Boryeong Mud Festival Part 3

That night we ate all you can eat shellfish at a seafood restaurant somewhere near the shark tank. They gave us a cotton shearing glove to protect from the heat and the mess. My technique was to pick up a clam, mussel or scallop with my chopsticks and then transfer it to my gloved left hand. Next I would remove the meat with my sticks and dip it in either red pepper paste or soy sauce and wasabi. We barbecued the shellfish right on the table and discarded the shells in a big bucket below. Eventually, the owners brought out a big bowl of noodles to swell our bellies with carbs and save the precious clams. It worked.

We walked back to the festival area to join the massive crowd gathered for an outdoor concert in the rain. The live show featured some of the biggest names in Korean pop music. I was familiar with many of the songs because they are included in a mix tape of workout songs played at my local gym.

Unfortunately, our view of the stage was obstructed by a sea of umbrellas. Even when the rain stopped, oblivious Korean spectators thought nothing of smacking our heads with an open umbrella or sending rain water careening off the sides and down our necks. We settled on forming an impromptu dance circle away from the weapons' reach and put up with the puzzled faces pointed at us.

A spectacular fireworks display followed the concert, but it apparently wasn't enough to satisfy the pyrotechnic hunger of many drunken foreigners on the beach. A few lit off Roman candles which were quickly confiscated by security who disposed of them by shooting them downward into the hard sand with fire bouncing toward passing beachstrollers. We all had a good laugh as a security guard chased a foreigner full sprint in an attempt to confiscate a candle. While being chased, the half-naked rebel held his arm in the air and discarded the remaining flares into the night sky.

Later, I fell asleep easily at around midnight. I was exhausted from the rugby and the wrestling and the salt water, so I didn't mind my shoulder blades digging into the hard floor or the pillow stuffed with cut up plastic straws.

At 5:00 a.m. I was jerked awake by snoring akin to a dying elephant and boisterous drunkenness outside the window. Instead of willing myself back to sleep, I made the decision to leave the hotel and snap a few pictures in the approaching dawn.

Outside I found the beach littered with beer and soju bottles, a litany of wrappers and forgotten sandals. I saw drunken couples making out in the sand and elderly Koreans on their morning stroll. The festive artwork, so delightfully campy in neon the night before, sat reflectively hungover. It was an eerie atmosphere of a night that refused to end.

For breakfast I had spicy ramen and beer. We played in the ocean all day and, being diligent with the sunscreen, I only burned to a carnation pink.

We had a big adventure at the end of the day because we had the wrong information regarding the departure time. Actually, I think Sami can tell that story better than I can...