Monday, July 12, 2010

East Coast – Jeong Dong Jin 정동진

Krista and I have been wanting to get out of the big city for awhile and see the sunrise in Korea.  Our friend Phil told us about a place called Jeong Dong Jin which is on the east coast of South Korea in Gangwon province.  He wanted to see this place for himself so he offered us a chance to go with him and his daughter. 

We left on Friday night at 1130pm, we stopped at a few rest stops and arrived at the beach at 4am.  Sunrise was set for 5:10am so we had a chance to get some rest in the car.   When we awoke we found a nice spot in the sand to put down our mats and set up our cameras.

Jeong-Dong-Jin Station is the world’s closest station to sea shore. Once you leave the station you can see the ocean.  After some scenes of a famous TV drama were shot there, it became famous and is visited by a lot of tourists. Everyday a large number of people get out of the train at dawn to see its famous sunrise.

Although it was too cloudy to see the full sunrise, we did catch glimpses of the sun as it rose higher on the horizon.  Either way, it was great to get out of Seoul.

A view from the beach of the  Sun Cruise Resort

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Can you see the people?

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Phil setting up his camera

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Krista and NaHyun

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NaHyun picking shells

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Other people also waiting for the sunriseIMG_8171 [1024x768]

soon, very soon is the big day, duh duh da da

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Here comes the sun!

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Here comes the sun!

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And Phil said its okay!

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Nothing like watching the sun rise where ever you may be.

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The train tracks also make a great photo opp!

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Jeongdongjin station

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Couple shot!

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Good morning Phil!

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Millennium Hourglass, aka sand clock. The Hourglass is made of stainless steel. Sand began trickling through it on the first of January, 2000, marking the time to the beginning of the new millennium on the first of January, 2001. The symbols around the clock are the Chinese zodiac signs.

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A view from the Sun Cruise Resort looking back on the beach

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He’s got the whole world in his hands!IMG_8366 [1024x768]  IMG_8367 [1024x768]

Krista and NaHyun at Sun Cruise Resort

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The Statue Park at Sun Cruise ResortIMG_8404 [1024x768]

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I promise, the Korean symbol for promise

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Its so fun to take a picture with a nude statue

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Sun Cruise Resort

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More statues

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We enjoyed our cruise!

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We had a great weekend with Phil and NaHyun.  Our weekend didn’t stop there, we visited a Korean warship, a North Korean submarine and a beautiful temple set in the mountains that may be the site for the 2018 Olympics, well if Korea wins the bid that is.

We are very blessed to have such good friends here, and many thanks to Phil for taking us on such a great trip!

More pictures to come…..