Jindo Island is the third largest island in South Korea, located in South Jeolla in the South West.
We took the KTX (train) down to Mokpo on the Friday evening after work (under 4 hours travel time) and spent a night in a cheap motel, just to get a good nights sleep before heading to the island the next day.
Unfortunately the girls were all feeling a little under the weather so they were dosed up on meds, but they still decided to brave the long train journey and outdoor plans we had. When we take these little trips we are usually up and out early each morning but due to everyone feeling a little sleepy/sick we slept late and didnt get to the bus terminal until after lunch.
We took a bus from Mokpo over the Myeongnyang Strait via South Korea's longest suspension bridge (spanning 484 meters). The journey only took around an hour in total.
Jindo is famous for 2 things - the Korea Jindo Dog and the Sea Parting Festival.
Being someone that isn't the slighest bit interested in dogs (and my fear for dogs grows the longer I stay in Korea as I hardly ever see them here, so when I do I just wanna freak out to be honest), I dont have much to say about the Jindo Dog. They could be seen around the island alot and whilst in the taxi travelling back to the bus terminal I saw MANY Jindo dogs in cages on the sides of fields. I guess thats how they store them. Weird.
Anyways, the reason we went to Jindo was for the Sea Parting Festival that takes place annually. To give you some background on the event...
Every year, a narrow land pass (about 2.9 km long and up to 40 meters wide) opens for about an hour between the main Jindo Island and a small Modo island as a result of tidal activity. This event attracts hundreds thousands of tourists and is accompanied by local festivals. (taken from Wiki)
This year they decided to cancel the festival due to the foot and mouth disease that is affecting large parts of Korea. We decided to head down there anyway and see what was going on. We assumed that itd be a nicer way to see the sea parting without herds of tourists. We didnt expect much of a crowd. We were wrong!
The festival might have been cancelled but there were still hundreds of people there ready to walk through the sea. Everyone was in great spirits and excited to see the 'Miraculous Sea Parting'.
We each bought a pair of rubber boots from a street vendor - I ended up being really allergic to them as my face and hands started to itch and burn like crazy when I took them off (note to self - im allergic to rubber - oo err).
We then started the strangest walk we'd ever experienced. Walking and at times, wading through the sea from one island to another...along the way groups, couples, families were all enjoying the same walk, some drinking beer, others exploring for sea life, others digging for clam shells. As the sea only parts for an hour or so we felt the need to rush but it was actually kind of tiring so we got about 3/4 of the way and turned back to head to dry land..turns out that most people were told to turn back soon after we did as the tide was turning again and they could have been stuck on the other island.
It was a fun afternoon and definitely something i'll remember ^^
We bumped into some friends from Suwon whilst there so got some pictures with those guys and stayed in the same pension for the night. The next morning the weather was so dull and gloomy (the yellow dust from China was in full force) so we decided to head back to Mokpo, eat and take the KTX back to Seoul. We had originally planned to wake up early and explore some temples but the weather was blocking that plan.
I'd recommend a trip to Jindo for this event. I hear they are holding it again in July so if you are in Korea then make the effort to see the 'Miraculous Sea'.
It was definitely a fun trip. :) I sort of wish we had taken those boots with us, but I'm glad we left them with people who would use them on a day to day basis.
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