MUD FEST 2007

So every summer in mid July a smallish town on Korea's west coast hosts Mud Fest--essentially a festival dedicated to the local mud that supposedly has some magical mineral qualities. In other words, it's a great excuse to play in the mud, hang out on the beach, and have some drinks with friends. Courtney, Mike, Kris, Neal (Les's co-workers), Les, Sarah, Scott, Julie, Hannah and I all hopped a train and jumped into the mud. I think the best part of the trip was when I went kayaking for the first time. I loved it! The worst part was the sunburns we were all sporting (see the pic of the two pink people usually known as Nicole and Les). It was a high energy weekend and left everyone exhausted in the best way!

Climbing and Rafting

Climbing has taken a bit of a back seat to other activities this summer, rafting being one of them. A few weekends ago, Les and I went to visit our climbing pals, Kris and Jess. They live in Danyang, which is a little town (40,000 people or so) on the East side of the country. I shot some video while Les, Kris and Jess navigated the rapids. Not too bad for my first video attempt (although all editing and compilation credits go to Les and all the spare time he has on his hands...). Not too bad in terms of rafting skills, either.

The pics are just a couple Les snagged on our last trip to one of our favorite crags, Ganyeon. It's in Gangwon-do, which is the province just to the east of Seoul.