. My migraine stopped me from enjoying the whole show fully, yet I did go down twice. For couples, there was this titanic style stuff...the couples doing a Kate Winslet with hands stretched at the very edge of the raft... and someone throwing them into the water...the best thing i liked was there was no hurry... we could enjoy being in the water for as long as we wanted...it was time to take a break ...With 3 rafts, an impromptu water slide was made at the bank, that was fun. We had a quick shower and next on the cards was the Ondal caves visit...


I have never been before to stalactite/stalagmite caves ever...And the maintenance of the caves was beautiful...I do find a great respect for public property and maintenance in Korea...They were so awe inspiring...considering the thousands or millions of years these caves have been around and how slowly different patterns and designs have been made and are being made.


In the same area as the caves is a movie set...from there leads a path for the Shilla fortress...Around a 1000 m upwards...wonder why they made a wall so high amidst all the dense trees...As it is , it would be difficult to go there...on top of it make a wall...just my thoughts...the military people in the days gone

by surely would have had better reasons...





After a delay of around an hour courtesy the three of us with the enthusiasm to see the fortress walls, we left Danyang around 7:30 pm. Returning to Suwon took a little more than 2 hours. I felt tired in a good way.