I was very fortunate to be able to see the DMZ this month. We had to sign up in advance and the price is usually around 90,000 won. However, a special price was running at this certain time and it only cost 42,000 won. The money pays for the bus to and from the DMZ. Also, we are given a traditional Korean lunch at a village outside of the DMZ.
The trip started at 7:30am. We had to take the subway into Seoul to meet up with the bus and other tourists at 9:30am. Once we were on the bus, we had a quick 1 hour ride to the "Freedom Bridge" site. This is the bridge that once connected the two Koreas and also the bridge that refugees once used to escape North Korea. Prior to arriving at the bridge, our bus was stopped and a soldier came on the bus to check everyone's passports. I was a little frightened but it went by quickly without any problems. After the bridge, we went to the village and had our lunch. This village is were only a few hundred people live and they are exempted from taxes and military service. However, they are not allowed to leave the village. They are mostly farming families in this area.
It was always a little scary because when we would get off the bus the tour guides and military would say "Don't wonder too far and stay with the group!" Sure, I'm just going to go wondering around the DMZ by myself. I might be blonde, but I'm not a complete idiot!
After our lunch, we went to the site of the third tunnel. "The Tunnels" are four tunnels created by North Korea and discovered by South Korea. The starting points are at various places in the North and all connect into Seoul. They were created for a surprise attack during and after the Korean War. There are believed to be 20 more undiscovered tunnels. We were allowed to go into the third tunnel, but no pictures could be taken. We had to wear hard-hats and it was very cramped. The tunnel itself, is 700 meters below the earth's surface, so we had to go down a tunnel to get to the actual tunnel. It was quite a workout!
After the tunnel, we looked around the museum dedicated to the tunnels and at the beautiful garden outside. The garden had traditional Korean statues and structures. When I took a closer look at the fence though, it said "MINE" with a skull on it. That took away the beauty of the garden! But I had no time to worry because it was back on the bus and off to the observation deck into North Korea!
When we arrived, everyone was very excited because this is what the big tour was leading up to! We were actually going to see North Korea! When we got to the deck, we discovered this big yellow line that was the "Photo Line." We could not go past the line to take pictures and if we did our cameras would be taken and searched. The reason for this is if the pictures got into the hands of the North Korean military, than they could see the advantage point that South Korea has from the observation deck. The actual view wasn't great. It was a little foggy and we just saw mountains and trees. The only interesting thing was on either side of the actual line seperating the countries is two massive flags. One for the South and one for the North. But of course, I couldn't take a picture of that!
The final stop was to Dorasan Station. Basically, this is the biggest waste of money ever spent. It is a station that was built in the DMZ for the HOPE that one day it will be the first station a subway will go through to North Korea. A train goes to and from this station only once a week and it's for the Korean military. The tagline for Dorasan is "Not the last station from the South, but the first station to the North." I don't see that happening anytime soon and I think it might be time to ask for your money back! We got to go on the platform and look at the tracks that "may one day" lead to North Korea. It was the most boring part of the trip, which was fine with me because we were all dead-tired!
Seeing the DMZ was really great! I learned a ton about the Korean War and got to see a great part of history. I hope to have more experiences like this during my time remaining time in Korea. Only 3 more months!
On a happy note, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful sister! She is lucky to be at home with our parents on her special day, and I can't wait to see all of them very soon!
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