By R. Gowri

I WAS cordially invited to do some mud-slinging in South Korea; apparently they have a special festival for it.

Feeling out of sorts and rather weighed by the stresses of the past few months - make that a year - I gleefully accepted. And it turned out that they could not have invented a healthier therapy for de-stressing.

Dishing out the dirt onto persons, known and unknown, may not be your regular recommended psychotherapy but I fully confirm its beneficial effects.

Just be enlightened that I'm not referring to that irreverent form of mud-slinging that has endeared itself to politicians but mud-slinging a la The Three Stooges.

Also, the mud I speak of isn't the kind you get a dose of on a rainy day in Kuala Lumpur when some brainless driver seemingly under the influence of some unbending force drives into a huge puddle as you walk by on the pavement.

In Boryeong, a coastal town in South Korea, there are kilometres upon kilometres of a special "elite" type of mud.

It almost looks like any other mud - only more greyish-green and gooey. But get past the "yucks" and you'll discover the minerals in the Daecheon Beach mud actually make it a humongous Godsent health mud pack for the taking.

And the Koreans know how to capitalise on a good thing. Every summer, they celebrate the mud - with feisty mud-slinging and wallowing.

The Boryeong Mud Festival ranks among the most popular of the numerous festivals the Koreans have and has been voted one of the best festivals internationally.

Tourists play with the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at a beach in Boryeong, about 190km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul.

With bikini-clad PRs, celebrity musicians, acrobats and clowns, thousands of tourists and townsfolk indulge in "dirty" goings-on for several days. The fest is loony, wholesome fun for the entire family.

There's no slipping up the wrong way here. More than 400 security personnel and volunteers keep a lookout to ensure no untoward incidents occur.

Children are encouraged to wear electronic bracelets, available at a refundable deposit, from one of the many official booths, so that if they scamper beyond the seeing eye, they are tracked by technology and returned to their parents.

So all there is to do is get into the swing of things.

As in previous years, at the 2009 fest (which ran from July 11-19), there was plenty to swing into - 50 "programmes" in all.

You could stand in a mud rain tunnel, 25 metres long, and get splattered by a healthy mud shower; squeal under a spraying Mud Fountain or clamber up a Mud Slide and slide down into a mud pool.

You could even escape the mobs by breaking into the Mud Prison and getting duly punished by wardens slinging bucketfuls of mud at you!

For the competitive, there was mud wrestling. In another arena, you could leap like a frog, from a mud-covered rubber ring, to grab the flag sitting atop a mud hill.

The toughies attempted the Marine Corps-type exercises - such as a 10km marathon course across tidal mud flats on the beach.

Other athletic types played dirty football on the beach against slippery opponents. Otherwise, you could just do your friends a favour and sling fistfuls of that healthy mud at them.

For the more artistically inclined, mud soap making, mud hand printing, mud dolls and mud pottery kept them busy.

At one of the booths, you could even get your entire body painted in various colours and then go make a colourful scene with your friends on the streets of Boryeong.

The health and relaxation stints take various forms. You can simply rub the mud all over your face and body, repose in the Self-Massage Zone and tune out of the mayhem. The cool mud quickly lulls you into a relaxed state.

Otherwise, the Mud Skincare Centre beside the beach is a favourite, especially with the ladies; step into the sauna and then have Boryeong mud brushed on by therapists. End the session with a soak in a hot tub. There is a discount for foreigners yearly at the centre.

Strictly speaking, the services are neither a "massage" nor a "facial" as advertised - they're actually body and facial masks - but they do rejuvenate.

Most of the activities are free of charge. If you feel peckish, never mind that you look like a mud monster, just walk into one of the many eateries lining the streets.

The owners don't fuss that you're leaving a trail of mud behind you, it's de rigeur. Many of the places offer fresh seafood from the surrounding seas: shellfish, squid, various types of fish, beef, pork and chicken. State the way you prefer to have your choices cooked (steamed, barbecued or raw), and down it all with green tea or plenty of chilled Korean beer.

The fun doesn't end in the evenings. At the recent 12th fest though, much of the evening activities like the Asian Dream Concert which featured celebrities like Rain, were dampened by heavy showers,

Traditional Korean and modern contemporary music and dances usually feature at the Boryeong Mud Festival annually but the wettest summer in more than 30 years took some of the sparkle off this year's night-time events.

The opening day's celebratory fireworks show on July 11 managed to sputter off however, making the night sky a little more alluring than it had been thus far. Partygoers stood huddled together under umbrellas and plastic raincoats; the more romantic must have got the most mileage out of that soggy evening.

All in all, Boryeong's mud fest remains a cultural parade-cum-beach party that also promises a health boost in a unique way. To enjoy it all and beat the queues, get there early, or the mud may just run out.

The writer's trip was courtesy of the Korea Tourism Organisation. For more information, log onto www.visitkorea.or.kr