Fall Came Early: The Big and Final Rush.

On our last day, Chris took me to a place called Cheorwon. It's a small county in Kangwon-do located right next to the border of North Korea. Military outposts and men in uniform are all over the place, and that bothered me for some reason. It was still summer when we visited, but it felt more like mid-autumn. I heard this is one of the coldest areas in South Korea, and I can't even begin to imagine how cold it gets come winter here.

There are many sightseeing places in Cheorwon, and the first we visited was Chiktang Waterfall by the river. It's about 5 meters high and 80 meters wide. They call this "The Niagara of Korea", it may not be as grand, but it has it's own charm.

This is no ordinary bridge, and not for the faint-hearted either. At the uppermost part, there is a platform where people fall in line to do bungee-jumping.

I admit how much of a wimp I've become ever since I started celebrating birthdays past the age of 21. I'm always afraid to step out of my comfort zone and do something risky. But at the same time, I also crave for this one big adventure, and do something wild and freeing. Chris knew exactly where to get that 'rush' I've been craving for. We went rafting in Hantan river with a couple other guys. It was hard and scary as hell, but it also felt incredible! *sorry for the blurry photos, we used a waterproof bag for the camera to protect the lens.

This was our group, all noisy and rowdy. Midway through the course, the guide asked us all to jump into the river. The river is about 15 meters deep, and the current is really strong, I got really scared and stayed behind.. But the guide pushed me off the boat so I ended up swimming with the others and doing this thing called "body rafting". I choked and swallowed a bit of water, shouted a couple of times, and I think I almost got a hypothermia. But in the end I had so much fun, and I can't thank him enough for pushing me into the river (I would never have the courage to jump^^).

There is an area in Hantan River they call Goseokjeong. They say this is Cheorwon's best sightseeing place. The scenery here is so beautiful, even royalties from ancient dynasties visited here often.

There weren't a lot of tourists in Cheorwon that day. Other than a couple of farmers driving that '3-wheeled-thing' they use on the field, most of the roads are as empty as this.

It's so unusual to see this much flat surface in Korea.

The last place we visited was Sambuyeon Waterfall. It stands about 20 meters high, and the rock formation here is so impressive. This is probably the best waterfall I've seen so far in all of Korea.

I would miss so many things about this place, but most importantly, I would miss the peace that surrounded us while we were there. We don't get that in the city. For sure we'll be back, the leaves may have withered by then or the water may have turned to ice. But I'm positive it's going to be equally beautiful, if not even more.