Tasting Dried Herrings in Late-Winter Guryongpo

Driving along the No. 912 road watching the sea on your left side, you soon find Youngil Bay housing Pohang Steel Mill. It has been about two weeks since we passed the threshold of spring on February 4. It is still too chilly to be in spring and too mild to be in winter. You are just about between the two. The landscape from the Homi Cape is like telling you are right.

You feel spring is coming seeing a group of seagulls rest on a rock on the beach. Then again, you feel winter is still around us smelling the smell of grilled dried herrings, a fish of winter. Sea breeze is still cold but clouds and sunrays look just gentle.

This place located at the east end of the Korean Peninsula is well known for its beautiful sight of sunrise. And this extraordinary place has changed its name from Homi Cape to Janggi Promontory to Janggi Cape and to Homi Cape again for the last 10 years.

Gyeokam Nam Sa-go, a geologist at the time of Myungjong in Chosun Dynasty, gave the name Homi Cape, which means the tail of the tiger. To Kim Jung-ho, this place was also special. When he made Dadongyeo Map, he had to visit this area seven times to find which is at the east end - Jookbyeon or Homi. It was Homi to Kim.

Yet, hundreds years later the two places competed for the east-end title again as the sunrise festival was underway for the new millennium. Homi won again this time and it is now known for its beautiful sight of sunrise.

You can drive along the sea all through the way from Homi Cape to Guryongpo, which runs about 12km. As you drive, you see the peaceful landscapes of fishing villages. Seagulls are flying low and fishermen are busy catching fish.

Red-colored dried herrings are grilled in the fresh sea breeze, turning more delicious as they are cooked with their grease. Fishermen, now on the land, are this time busy with fishing gear.

When you see a small town lined with teashops, you are now in Guryongpo Eup. You can enjoy the scene from a seashore village, hearing the dialect and seeing small fishing boats and makeshift stores selling dried herrings.

If you need to enjoy more of it, you can visit a fishery market held in early at 8:00 a.m. Crabs and swell fishes are on an auction block and soon shipped to some other places. If you feel bored of your everyday life, travel to Guryongpo. You will understand about liveliness from fishermen wearing stained and fish-smelling overalls.

* Package Tour Program

See the beautiful sight of sunrise in Homi Cape, have a bowl of swellfish soup at a restaurant in Guryongpo and visit the lighthouse museum and Mt. Juwang National Park by joining a two-day package. It costs 58,000 won. To contact Seungwoo Travel Agency, visit Web site www.swtour.co.kr or call 02-720-8311.

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