Birthday Celebrations

In June I visited Jeju Island with Meredith over a long weekend and as we were leaving for the airport to go back to Ulsan we talked about what else we wanted to see before going back to America. One thing on Meredith's list was to see the Hand of Harmony on her birthday at sunrise. 

My wonderful friend pursued that dream with persistence that only comes from living in South Korea. There was not a ton of English information on the Hand of Harmony and there was not any English options for booking a hostel or hotel. Thankfully I have a wonderful friend from church who is Korean and he booked us a hotel that we found that said it was "near" the Hand of Harmony. 

The day of our departure came and we made the bus to Pohang just in time. We found a taxi once there and went to our hotel. The driver took a long and twisty road along the coast and we were very impressed with out situation. I was starting to think that this would be our first trip with no hiccups. There was a college student working at the desk and she spoke perfect English and while she showed us our room she asked what we were going to see in Pohang. Meredith explained about the hand and that was when we found out that "near" actually meant a 20 minute car ride. Thankfully she helped us call a taxi that night and arrange for it to pick us up at 5am so we could get to the Hand in time for the sun to rise. 

5am came way too quickly and soon we were in another taxi continuing on the twisty road along the coast. There was a decent size group waiting near the Hand to watch the sunrise when we got there. We found a spot near the rocks and waited for the sun's grand entrance. It started off slow and red but soon the sun lit the sky yellow. It was breathtaking. After seeing the sun shine through the fingers of the hand we turned around and the crowd was gone so Meredith and I were able to enjoy a quiet morning walking around the coast drinking coffee from a tin can. 

We called our taxi driver back around 7am and went back to our hotel to enjoy the comfort of tv and a bed for a few hours before once again getting back into the same taxi and head into the city. We spent the rest of the day at the beach reading and making new friends. 

It was a lovely vacation and an excellent way to spend a birthday. It has me wondering what I'll do for my own birthday in October. I love the idea of seeing the sunrise for mine as well. 

Bless friends.