DMZ

My last day in Korea, and it's time for the DMZ, aka the demilitarized zone before North and South Korea. It's a very informative tour and you have to leave early as tickets can only be secured on location and there's a limited number. Once you cross the checkpoint, you literally have 3 hours to make the stops and exit. Time is of the essence.

We spent some time at the park where we were to purchase our tickets. It's a place Koreans visit regularly as well, usually those who've had to leave relatives in North Korea. While the elders look across the border, the children can play in the nearby amusement park. It's feels strange to have that difference and certainly had us wondering when we saw the rides in the near distance.

There's actually several lines, the one in the ceasefire line in the middle that's not actually really marked, the DMZ lines, 2km in each direction to form the DMZ itself and another line even further out where civilians cannot cross,

The first official stop once in the zone is the 3rd tunnel. This tunnel was dug by North Koreans to infiltrate the South and was only discovered when one of the men building the tunnels escaped to the South side and reported it. Conditions were bad as they were using dynamite and a number of men died in the process. Once the tunnel was located, South Korea built and intercepting tunnel to halt the progress. It's down this intercepting tunnel that we would traverse and actually be the DMZ itself, albeit underground. No cameras allowed and the journey felt a little surreal. It only takes about 30 minutes round trip.

Next stop, the observatory. Lined with binoculars, we were able to look into North Korea to see the city. It was called a fake city for reasons I cannot remember now, but it did look beautiful. We could also see the tower bombed by Kim Jong Un's sister, a Hollywood-like sign on a hill and flag towers where North and South Korea were competing to see which would be higher. North Korea would win out as they kept switching back and forth, and I believe it was a Guinness height record as well.

Last stop was one of the local villages for people living in the area. Farming is the main activity here and ginseng one of the main exports. We tried some soybean ice cream which was interesting before heading back to Seoul.

One last shopping stop and a quick lunch, then it was off to the airport hotel for me to catch an early morning flight to Mongolia.Okumaya devam et