Mudflat Shell-Picking in Boryeong, South Korea

The mud in Boryeong is known to be very clean and nourishing and therefore there is the mud festival every year. But other than just the mud festival, which is getting overpopulated by foreign tourists from all around the world, the mud also has other uses. Another thing that people travel to Boryeong for is to pick shellfish on the mudflats. Mudflats happen when there is an extremely low tide on a flat beach surface. Rather than sand at the bottom, it's mud. So the entire area has a muddy surface and people are seen everywhere holding shovels and bags, picking shellfish from under the mud. 

Experiencing the Mudflats

The first thing we did when we woke up was to gather, head to the bus and thereafter we headed to the mudflats! Near the entrance, there was a shop that rented us mud boots, small shovels and bags for us to pick and keep our shellfish. We were told that we were going to a restaurant for seafood noodles and can ask for the shells that we picked to be added into the noodles for more shellfish. So everyone got to picking. For me, it was more of the novelty of the activity so it didn't really matter whether I got any and I gave the ones I picked to my friends.

Daecheon Port Seafood Market

After that, we headed to the famous seafood market in Boryeong where people usually go to get their fresh catch of the day. There were so many different kinds of seafood, ranging from fish, shellfish, crabs, king crabs and lobsters. They even sold many different types of dried seafood that could be eaten like that. The place was pretty interesting and there were a lot of the shops allowing us to try their food samples before we buy.

Seafood Hand-Cut Noodles

Headed for lunch at a restaurant selling fresh seafood noodles. The noodles were soft, the broth was refreshing and it was pretty interesting to see that the dish was eaten together with rice. I guess it's just one of those Korean dishes that I wouldn't understand but just eat and enjoy lol.

Cypress Forest

The final destination for the trip was a forest with beautiful cypress trees. We hiked deeper and deeper till we reached the canopy of trees that stood tall and had really beautiful trunks. The bridges and rocks within the forest were also eye-catching and is definitely a great place to just take a stroll and breathe in the fresh air. 

We ended off the trip, got back on the bus and headed back to Seoul. A great weekend trip to Boryeong, full of fun activities, great company and of course, a little bit of beauty of Korea that I'll continue to carry along with me.