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| The crew. |
The weekend started off with 90 foreigners meeting up in the bus station, buzzing with excitement. We piled on to two charter buses, and within 10 minutes of leaving all 45 of us had our first cup of lemonade/soju in hand. It was 9:30am. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Boryeong at what appeared to be the equivalent of "Spring Break Cancun meets the Daytona 500". I felt like I was back in the states because for once the foreigners outnumbered the natives. Half dressed blonds were stumbling around while the boys flexed their muscles in bro-tanks. There were shoeless heathens were running around with booze in hand everywhere we looked. Wasting no time, we dumped our bags in our minbak (hostel with a pile of blankets and pillows instead of beds), changed into our swimsuits, jettisoned our shoes and pride, and made our way to the beach.
The sidewalks were choked with people drinking from homemade beer bongs and plastic bottles. Following our team leader, a blue cooler full of soju and powerade named the "slutty mother" (she gets around but you have to treat her with respect) we arrived at the festival. We anxiously took our place in line only to reach the front 30 minutes later to find out the event was sold out due to an unanticipated massive turnout. Not missing a beat we walked past the "event", which was really just blow-up castles and mud wrestling, we paused at the bins and slathered ourselves in mud. The mineral packed beach mud is revered for its skin benefiting qualities although I think that it is just a good excuse for a wild party.
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| Aaron and John on the way to the beach. |
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| The bros...and Mara...and the slutty mother. |
We made camp on the beach surrounded by thousands of other grey bodies. Our first mission was banana boating. Secure in our life jackets (of course) we climbed onto the raft with two random strangers and were off. Unfortunately we were only pulled along by a conservative Korean on a jet ski so things didn't get as wild as we had hoped. Despite the low intensity it was still a blast that had Mara and I giggling uncontrollably.
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| Thousands. |
The next few hours were full of a circuit involving mud baths, dance parties, ocean, beach, repeat. At one point we looked at each other, covered in mud head to toe, laughing raucously, and admitted that we are the teachers of Korea's youth. It was a slightly scary thought at that moment. We are currently in the middle of the rainy season so a light trickle was coming down all day but compared to the fire hoses they were spraying into the air over the dance pit, it was nothing. I also have to note that I had the most mouth-watering, delicious burger since coming to Korea while on this trip. A few entrepreneurial geniuses had a grill set up complete with chili dogs, boca burgers, and cheeseburgers piled high with mushrooms and jalapenos. It was unbelievably good.
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| This poor guy was trying to sleep right next to us. |
The music ended and the crowds slowly started to disperse. We made our way back to our minbak where a Korean adjima (older woman) was waiting with hose in hand. She doused us all with icy water before allowing us to enter. I felt like a newborn baby after I had rinsed the mud from my ears, belly button, and nose. Aaron had spied a micro brewery tent that we made our priority seeing as how Korean beer is absolutely garbage, and we were all dying for something quality. Magpie beers didn't let us down. A stout as black as night and a hoppy IPA set us straight. At this point we were all starving so pizza with crust like a tortilla and toppings including corn even tasted great. Damn corn pizza. Thoroughly spent we ignored our fellow comrades' pleas to come out for the night and settled down on the floor for a not-so-good night's sleep. A brilliant fireworks display followed by an intense lightening storm sent us off.
The next morning, after remembering the delightful burger we had previously, Mara and I wondered if the same people would be now making hot breakfast. A 40 minute line told us that yes, these people were honestly the smartest business men in Korea. Muffins, coffee, pancakes and kielbasa made many hungover foreigners very happy that day. Despite losing John, we all made it home safely. Mudfest was more fun than I could have imagined and I would say it is worth it to come here for the year just to experience it.
