For all intents and purposes, Sokcho was nothing more than a staging post for my foray into the mountains of Soraksan. I stayed in some sort of honeymoon hotel (red lighting in the boudoir, castle accoutrements adorning the building’s exterior etc.) and enjoyed a relaxing evening watching Tarantino’s Four Rooms and White Men Can’t Jump on videos supplied free by the hotel. As you can see from the photos, getting up at 6.15 was well and truly worth it! The sky was utterly devoid of cloud and there was not a breath of wind as the sun exploded onto the horizon. I love my colours - particularly those derived from clouds – but there was something compelling about this pure, unadulterated sunbirth that took my breath away. Along the beach, locals and Korean tourists paid their respects to the lifegiving sun. Some knelt silently, head bowed to the sand; others shouted greetings and waved…all very pagan, but in a society that is still mainly agricultural or weather-dependent (for fishing etc.), not altogether surprising. Whatever the backdrop, I felt I had witnessed something truly special and felt energised for the day ahead.