This is something the we had been looking forward to for 4 years - every since the last mud festival we went to back in 2009! Last year we missed it because we were fresh on the peninsula and we were up to our ears in boxes. (I'm still wondering why we didn't just put the boxes down and head out to Daecheon Beach.) And unfortunately Hubby and Boy 1 missed the mud festival again because they were in CHINA eating all kinds of creepy crawlies......
This year my friend Beth and I rented a bus to take 50 of our closest friends to Daecheon Beach for the festivities. There were tons of newbies and most had no idea what to expect. (I should have told them more about the shower situation at the end....more on that later.) I recomended that they wear a swimsuit they don't mind getting ruined, bring towels, chairs and coolers full of food and drinks! (It is not completely necessary to bring food as they have many restaurants & vendors to choose from.) Bring cash. Expect to get dirty & let your freak flag fly.
This year my friend Beth and I rented a bus to take 50 of our closest friends to Daecheon Beach for the festivities. There were tons of newbies and most had no idea what to expect. (I should have told them more about the shower situation at the end....more on that later.) I recomended that they wear a swimsuit they don't mind getting ruined, bring towels, chairs and coolers full of food and drinks! (It is not completely necessary to bring food as they have many restaurants & vendors to choose from.) Bring cash. Expect to get dirty & let your freak flag fly.
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Daecheon Beach
The invasion of tiny American's....
The invasion of tiny American's....
Once we arrived on the beach it wasn't too long before we found the pits of mud paint.
All people young and ..er...older....could not contain their joy.
All people young and ..er...older....could not contain their joy.
Happiness is:
Love the bits of mud flying through the air!
Just when we thought it couldn't get any more fun, we found COLORED MUD!!!
This had me ROLLING!! He was too tall for the lady to reach his face so he had to squat for her to paint him!
And as with every adventure in Korea there are always a few 'Not Quite Right' moments:
High heels at the mud festival:
High heels at the mud festival:
Sun = NO GOOD.
Tractor driving and working on crowded beach.
Repeatedly.
Repeatedly.
Unknown locals coming over and rubbing & covering the men in our group with mud & then giving thumbs up.
And the best "Not Quite Right" moments that I don't have pictures of are my friends & I going into the Korean style showers. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Let me paint a picture for you.
You stand in line 10 minutes waiting to get into the shower.
You pay 1,000 won.
First you enter a small room with 20 of your closest friends.
You take off all your clothes.
Seriously, take them off.
All of them.
Next you are herded like cattle into the 'shower room'.
A big room with 50 shower heads.
No shower curtains.
No dividers.
No nothing.
Just you, God and 50 of your closest friends & their children.
Many of our young tween daughters are now scared for life and will be needing therapy in a few years.
I wish I could share with you all the entire conversation my friends and I had in a group message a couple of days after our shower scene, but alas I can't or I might find myself friendless. However I have taken a few sentences out for your enjoyment. I have not included names or pictures to protect the innocent. (And to keep from being tortured by my friends.)
"Because naked showering in a communal stall with thirty friends and strangers
while my daughter frolics in the dirty water of thousands of muddy women and
nakedly bolts for the door wasn't memorable enough. It was a shower I will
remember FOREVER."
"So those random shower screams from me? That's why.
Had little to do with ****** washing my back."
"Oh yikes! I did not notice the random shower screams at all. That is too funny."
"Well I think we are all ready for the naked spa lunch date."
"The naked spa is a piece of cake compared to that shower scene."
"I really hope Facebook never has that privacy error again where private messages
become public!"
ROLLING. I am laughing all over again.
I wish I had been a fly on the wall in the boys bathroom.
All I know is that the guys were not nearly as clean as the girls on the way home.
Little boys had mud all over them still and here is just a little bit of what I heard:
"Is it customary for guys to wash each other in communal showers in Korea?"
"I just wanted to get in and out as fast as I could."
"Mom! Really, I can't do this."
"We can NEVER talk about that."
You stand in line 10 minutes waiting to get into the shower.
You pay 1,000 won.
First you enter a small room with 20 of your closest friends.
You take off all your clothes.
Seriously, take them off.
All of them.
Next you are herded like cattle into the 'shower room'.
A big room with 50 shower heads.
No shower curtains.
No dividers.
No nothing.
Just you, God and 50 of your closest friends & their children.
Many of our young tween daughters are now scared for life and will be needing therapy in a few years.
I wish I could share with you all the entire conversation my friends and I had in a group message a couple of days after our shower scene, but alas I can't or I might find myself friendless. However I have taken a few sentences out for your enjoyment. I have not included names or pictures to protect the innocent. (And to keep from being tortured by my friends.)
"Because naked showering in a communal stall with thirty friends and strangers
while my daughter frolics in the dirty water of thousands of muddy women and
nakedly bolts for the door wasn't memorable enough. It was a shower I will
remember FOREVER."
"So those random shower screams from me? That's why.
Had little to do with ****** washing my back."
"Oh yikes! I did not notice the random shower screams at all. That is too funny."
"Well I think we are all ready for the naked spa lunch date."
"The naked spa is a piece of cake compared to that shower scene."
"I really hope Facebook never has that privacy error again where private messages
become public!"
ROLLING. I am laughing all over again.
I wish I had been a fly on the wall in the boys bathroom.
All I know is that the guys were not nearly as clean as the girls on the way home.
Little boys had mud all over them still and here is just a little bit of what I heard:
"Is it customary for guys to wash each other in communal showers in Korea?"
"I just wanted to get in and out as fast as I could."
"Mom! Really, I can't do this."
"We can NEVER talk about that."
So, if you ever find yourself in Korea in July, don't miss the Boryeong Mud Festival.
If you do you will miss out on a boat load of fun memories!
Good times on the ROK.
If you do you will miss out on a boat load of fun memories!
Good times on the ROK.
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