Sokcho Sunrise Festival, Yearly Tradition for Koreans to watch the first Sunrise.
- 12:01 AM
- by
- celinebleh
The most beautiful thing in life, is free. Witnessing such a beautiful sunrise in a extremely cold weather was worth it. It wasn't in the itinerary at first but my friend and I decided to slot this in, Sokcho beach. This place is famous for watching the first sunrise every year in Korea, on the 1st of January. It is also a time when all the families will gather together and countdown, and for my friend he'll usually spend his time with his mom at the church till 3am. The reason why it is so special was because that night was a unforgettable night that I will never forget.
When we reaching there, there was a massive traffic jam as everyone is rushing to get a good spot for the beautiful view. The concert area were near the main beach area where there is restaurants, cafes that sell hot coffee and a public toilet. We were packed with many heat packs and thank god, I had one in my tummy and bought a super comfortable head wear to sleep. It was really fun as there are so many countdown activities like trying out hanbok, drinking fish cake soup in the winter and singing songs. We went to convenient store several times because we were so famished and it was so terribly cold. I remember it was -7 degree and we had to endure the night. From 8pm to 12pm was okay, was just basically chit-chatting in the car, talking and sending text messages wishing happy new year. So at 11.20pm we got off the car and went to the concert area where they all countdown for the new year and had so many fireworks. I was so tired, and was feeling abit giddish.
At 1am, we all went back to our car and we decided to sleep in the car seat. It was so uncomfortable and we decided to off the heaters because chances are we might die in the car due to over consumption of exhaustive fuel from the car. The car is in stationary mode with the motor running and I heard many stories about carbon-monoxide poisoning. So we off the heater and the cold sip in. I couldn't sleep and soon I caught a small fever in the middle of the night. I didn't wake my friend up cause he had to drive us back (at least 2 hour) to where we came from and take a bus back. He needed all the concentration he could get, and it was selfish for me to do so. I forced myself to sleep for many times and had to queue in the cold weather for the public toilet. Thank god time flew by, and it was 5am but we couldn't see anything apart from seeing so many people's heads.
So we drove to another side of the beach and hell, it was the best decision in my life. The sun is so beautiful and the waves are crashing on the rocks. I was not so sick anymore after witnessing this sight. All the tough wait and misery ended. It was something that I will never forget and, it was in Korea. The below picture was at the original spot where there is just too many people and we decided to shift to somewhere else. Everyone was just crowding and there's no way I can be in front to take the pictures!
Just look at this beautiful baby.
A heart shape for you!
We didn't stay there for long because we had to drove back and settle our lunch. My lunch was a simple snow crab cup noodles famous from Sokcho (which my friend overheard from a ajumma) that this is so delicious and good! I finished it all with my sausage and packed some stuffs to be in the car while we drove back. Because it's new year, everyone is driving back to their hometown and we had such a bad traffic jam. So in the end, my friend missed his important gathering with his family and had to keep himself awake from drinking so many red bull drink!
I guess korea will always have a special place in my heart because of the place, the people and the food. The reason why i enjoy travelling so much is because I get to enjoy so much happiness that I will never get to enjoy in my life. I highly suggest you to come Sokcho if you intent to make your year wonderful. It's so worth it and even as I'm typing this, I am filled with immerse gratitude. I feel like going back again in December again haha.
Leaving footprints everywhere, and thank you Korea.
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