Jindo Sea Parting Festival Second Time Around

On Friday night Dallas and I went to see "Iron Man 3" after I finished work. I really liked it. There was one part in particular that made me laugh really hard and it was a sort of cultural reference so most of the Koreans there had no idea why I was laughing. That happens to me in the States too though.

On Saturday morning we had to get up pretty early (for a Saturday at least) to get on the bus to go to Jindo. I went last year too (see that post here if you want to) and Dallas and I had a goal this time of making it to the island opposite the starting point. The phenomenon is pretty cool and if you want some more info, National Geographic wrote an interesting article. This time was very different than last year. First of all, the bus ride felt like forever, in part because the driver got lost for a bit. This year the weather was also slightly overcast and colder. Another big difference is that it felt like the festival part of it doubled in size. There were a ton more food vendors lined up along the path. There were also a lot more people, foreigners specifically, than last time.

Including the Ecuadorian Indian dancers who played windpipes

Boats - I tried to find out where to ride one of these, but couldn't

Again Dallas and I sort of split off from the group (although there were mostly sections of 2-6 people) and walked around. We met up with other groups from time to time, but mainly stuck to ourselves. First we saw some of the cutest dogs ever - the Jindo Korean dogs. I have no idea if they are a separate breed or what but they are adorable as puppies.

Kid demonstrating a k-squat whilst playing with puppies

I mean seriously - look at that face!

After that we started to look for something to eat and for an ATM because I only had $10 with me for some reason. Luckily they had a mobile ATM area set up near a portable 7-11. Dallas's stomach started to hurt really bad at that point. He gets stomach aches when he eats and then sits on a bus or something for awhile. Basically he had gas cramps that he couldn't get rid of. We walked around for a little while more, but he was just miserable, so we walked up to the same bench we sat on last year and he laid his head on my lap and I patted his stomach for an hour. It wasn't what either of us had planned for the day, but we talked and the sun came out and we watched the sea part from above again, so it ended up ok.

This was most of the afternoon

When he started posing, I knew he was feeling better

The sea starting to part

Dallas was feeling better at that point (he wanted to eat and buy stuff, so I knew he was fine) so we walked down and started to do the crossing. First we took pictures on some rocks and the light and his camera made them look like he was a ghost (at least that's what I think). Then we walked across the rocks and joined the line crossing to the island.

3 Korean ladies who go to my church - Rachel, Victoria and Heejin - they tried to dig up clams

Ghost Dallas

Part of the open path

That was the biggest difference. This year there was no fully cleared path like last year. There were patches of land, but a lot of it was still underwater. It was kind of annoying. The separation didn't last as long either. We were in it for less than an hour. We rushed toward the other side instead of taking our time, but still ended up at the same point when they blew the whistle. The water rushed back in much faster too and we got wet (or at least I did). It was still fun, but colder and slightly disappointing.

Crowd

Korean lady giving her husband a piggy back ride so his shoes wouldn't get wet.

Seaweed. Lots and lots of seaweed.

Lady collecting something from a trap. Not sure what it was that she trapped though.

Dallas and Ines (who tripped right here) walking back once the tide started to come back in

After we got back on land, we signed a huge banner that people had painted. They had put away the paint already, so we used a highlighter I had in my purse.

Me signing Dallas's name because he signed mine

Our name are near the weird blue eyes and the KC on the left.

Then we went into a food tent and ordered some soup to split, along with a soju. I took some pictures so you could see the inside of the tent. They throw up some plastic stools and have a limited menu, usually random soups. The best part is that there is usually a hanging roll of toilet paper to use as napkins. We left the tent and then we each had a kebob at a food stand down the road.

He's thinking really hard about soup

Huge pile of huge oyster shells at the soup tent

At that point we got back on the bus and started for home. The driver got lost again in the same spot and it took us almost 4 hours to get home. We got back around midnight, I took a shower because I was freezing and salty, then went to bed and slept solidly for 8 hours. Even though it wasn't what I expected, or had hoped for, it was still a good day and I'm glad I went.