SORAE ECOLOGY PARK, SOUTH KOREA
Felt like I was transported into a Miyazaki film during this memorable sunrise from May 2017. I didn’t have a lot of good experiences to take away during this trip to South Korea because I was mostly stuck in my hotel due to a stomach flu. But on the last sunrise of my trip, I was able to head out to Sorae Ecology Park.
Even after all this time, it remains to be one of my favorite sunrises. Hope you enjoy!
I took a cab from the hotel going to the park, but even the driver wasn't sure how to get there. After getting lost a couple of times, I finally arrived just as the sun was rising.
I asked these ladies if I could take their personal portraits, but they were shy. Instead, they smiled at me and handed over a cup of hot milk tea. I wasn't sure if my stomach could take it from being sick beforehand, but I wasn't going to say no to their offer. For the record, I did drink it (which tasted good!), and I was fine.
I wasn't really sure what to expect when I decided to go to this park, but when I finally got to the central area, I was stunned. It was almost like I entered a dream.
To give a brief background of the place, this was actually once a facility used to produce salt a few decades ago before it was converted into a park. They restored the mudflats, and made the closed salt field into an ecological habitat for various marine life and migratory birds. For photographers, this is an incredibly picturesque area worthy of a minor detour from the usual South Korea itinerary.