Shady Travels: Live, Explore, Learn: Boryeong Mud Festival

Official Event Flyer for Annual Boryeong Mud Festival

I arrived about one year ago. Unfortunately, the week before I arrived, the annual Boryeong Mud Festival was in full swing and many of my new co-workers spoke only about their wild and crazy experience at the mudslinging festival. I vowed that this time next year I would be there and so it was...

There are two weekends dedicated to this festival. My friends and I went the 2nd weekend. I was a bit sad because I wasn't the one who planned it. I thought all of the hype would be dedicated to the first weekend and that the second weekend would be the bare leftovers. However, torrential rains ruined the first weekend, although I'm sure many people still had a ridiculous time. Luckily, the second weekend experienced very little rain during Saturday and was gorgeous on Sunday.

Thanks to Mike Santos, who organized everything from bus pick-up to hotel accomodations, we only had to transfer money and were on our way. We were picked up by a charter bus in Itaewon (foreigner district in Seoul). Looking around the bus, I saw versions of me and my friends. We were all foreigners searching for the "best of" and taking advantage of what Korea was offering at the moment; mud, beach, and booze.

Three hours later around 2pm, we arrived in Boryeong, the city host of the mud festival located at Daecheon Beach. Thankfully, our hotel--really love motel (hourly/daily rooms available for you can guess what). There are no beds, but there are "yo's"--traditional Korean mattress. As any packed foreigner directed event, we ran into some complications. For instance, our room was already filled with 5 other foreigners. With Julie's firm Korean, the hotel manager gave us a better and bigger room. Unknowingly, we were in the same hotel as my other training friends. The foreigner community is surprisingly really small. At major foreigner events or foreigner concentrated areas (Hongdae, Gangnam, or Itaewon), you are bound to run into someone you know.

Ready to get the day started, we began with a meal of mandu and kimbap. Then, we hurried to the main area filled with blow up slides, pits, cages, and wash-off showers. We ran into yet another friend of mine; Jessie & SLP (her academy) friends. Samantha, who had rode the bus with us motioned us over asking if we've tried anything. "Let me show you the way." We pushed us into a "mud prison" where workers threw buckets of mud at us. Best initiation I ever had! Worried for my contacts, I rushed over to the wash-off showers. Next, we went down to the beach where there were mud painting set-ups. Then, we went for the mud pits. Somehow, by the end of the day, with beers & long islands in tote, we lost our friends! Dave Fallarme, Dave Beliveau, and I went to the colored paint tent and were covered with colored mud; orange, blue, and green respectively. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures because Julie and Mike had the camera. Although we lost our original group, I found more of the SLP crowd who found the culprit of the weekend, long island iced teas in a bag for only 3000 won! One bag and I was done. From various friends retelling the story, I apparently tried to attack my friend Sam for a hug, fell in the bath tub, and then passed out for 4 hours. When I woke up, I couldn't drink anymore and just wanted fried food and pizza.

For the rest of the night, it rained heavily. The rain didn't get us down because we still managed to get to the noraebang (karaoke room). However, the next day was absolutely gorgeous. It was really hot and sunny. We decided to stay clean on Sunday and just enjoy the beach. We all got bratwursts that Dave and Dave had apparently eaten while I was blacked-out. We ran into all the friends we had seen the day before laughing about yesterday's antics. By 3pm, we were back on the bus to Seoul. Boryeong Mud Festival--Check!