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!

Lotus Lantern Festival 2

Lotus Lantern Festival Part 2...

We went to the Insadong area with our friends Marcus and Jenny to check out the Street Festival that was going on during the day before the big parade in the evening.  They had a few city blocks closed to vehicles so various tents could be setup.  There was everything from traditional food to books, face painting, making lanterns, postcards and more.  The Lotus Lantern Festival was for Buddhists all over the world to celebrate, and walking through the festival really felt like a quick tour of the world!

Krista found a tent where they were putting together lanterns for the evening parade, she decided to join in and help!

Krista looked like she was having a good time, so I managed to sneak myself in as well.

Many visitors here are making flower lanterns out of paper.

Marcus and Flat Stanley!

Two skipping ropes were going at once, this person manage to last a few jumps.

Krista and Jenny writing down wishes on paper and tying them to a 40 ft rope attached to a large balloon flying in the air.

Sooo many people!

Jenny, Krista and baby Buddha.

Jon and baby Buddha.

Korean Dasik

A traditional candy made from grinding herbs, nuts and seeds and pressing them into a mold.  Surprisingly really good!

Marcus and two guys from.... somewhere..

In Insadong there is a tourist shopping mall outside, 3 different levels.

The parade!  It was so beautiful with over 100,000 lanterns!

Video clips of the parade (if viewing in email, click here).

Lotus Lantern Festival

Monday May 5th was Children's Day which gave us a 3 day weekend and a chance to head in to Seoul to check out the annual Lotus Lantern Festival.  The festival commemorates Buddha's Birthday which falls on Monday May 12th this year (giving us another long weekend).  

One of the highlights of the event is the Lantern Parade, where Dragon Lanterns, Pagoda Lanterns, White Elephant Lanterns, Pheonix Lanterns and Lotus Lanterns are all on display. There are dozens of large floats and over 100,000 individual lanterns, the parade offers a breathtaking experience, turning the streets of Seoul into a sea of Lanterns.

Here's some additional information on the various lanterns and their meanings:

Since ancient times, the lighting of lanterns while making wishes or personally making wish-lanterns was a popular event practiced on Buddha’s birthday. Each lantern has it own symbolic meaning, and personal world views or religious views are reflected in the lanterns. 

Big-sized lanterns symbolize justice, and the pattern of dragons and yin and yang are drawn on the lantern to symbolize rich harvests and truth respectively. Fruits rich with seeds like the watermelon symbolize fertility and abundance. The watermelon also symbolizes longevity because of its long stem. 

Other symbols of longevity include garlic, melons, and wild grapes. Animals are frequently used for the designs and shapes of the lanterns, and the crane symbolizes health and longevity as an animal that lives the longest. A dragon symbolizes rich harvests, for it is the god of water, which is essential for farming. The carp symbolizes honor, wealth and longevity.  The unique practice of Yeondeung, lighting of the lantern, is a Buddha offering originating from the Shilla Dynasty (AD 866).  Since 1966 other Buddhist cultures from around the world have joined in this awe inspiring tradition.

Here is a pic of the crowd, there were 100x more people during the actual parade (will be in the next post).

Along with some of the larger lanterns on display, there was also a centre stage with performing acts doing traditional dances that we were breathtaking to watch.

Krista with one of the performers.

Later we managed to find a few empty chairs that we could stand on to take some better photos.

Can you find Krista?

Here is a video of one of the dance performances (for those viewing in email click here).

This next video is a composition of shorter clips (for those viewing in email click here).

Lastly, here is a video of the entire crowd getting their groove on (for those viewing in email click here).

Further down the street was the Jogyesa Temple, on the inside stood 3 tall golden Buddha statues.  On the outside you could see hundreds and hundreds of lanterns being photographed by just as many intrigued visitors. The lanterns are in the pattern of a lotus blossom.

Picture of a baby Buddha on a white lantern.

In addition to the parade, there was also a street festival (pictures will be in another post) that took place May 4th from 12pm-7pm.  For those of you in Seoul that were not able to make it this year, hopefully you have a chance to see it in 2009!  

Directions:  

Jogyesa Temple: Subway Line #1- Jonggak Station, Line #3- Anguk Station
Jongno street: Subway Line #1- Jonggak Station