Jindo Sea Parting Festival

Jindo
Ullimsanbang House

Spring has begun in South Korea! Which means the start of festival season! This month we decided to travel to Jindo for the Sea Parting festival. This "miracle" happens only one day each year and is based on the lunar cycle. What basically happens is the tides gets low enough that a walkway is created to the neighboring island. This walkway is about 2 miles long. The catch is you have to be able to walk there and back in one hour! 

For this trip, we went with Lonely Korea, a tour group geared towards foreigners, and would definitely recommend them! The bus picked us up in Mokpo and we started our journey to Jindo. The trip took about an hour or so, but since the sea didn't part until around 4:30pm we had a couple tourist stops along the way. These included Ullimsanbang House and the Jindo Dog Show. 

After the dog show we headed to the festival. Everyone was sporting these thigh high rubber boots (which we had about 10 pairs in our apartment, thanks to previous residents, so we didn't have to buy any!) We had a little while before the parting, so we quickly ate some food, and then donned our rubber boots. Food wise, there was an international food fair setup with different types of cuisine. I opted for the chicken wrap at the Turkish tent, and Alan got the Indian curry and naan. 

Time to make our way to the crossing! There were a lot of people! Most of them were just in the crowd watching and digging for seafood. We had an hour to make it there and back before the tides swallow us into the ocean! We were determined to make it! Treading through the water, our main goal was to not get wet and we succeeded! We did not however make it to the other side in time, though we were close enough to see it. I would say we were 95% to the other side, before we heard the whistle from the police boat. So it was decision time, trek it to the other island and get stranded, or hustle our way back to the main island before the tides swallow us. Obviously we chose the latter and hurried our way back. 

We spotted these little guys on the way back (and Alan's friend Kristin later told us they are called Bat Stars), they were so cool! We also watched a Korean man grab an octopus straight from the sea and eat it right then and there! After making it back to dry land it was time to go to our bus. All in all, a very good day trip!

Tips and Recommendations:

* Buy those ridiculous boots! - The water never went below mid ankle for us and the highest was just a few inches away from the top of the boots. If you don't want to get wet then invest in them!

* Walk fast - Making it to the island may seem possible, but consider the crowds, water current, and stopping for random pictures!

* Pack extra clothes - It is never good to travel home wet!

* Plan your travel - Be sure to arrive before the parting so you can start on time!