Jumping off a 45 m high tower? That was the way I spent a cold Sunday in Seoul. A friend I made from living at DMC Ville invited me to go with her and of course I wanted to try it since I had never had the chance before! She was quite keen on going and it seemed like an exciting experience with just two words. So the original place that was located closer to DMC was closed on Sunday's, which she found out 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet up in the morning to head out. But she found another place that would be a further journey and the hours seemed to be more convenient......The name of the place we went to was Youldong Park Bungee Jump. They are open everyday except Monday's from 10 am til 5 pm. By subway, we transferred 5 times and then took a bus for about 20-25 minutes, total travel time of about an hour and a half. We met her friend at the station and he lived in the dorms, he said it took him about 40 minutes to get from Sinchon to Somyeon (subway station for the bus). As Kevin, Jasmine, and I walked to the park, we were immediately captured by the beautiful river in the center surrounded by a nice walking area for families and pets. After taking a left and walking about 6-8 minutes, we arrived at the tower around 11:30 am. Unfortunately we arrived around lunch time and the workers took a break from 12-1:30 pm. Fortunately, we were still early enough to claim a spot because it was on a first come, first serve basis since they have a set limit per day based on the weather. The man who handed us the tickets told us to return at 3 pm, a little baffled by this, we decided to go grab a bite since we had 3 hours to kill. After we ate, we sat outside a cafe at the park, interestingly the cafe was based on Hawaiian coffee. The view was beautiful; there were many cute babies and doggies to complement it. Around 2 pm, we saw people jumping and noticed that people would crowd around the side of the river to watch them jump. Watching people made me a tad anxious, but I wasn't about to back down after waiting for that long. We exchanged our tickets for admission and each paid 25,000 KRW. A worker strapped on our gear and took us up the elevator. Jasmine waited at the bottom to take pictures, you can do this as well, just switch off, like one goes up and jumps down then takes the camera from the person at the bottom to get pictures for him/her. Kevin was first to go! A bunch of strangers and I cheered him on. I waited for Jasmine to come up before jumping off the edge. At first, I really couldn't do it, I needed to take a step back and breathe before I could approach the edge again. He counted down from 3 and I leaped. Trying to remember to spread my limbs like a starfish, I grasped the air below me. That sensation of free falling brought such an adrenaline rush! I stopped breathing for about three seconds until I felt the harness and my heart again. I bounced a few times, it was like a ride at the amusement part and I saw all the people watching me flail happily. I wanted to go again when I got down. I would definitely recommend bungee jumping! Some suggestions would be to go earlier like around 8 am to get there at 10:30-11 am and jump before their lunch break and to also eat a very light breakfast. Life is about taking opportunities and this was something I am glad I didn't pass up on!
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