It is the end of August. The cooling weather after the sun sets suggests a change in season is drawing closer. Before summer winds down, spending a relaxing afternoon soaking in the cool water was all that I wanted to do. Spending 2D1N at Cheongpyeong Lake in Gapyeong county was a brilliant choice. Here at the pension, we get to have some splash-tastic water activities, followed by a BBQ party by the misty lake at night. Nothing sounds better than this.

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Introduction: Gapyeong 가평

Located at the border of Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do Province, Gapyeong is right at the centre of the Korean Peninsula. Encompassing various mountains, rivers and the beautiful Cheongpyeong Lake, it is well known for its natural beauty. The Cheongpyeong lake, which is the main attraction of Gapyeong County, is an artificial lake due to the construction of the Cheongpyeong dam. Surrounding the lake is numerous summer pensions. One can enjoy water sports such as water skiing, jet skiing and various water activities, which made this place a popular vacation spot all year round.

Famous Tourist Attractions: 
The Garden of Morning Calm
Petite France
Cheongpyeong Lake

Public Transportation to Gapyeong

Commuters can take a bus from Dong Seoul Station (동서울 터미널) to Gapyeong Bus Terminal (가평 터미널).  Buses transmitting to and fro these two terminals are No. 1310, 1810, 8142,8147 and 8153.

Gapyeong Attractions Circle Bus:
Once you reach Gapyeong Terminal, you can take a Gapyeong Attractions Circle Bus, which brings you to the attractions below:

Gapyeong Terminal (가평터미널) ↔ Jaraseom Island (자라섬) ↔  Gapyeong Station (가평역) ↔ Nami Island (남이섬) ↔ Petite France (쁘띠프랑스) ↔ Cheongpyeong Terminal (청평터미널)↔ Cheongpeyong Station (청평역) ↔ The Garden of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원)

Splashing The Summer’s End Away

And so here we are at our destination, the Four Season Pension which is located right beside the lake. After checking into our rooms, we gathered at the water sports platform and get ready for the water games. Life jackets were distributed. Good intention, but some of the jackets stink. Anyway, please put on your life jacket and made sure they are fastened before splashing away your summer blues. Deep waters here at Cheongpyeong lake.

Flying Fish

Certainly one of my favourite water games out of all. All you need to do is to lie down on the float and clung to the handgrip. The float will then fly off from the water for about 45 degrees. I love the feel of flying like a seagull (maybe. lol) and the scenery was great. The best part? You don’t really get wet. (Unless you fall off from the float, which is quite rare.) Just make sure you hold tightly onto the grip and enjoy!

Pang Pang

Pang-pang is my other favorite too! I think this ride is quite an adventurous one as you can see from the picture below that there is nothing else on the float to prevent you from falling into the water. However, there are hand grips on both sides of your butt but once the staff starts dragging, be prepared to spin off from the float, especially those that sit at both ends  ; D

Blob Jump

A very common summer camp activity, but something brand new to me. It is a 3 tier tower, with one platform at the 2nd level and the other at the 3rd level. The one who wants to fly off from the blob will have to first jump onto the blob at the 2nd level. Then two of your friends (preferably guy friends) have to jump into the blob together from one level higher (the 3rd level), for you to fly up into the sky and launch into the water. It is not an easy task as those that are jumping off from the 3rd level has to reach the blob at the exact same time for the “flyer” to fly off nicely and high up.

So far, I only have the pictures with me. I will upload the video of a successful blob jump demonstrated by one of our members from the KTO and the two staff once I got them up on my youtube channel.

Soon after the water sports, we went back to our rooms with aching arms for a shower. On a side note, the room condition is quite dated, with very basic amenities. Not exactly a comfortable place to sleep in I would say, as they only have Korean-style beddings. That means you’ll have to sleep on the floor without a mattress. But for a 2d1n group trip with friends, also judging by the amount we pay, I think it is quite acceptable.

Dinner:

Dinner was a BBQ party by the lake. I was expecting to do all the grilling and setting up the bbq pit by ourselves but everything was ready on the table. Surprisingly the dinner was quite elaborate, with nice kimchi, soybean paste soup and various side dishes. Everything tasted so good. The best thing? Nice unlimited meat!!!!

Alcohol is such an excellent mood-lifting supplement. After a couple of drinks, the atmosphere became high and someone volunteered to sing. It eventually led to funny sexy dances by representatives from certain countries. Time slipped away and before it gets darker, we decided to call it quits.

I got up at 6 am the next morning. It feels surreal to wake up to such misty and mysterious surroundings. As I have mentioned in my previous post about Chuncheon, most of the mornings here at Gapyeong and Chuncheon are foggy and misty because the county is surrounded by various mountains and waters.

While my roommates were busy getting ready, I came out to the water games platform to enjoy the beautiful scenery where the lake and the misty fog blend harmoniously into the landscape of the mountains in the background. Such a magical moment!

I also filmed a short clip while I was enjoying the fresh air from the mountains. Feel free to check it out ; )

This 2D1N water sports trip at Gapyeong Four Season Pension cost KRW85,000 per person. It consists a 1 night’s stay at the pension, and 3 water sports (Flying Fish, Big Marble, Banana Boat, Bandwagon, Pang Pang) + Blob Jump (Extra charges if you need their staff to jump for you, which guarantee you to fly higher) + playing at the mini water park + breakfast + BBQ Buffet Dinner (free flow of meat). 

Disclaimer: This trip is sponsored by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). However, opinions are my own.