On Saturday, I joined Woosik, his cousin, and three of his cousin's friends from school in England to visit the Boryeong Mud Festival. Boryeong is very close to Daecheon, the beach that I visited in May. It is about two hours southwest of Seoul by bus right on the coast.
We met at the Seoul Bus Terminal, which is about an hour from the Byeons. From there we took the journey south by bus to the festival. When we arrived at the festival, we saw mobs of people covered from head to toe in gray, mineral rich mud. It was quite a sight to see so many people covered in mud. It almost looked like some thriller movie gone terribly wrong: "Return of the mud people." Most of the people there were adults, and there were hardly any Koreans. I think this festival has turned into a foreigner activity.
The mud that makes this festival so famous is considered rich in minerals, courtesy of the abundance of hot springs in the area. Many Koreans come to Boryeong to go to the hot springs and have a mud bath. Boryeong is the place in Korea if you want mud that is considered good for you. I'm not sure if it is really as beneficial as the locals make it out to be or if it's just a way to get tourists, but the area is so beautiful that it is worth seeing with or without mud.
It was the first day of the festival, so there were hordes of people. The festival was located in sight of the beach. There were huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and pools filled with mud. Because it was so crowded, we were only able to do half the things we wanted, but it was still an interesting experience. After playing in the mud, we washed off in the ocean and relaxed on the beach before making our way back to the chaos of the city. It was nice to return to the countryside where there is little smog and life moves at a slower pace.
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