Boryeong Mud Festival

While researching and before even making it to Korea, we read about the annual Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach 대천 in Boryeong 보령시. We decided then that Mud Fest would definitely be something we'd check out while there. It happens every year in July (the first one was in 1998) and lasts a little over a week.

The mud is imported near Boryeong and trucked in to Daecheon Beach. The mud is considered rich in minerals and used manufacture cosmetics. We picked up a couple free bars of Mud Soap while we were there too! The festival attracts thousands of Korean and foreign visitors each year.

There was a group created on Facebook that were trying to round up people to go down to Mud Fest for the weekend (Thanks Rudy!!), turns out there were enough for about 10 bus loads. Krista became friends with the girl making all the arrangements and decided to help out with 2 buses. So that weekend Krista and I were in charge of making sure the right people got on and off 2 buses to and from the festival. Thanks to everyone who was patient while we got things together!

It all started off at 6:45am at Hongkik Station.



On the way there two people on the bus started to groove to the Cupid Shuffle. Check out the video here (click here if you are viewing this in email).





This is a panorama stitch of Daecheon Beach.



Under all the umbrellas were buckets and paint brushes. Every one is encouraged to paint themselves in mud! The paparazzi were everywhere.. especially if you were a foreigner and had something interesting painted on yourself. A lot of Koreans had some cool mud painting going on too!



Interesting such as the flags John and I had painted on our foreheads, I also had a maple leaf painted on my nipples :) We drew a lot of attention from the paparazzi, even more so when we finally were covered in mud.



John



Krista and Christie (Yes two couples, John and Christie - Jon and Krista) stopped off at a booth to make special mud fest characters out of clay.











You can check out the clay video here.




Mud wrestling, a very popular sport!







Paprazzi!



Mud pool



Koreans love to take pictures of/with foreigners. These girls got a shot with John T in it, so I decided to get one of them as well.



If you could stand the long line up, you had a chance to go down the large mud slide near the center square.



Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... crash!



Have you heard about the protest against American Beef in Korea? If you ask anyone about it they will go off about how if you eat American Beef you will go crazy because of mad cow disease. There was a report in the paper that said police were investigating the news corp that may have improperly informed the public of the situation and that may be a possible reason for the protests and riots after the Korean govn't tried to lift the ban on the beef. You can make your own conclusions...

The painting on this guy translates to "American Beef", he managed to get a lot of looks that afternoon!



As I mentioned before, if you're foreign and have something interesting painted on yourself you are a target to have your picture taken. John has "waegukin" on him which means foreigner.



We had a great time at Mud Fest, so good we decided that we're going again this coming Saturday (also because the DMZ tour we wanted to go on is sold out..).

See you again this weekend!

The Bungalow - Itaewon

On a Sunday afternoon we went to Itaewon to hang out and meet up with a friend of ours for a drink. One of the places we stopped off at was The Bungalow, a 3 story bar with a nice tropical atmosphere. There are low wooden tables and chairs sunken in to a floor covered in soft sand. There are open areas, patios, and semi private rooms for your pleasure. There serve a variety of imported beers and snacks as well. If you're in the Itaewon area and are looking for a mellow place to hang, definitely check this place out.

Location The Bungalow is located in Itaewon in the alley behind the Hamilton Hotel.

Subway Directions Take subway Line #6 to Itaewon Station and take Exit #2 and walk straight until the first light. Take a left and walk about 20 meters to the first alley. Go left and you will find Bungalow located on your right.

A very nice bar atmosphere and good drinks, although you have to order drinks based on what floor you're on. Drinks are a bit pricey but worth it! :)

The night that we were there, they had an ongoing History of Rock concert. That night we got the 70's show and Krista was in heaven listening to Pink Floyd and Janis Joplin!

We will definitely go back and look forward to seeing you there!

JangBi Restaurant in Daejeon

Back in May we originally had our trip to Geomundo/Baekdo trip booked, as mentioned in a previous post, it was cancelled due to weather. Seeing as we had our bags packed, we decided to hop on the KTX train south to Daejeon. While there we came across a restaurant called Jang Bi - a Korean BBQ style restaurant. This place was so delicious... in fact after eating there on a Saturday night we went back late Sunday afternoon.

The first night there was Jon, Krista, Stephanie and Martha (who lived in Daejeon at the time). This time we've got some video, so less type more talk.

Stephanie and Krista

This place was not only delicious, but cheap! 12,000W ($12) for a large plate of meat and sides for all of us. While writing this blog we looked at the website and found a franchise in Anyang which is close to where we live.... :)

You may remember Krista from such films as How to Use Chopsticks 101 and Homemade Kimbap. Here is a video of Krista grillin' out at Jang Bi. There's also been talk of a Cookin' With Krista series coming out.. maybe.. stay tuned.

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