On September 6, 2008, my fellow colleagues and I, part of the Samsung SE team, embarked on a river rafting adventure at Hantang.
I sprang out of bed at 7 am, hastily packed my belongings, and made a swift dash to the cafeteria to grab my breakfast kit. From there, I headed to the K1 bus station to catch the 8:30 bus bound for YangJae, Seoul. I met Vishu, his wife, and Sandhya at the bus stop. There was an air of excitement.
Around 9:20 am, we gathered with the rest of the Samsung team at Exit 2 in YangJae. We chatted and later boarded the bus to Hantang. The journey stretched out for almost four hours, making for quite a lengthy drive to our destination. I paid around 38,000 Korean won as the fee. We had our lunch there. I had a few cupcakes and a banana for my lunch. After lunch, I put on shorts and a life jacket and we waited for another bus to take us to the destination.
Finally, our chance came, and we boarded the bus. Excitement slowly picked up. There was a huge water sliding game to make us experience the actual effect. It was an amazing and thrilling experience. Then our instructor came, and we carried the boat to the river. We had a few demonstrations and a brief talk about the risks and do’s and don’ts. Later we boarded the boat. We canoed the boat for a few meters when we came across a huge dip. The waves were splashing directly on us. The boat was darting back and forth. It was a wonderful feeling to experience the boat being toyed back and forth against the waves. We came out of the turbulent waters and canoed for some more time when we again came across the turbulent waves. There were 5 such turbulent spots. Each time, the boat was tossed like a toy. We gripped the rope to avoid being slipped away by the strong current. It was an exciting moment. It’s the feeling similar to an accident experience. You’re flung like a toy. That’s the actual thrill of the rafting.
The scenery was breathtaking. Both sides were enormous mountains, and we passed right through the middle of the mountains. The sky was clear and light blue. There was a gentle breeze as we canoed through the stream. It was a wonderful experience and worth every penny. On the way back, we stopped at 2 places, beautiful beyond description.
We rafted for about two-and-a-half hours. It was 5 PM when we finished. We changed our clothes and boarded the bus to Seoul, reached YangJae at 8:30 pm. I had some snacks and chocolates on the way, took the Samsung bus from exit 7, and reached home at 9:30 pm. I had delicious chicken curry and rice and later slept off at around 11 pm. Next day morning, woke up for another exciting adventure – Trip to the office 🙂
