As part of the welcoming events for the new City of Daegu Bloggers we were taken on an overnight weekend field trip to the nearby coastal city of Pohang and nearby Yeongdeok Windfarm. This trip would allow us to explore some of Gyeongbuk region, socialize with the other bloggers, as well as learn some practical photography skills. The choice of Pohang seemed a bit strange since we were being taken outside of the city we were supposed to be promoting. Pohang is most famous for two things, a massive hand structure in the ocean to symbolize catching the dawning sun on the east coast, and a massive steel plant run by Postco. For some bizzare reason our itinerary included a trip to the massive Posco Steel Mill not the famous ocean hand. Also we were told photography was not allowed which made us wonder what the actual point of the visit was supposed to be then for a group of bloggers? This would be like going to Hamilton Ontario to visit the Stelco Steel Mill and not nearby Niagara Falls and Niagara Vinelands. It didn't however end up being a wasted trip and ended up being quite interesting. Prior to our trip we were asked for Passport details and I had brought mine along with me. However they did not ask to see them when we arrived at the plant. A tour guide from the plant entered the bus and we were told to switch all cameras off. Driving thru the plant is like going thru the city as typically these types of plants take up a considerable space of the city. There were many interesting steel structures, rusted brown beams, heaps of coal and iron ore. The tour led us to the harbour where boats would dock and have the materials directly loaded and unloaded onto them. Then we were allowed to go inside one building for a brief visit. We had to go up many stairs to a high level walkway. Immediately you notice the heat as you enter the building. Molten iron is melted into massive chocolate bar type blocks the size of a subway car. Next the glowing orange block is sprayed with jets of water to cool it down. It then goes thru another press which flattens it into a longer sheet. It comes out still glowing orange and coated with more jets of water. There were no workers as the ground level all seemed to be automated and unbearably hot for anyone to remain there. Finally the cooled sheet continues to the end where it is bundled into a coil to wait for shipping. It was somewhat interesting on a personal level as before coming to Korea I had to insure heavy industries and would deal with risk evaluations and inspection reports for such plants and machinery. We then drove north of Pohang to the Yeongdeok windfarm. This is a large wind project on the coast with about a dozen turbines. The afternoons plan was a photography workshop on using DSLR camera's. Unfortunately I have yet to buy one and the exercise was all being done in korean for the other participants so wasnt much use to me. As you near the towers you hear the swoosh of the wind as it cuts thru it and may also be scary standing right at the base looking up imagining the blades falling off. After about an hour we headed off to a final destination on the coast, but by this time I was coming down with some kind of virus so didnt have much strength left. We then went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. There were many crabs and eels in the tanks outside and I wondered what was on the menu. I think it was the eels in some kind of soup that we boiled in groups at our tables. That evening we were checked into an adjacent hotel and fortunately I had a private room as I was quite ill and just wanted to sleep. For breakfast we went back to the same restaurant and had the same meal we just had for dinner. The sunday schedule included a creative writing and photo editing workshop for the koreans but was not included in the intinerary for the foreign bloggers. Instead I was taken to the local bus stop to catch a bus back to Daegu. The Yeongdeok bus terminal is actually just a roadside stop. We caught a bus to Pohang and transferred to a direct bus back to Daegu. There is a local bus from Yeongdeok to Daegu that goes via Pohang and Gyeongju but I would call the tourist office to find out the exact terminal and times. Also to reach the windfarm you would have to take a cab from Yeongdeok as its a few kms away and not clearly signed. Overall this was an interesting weekend trip despite some initial concerns about going to the steel plant. There was a bit more practical training and direction from the city in terms of how we should be blogging. And they expect to take us on another similar field trip in the fall.