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A 6-hour bus ride with 40 intoxicated English teachers and a blowup dinosaur named Stanley is not where I wanted to be two days into my trip to South Korea. I was still jetlagged, and sleep was impossible with the back of the bus belting out 90s songs and discussing their favorite sex positions. I imagine no Koreans' journey to the Boryeong Mud Festival, where I would soon willingly cover myself in mud, included this much morning noise, though, - considering South Korea's love of all things adorable- perhaps it could have included a blowup dinosaur.

The Boryeong Mud Festival began in 1998 as a 4-day event to - according to the official website - "make the public aware of the superiority of Boryeong Mud" products, and has been held every July ever since. It's grown larger each year, reaching a peak of more than 2.2 million people in 2011. On its 15th anniversary this year, it extended to eleven days: from July 14 to 24.

Reading articles about the festival or watching this amazing promo video, which informs viewers "parents, children, friends and lovers are having the time of their lives," one would think this is a giant, muddy playground with supposed health benefits of the mud.

This is how the festival started, and it still seems to be a pretty accurate depiction for the Koreans coming to the festival. But in reality, Boryeong is a tale of two parties.

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Inside South Korea's Boryeong Mud Festival originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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