Festivals seem to guarantee adventure. The first weekend of October, we decided to head down to a town called Jinju, near the southern coast for a lantern festival. My friend Missy and I took the 2 hour bus ride together and arrived mid-afternoon. At the bus terminal, we purchased tickets for our return trip with the help of a friendly Korean man who offered to assist us. We had a lot of fun exploring the vendors' stalls that lined the shores of the river, playing balloon darts and going on the pirate ship ride.
On the water, there must have been a hundred floating lantern statues towering about 10 feet tall. These depicted traditional Korean dances, dragons, animals and even whimsical characters like Tom and Jerry. The lanterns were constructed by creating metal mesh frames, then stretching strips of nylon fabric over them. It was hard to fathom the time and meticulous detail that must have gone into creating these giant works of art.
As we were wandering through the festival, I was just expressing to Missy that I really wanted to have my picture taken wearing Hanbok, the traditional Korean costume. As we rounded a corner, lo and behold, there was a stall that had Hanbok and warrior outfits that festival goers could try on for free. Instant wish fulfillment!
In another pavilion we found a silk exibit. Various silk wares and crafts were on display and for sale. There was also a little Ajima boiling silk cocoons and extracting the silk to spin into thread. I was so cool to watch!
The ominous rain cloud that had been hovering over us for hours finally broke open and poured for a good half hour. Though, I had an umbrella, I did not wear proper shoes for this type of adventure. The downpour created a sea of sticky mud we had to wade through. At one point, my foot and my little ballet flat were completely submerged in gunk. Awesome.
When the rain subsided, we met up with our friends Andrea and Deborah from South Africa and dined on a feast of "Cheese Oven Baked Spagheet". The perfect remedy for being cold and wet. After dinner, we headed back to the bus terminal. Andrea and Deborah intended to buy tickets for the bus that Missy and I would be on. We found the terminal absolutely packed with people and learned that all the buses for the rest of the night were sold out and accommodations were all full in town "100,000" people had descended for the festival. With sad hearts we deposited Andrea and Deb in a warm cafe where they would plan what to do for the rest of the night.
Missy and I returned to the bus station feeling very proud of ourselves for our foresight in buying tickets early. However, as we waited on the platform and 10pm approached with no sign of our bus or other passengers, we came to the sinking realization that the tickets we held were actually for the 8pm bus. The time on the tickets was in military time and neither of us had really bothered to check that the man had ordered us the right tickets. Ironically, we discovered that Missy had been wishing to spend more time with the South African girls because she so enjoys their accents and I had been wishing we had more time to explore the festival.
We found the SA girls camped out at a PC Bang (internet cafe) and considered our options. We decided we could bunker ourselves in at a Norebang (Karaoke bar), but first we should return to the festival. So, as we wandered through a tunnel of wishing lanterns, I wished for the ability to tell military time at a glance.
On the other bank, we found a bamboo garden with smaller lantern statues depicting everything from Sylvester Stalone to mating grasshoppers. I kid you not.
Also in the bamboo garden, we encountered some acquaintances of Andrea's who informed us of a Jinjilbang nearby that had a few available spaces left. So, yet again, I found myself in a public bathhouse in the wee hours of the morning. But the hot water baths felt really good after a long day on our feet. And lets face it, there's nothing like getting naked with new friends to speed up the bonding process.
Unfortunately, this jimjilbang was not as nice and far more crowded than the last one. We were unable to find places together and I wound up sleeping in practically an L shape around a column. However, it was a cheap, dry and safe place to get a few hours of sleep. Pulling on our jeans now stiff with caked mud, we headed back to the bus terminal and caught the 6am bus home.
Korea, I still love you.
As we were wandering through the festival, I was just expressing to Missy that I really wanted to have my picture taken wearing Hanbok, the traditional Korean costume. As we rounded a corner, lo and behold, there was a stall that had Hanbok and warrior outfits that festival goers could try on for free. Instant wish fulfillment!
