the beach. the mud. the friends.

Every year the city of Boryeong brings in thousands of gallons of mud and dumps it at Daecheon Beach for their annual mud festival. The mud is dug up from nearby fields and is thought to be rich in minerals that are good for your skin. Thousands of people from across Korea attend this event each year and it proved to be one of the most dirty, fun weekends I've ever had.

About 20 of my friends boarded a bus early Saturday morning for the 2-hour trip from Seoul to Boryeong. We spent the entire weekend laying on the beach, covering ourselves in mud, playing dozens of mud events, and hanging out. The festival was also the largest gathering of foreigners I've seen since moving to Asia. The beach was literally covered with muddy Americans, Canadians, South Africans, etc. Who knew there were so many of us living in Korea? Everywhere you looked there were people painting themselves with thick, gray mud, wrestling in mud pits, getting dirty in the "mud jail," playing in mud baths, sliding down mud covered slides, and dancing to the music at a nearby stage. It was an incredible sight and so much fun!

Photos from the festival:


the central area near the beach.


mud-wrestling.


stuck in jail.


the stage. the beach. the dancing. so fun!


taken through a plastic bag so the camera wouldn't get dirty.


sarah. me. and eva looking statue-esque.


clean at last!

To read more about the event check out this site: http://mudfestival.or.kr/lang/en/index.jsp