Hiking and kayaking in HongCheon river

For my dear friend Caroline's birthday, I decided to join her on a hiking and kayaking expedition around the HongCheon river in Gangwon province. 

She actually knew about this trip because she's a good friend of the coordinator of a traveling group called Indigo Hill. Like many other travel groups for foreigners in Korea, Indigo Hill sets up different adventures for foreigners to enjoy. The difference between this group and others is that it is much smaller, affordable, and they focus on culture, art, and philosophy.
Through Indigo Hill, we were able to ride out about an hour east of Seoul for our expedition. The weather started off very gloomy and rainy, but it didn't stop us from venturing out to a part of Korea that we have never visited.

Although half of the group went on an extreme hike up one of the mountains, my friends and I decided to do our own version of hiking nearby.

Our hike path was along the river, so the trek was full of beautiful scenery.

I'd say the most special memory of this trip was when we were invited by a Korean family to join them for lunch. They had prepared different Korean dishes and shared some with us! We were just loitering around the parking lot waiting for the rest of the group to finish their hike, when this Korean family waved us over to come and join them. They were very hospitable and even took many pictures with us.

The trip ended with some kayaking down the HongCheon river. Because of the weather, the 5km route got cut short by half, but it was still a super fun experience. After a quick lesson from the kayak group leaders, we were sent off to paddle on the river.

Around what was supposed to be halfway of our kayak trip, we got to jump out of our kayaks and swim around in this gorgeous area. People got to jump off of the big rock in the background as well as race each other from one end to the other.

Overall, this trip was super relaxed and I would do it again when the weather gets nicer. Since it was a smaller group, I got to meet and talk to some really cool people that are also stationed in Korea as teachers, company workers, and military. It's a great way to expand your horizons and see some of Korea you probably wouldn't on your own.