The end of the year is also when girls take a moment to slow down and dream about flying off to South Korea... haha, but honestly, the main reason for year-end rest is that we girls are really cold-averse—it takes a lot more courage to go shoot beautiful snowy scenes (screaming inside...). Maybe it’s because the year-end is approaching, but lately there have been more recommendations for great sunrise spots in South Korea, so everyone can welcome the first rays of the New Year on January 1st. For the earliest and most beautiful sunrise, it has to be the Hands of Friendship at Haewol Cape in Pohang.
Pohang is located in North Gyeongsang Province, near the ancient city of Gyeongju. You can take the KTX directly from Seoul to Pohang, which takes about two and a half hours. From downtown Pohang to Haewol Cape, you first need to take a bus to the Kukdong Junction. My friend and I got off at the junction and were already drawn in by the various crab specialty shops across the street, but we had to quickly transfer to another bus to get to Haewol Cape. We could look around later—first, let’s eat... sob.
It takes about thirty minutes by car from Kukdong to Haewol Cape, and almost all the passengers get off at the same bus stop.
Since we were going to watch the sunrise, my friend and I excitedly went to look for a guesthouse first. Fortunately, since we planned the trip on a non-weekend day, we easily found a nice guesthouse even without a reservation.
Our journey began right at the entrance of the guesthouse—that is, the coastline of Haewol Cape.
I don’t know if it’s because we were facing the East Sea, but the waves were huge and the water was so blue—it was absolutely gorgeous!
It takes about ten minutes to walk from the coastline to Haewol Cape Plaza, and finally, we arrived at the iconic Hands of Friendship. The hand on land (left) and the hand over the sea (right) were built in 1999, symbolizing the people supporting each other to greet each day’s happy sunrise.
From the top floor of the plaza, you can see the two hands coming together.
Let’s take a look at the hand on land first—wow, it’s like a giant’s hand!
Walking closer to the hand over the sea, we took plenty of photos capturing the sky, the sea, and the hand—it’s such a beautiful scene!
There’s a legend that seeing all five fingers and a bird perched on them is a symbol of happiness. The girl saw it—there was even a bird on the palm. So lucky, haha : p
Time always flies when you’re holding a camera, and then it’s evening again. Of course, we couldn’t miss the sunset over the East Sea. The first day’s shoot ended together with the sunset, and we returned to the guesthouse to rest.
Then came the long-awaited sunrise...
On the second day, before 5:00 am, my friend and I crawled out of the guesthouse to greet the tranquil morning light by the coast.
As the sunrise drew nearer, more and more people arrived to greet the sun. Fortunately, the vast shoreline allowed everyone to wait comfortably.
The eagerly awaited sunlight finally emerged—we were so excited!
The sun shone through the fingers, giving it a real postcard-like feel :)
We really got our fill of photos. Haewol Cape’s Hands of Friendship—we girls can’t wait to come back!
Friends who enjoyed this girl’s article can also check out her original post on Blogspot and other Korean travel photography articles.
http://nuna-ada.blogspot.hk/2016/12/blog-post.html
Transportation:
Take the KTX from Seoul’s Yongsan Station to Pohang City—it takes about two and a half hours. From the train station, take bus No. 500 to the intercity bus terminal, then transfer to bus No. 200 at the terminal’s opposite side to Kukdong Junction (?羔屿), and then transfer to the bus heading toward Haewol Cape on the roadside. Show the driver a photo of the Hands of Friendship so they can let you know when to get off—seeing the wind turbine is also a landmark for getting off.
The image on the right shows the bus schedule between Kukdong and Haewol Cape. It’s also recommended to check the latest bus information at Pohang Station first.