First days of preparation at the World Rafting Championships

By Jez

Ok, so the flight was long as all flights are from Australia but I arrived in Korea and met up with the rest of the team in a very nice 5 star hotel. One night in Seoul and then off to the river in Inje, which is one of the Northern most provinces of South Korea just 40 Kilometers away from the North Korean boarder which means there are a whole lot of military personnel here. A day of stuffing around and getting things organized and we finally got on the river late that afternoon. I don’t know if I can truly call it a river as it is more of a trickle than a river. The teams have traveled from all over the world and unfortunately mother nature has not come to the party leaving us with a very low river complete with sandy bottoms and rocks ready to stop you everywhere. I guess no one can really plan around the weather, you just have to roll with the punches.

Today we hit the water with the rest of the teams, getting used to the lines and river here. The mountains are awesome and there are some spectacular views, one downside is the communication issue. It really is difficult just to communicate with local who do not speak English at all. Sign language has become our form of communication, which is very funny to watch. As I write this update, the captains are having a meeting as to where to hold the competition so things may be completely changed. We may be bussed off to a river at 12 midnight to a river 6 hours away in an attempt to get some good water.

Just tonight we went into the town of Inje and it was obvious that some of the locals have not seen Caucasians before in their life. One child looked at us and screamed, another young child stood and looked with her jaw dropped staring at how big our feet were. Such a totally different place to Western life. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to send as internet access is quite difficult but will try to update on the competition throughout the week.

Stay safe
jez
Jackson Kayak Coordinator of Karma