Seongsan Ilchulbong: Jeju's UNESCO Sunrise Peak
The weather has been going back and forth since yesterday, and it's still happening today. Jeju is a really nice place to stay, but the fiercely strong winds and completely unpredictable weather are a bit inconvenient. The wind, in particular, generously shows exactly why it's one of Jeju's famous "Three Abundances" (rocks, women, and wind). In Seoul, when the cold winter wind slaps your cheeks, we call it a "knife wind," but in Jeju, it's not a knife—it's a blunt weapon. It doesn't just slap your cheek; it feels like getting hit square in the face by a straight punch with someone's full body weight behind it.
On this day of fierce winds, clear skies, and sudden snow flurries, we decided to visit Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak), one of Jeju's UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites. I think I've been to Jeju Island four or five times now, but this is my first time actually climbing Seongsan Ilchulbong. Whenever I came near it, I always intended to watch the sunrise—true to its name—but I've never once managed to wake up before dawn, so I never went up. I failed to wake up before sunrise this time too, but someone pointed out that you don't have to see the sun come up, so I finally decided to make the climb. Fortunately, the weather cleared up right as we arrived at the peak, making the hike pleasant and the views incredibly clear. As expected, half of what makes a trip great is your companions, and the other half is the weather. Of course, the single most incomparably important thing is money.
We were about halfway down when another snowstorm hit. Snow clouds rolled in from the distant sea and swallowed Ilchulbong in an instant. This sight was exactly like the sudden weather changes I experienced at Lake Baikal. In the city, you don't feel any fear when it suddenly rains or snows. It's just annoying, and you think, "I didn't bring an umbrella, what a pain." But the reason weather changes on the ocean or a large lake are terrifying is because of the preceding shifts in the sky, waves, and wind. It's perfectly clear where I'm standing, but far off in the distance, dark, shadow-like clouds are sprinting straight toward me, and the sea beneath them roars as it lifts the water upward. Looking at a shape like that, it's easy to believe the old myths about dragons ascending to heaven. I finally understand why people who live near the water always say, "Nature is scary. The weather is scary."
