There is no shortage of “extreme sports” available in South Korea, if you know where to look. From paragliding, to skydiving, to white-water rafting, to bungee jumping, there are so many different things to try. Finding these experiences can be a challenge here, but we’ve booked a few and we’re all about sharing the info here to help you get out and explore this incredible country!
Bungee Jumping in Inje
Okay before you get all shocked that someone with my fear of heights would go bungee jumping… I did not. However, I did go paragliding for my birthday last year right after we arrived in South Korea, so I guess bungee jumping is still in the realm of possibility. Maybe. But probably not. However, this blog is called The Wandering WHITTENS, not The Wandering ASHLEY (which is not NEARLY as catchy), so while I didn’t personally go bungee jumping, my better half did and he is, in fact, a Whitten.
Brandon has always had this dream of going bungee jumping, but unfortunately married a woman who has pretty much no desire to do so. Thankfully, Missy’s husband Ryan is also crazy and wanted the experience, so for Brandon’s birthday, they went on a little bungee jumping bro-date while Missy and I took our collective eight children to Blue Crystal Village in Asan.
Ascendia Sports offers a variety of extreme activities, including bungee jumping from 63 meters (206 feet) – which is the highest bungee jump in South Korea. You jump over a river, which either makes it more terrifying or… more terrifying.
The guys arrived at the jump location and were put into their “bungee boots” before being ushered into a little… elevator (for lack of a better word) that took them slowly up to the platform. The workers were kind and tried their best to communicate. Although there was absolutely a language barrier (as is common here when we don’t speak Korean), they were able to get their point across easy enough. They hooked Ryan up first, counted backwards from five, yelled “jump!” and he jumped, falling dozens of meters before being sprung back up and spinning over and over again in a way that made me nauseous just watching the video.
All the while Brandon stood on the platform cowering in absolute fear. Okay, I’m joking. However, Brandon did say that the first time he felt nervous was when he saw Ryan jump, so he wasn’t sure if going second was helpful at all. Within a few minutes, Ryan was back on safe ground and was Brandon’s turn. He admits that he was second-guessing his choice to go bungee jumping at this point. However, he had just watched his friend go, so he wasn’t about to chicken out now. (Although admittedly, Ryan claimed that he would NEVER in a million years make that jump again.)
After Brandon was hooked up, they counted backwards, yelled “jump!” and he did. He jumped out as far as he could, as instructed, and got in a “belly flop” position to avoid more jerking at the bottom. According to Brandon, the initial jump was the scariest part, but the free-fall was incredible. Even at the bottom, where it slings you back up, he said was pretty smooth. He did, however, forget to tuck his arms in after the first bounce – causing his arm to get tangled in the bungee cord. Still, no damage done (to his arm or the cord), so it was a successful jump.
Ever since their jump, Brandon has been trying to convince me to make the jump with him – which I adamantly refuse to do. My pride can get me to do a lot of things, but bungee jumping absolutely is NOT one of them.
Tell me, would you go bungee jumping?
How to go bungee jumping in Inje
Booking a jump: Brandon booked the jumps through Ascendia Sports – which was the same company we booked our paragliding through. You can book a jump by visiting the Ascendia Sports Website.
Address: Double check with the site after booking, but the address at the time of this posting is 강원도 인제군 인제읍 합강리 221-12 – which you can paste into Naver.
Cost: There two different options for bungee jumping. For a full body harness jump it is ₩63,000 per person. While an ankle-only harness is ₩83,000. (For reference, Brandon and Ryan did the ankle-harness, proving that they are even more crazy than I had originally thought.)
