DMZ (South/North Korea)

Demilitarized Zone.. North and South Korea (Imjingak).
Dec. 1st, 2012

Interesting that the day the peace agreement, (basically the 'end of the war') happened was July 27th, 1953 (my birthday only a few decades earlier!) Of course this is about all the facts I remember from the day. I need to do some better research to learn more about the Korean War, especially since my Grandpa was stationed in Korea for a bit!

part of the group: Allen, James, Sarah, Tom, Me, Zach, Noah.

 

ribbons for the loved ones still in North Korea.

Well... I went to the NORTH! -- All you people who wondered if that was where I was going to teach. NO. I am in the South (Korea) but I went to visit the Demilitarized Zone (the no-mans land space between North and South Korea) at the 38th Parallel. North and South Korea are technically still at war. So being in this area is a bit intimidating, but I felt pretty safe overall, knowing all my American soldier friends had my back!









So, how did I know I was in the DMZ and close to North Korea?

1. Security
2. Barbed Wire -- a LOT of it
3. Not many people around
4. Only foreigners and tourists sites

Sarah and I at the 'look-out'. It was a bright sunny winter day!

We had to go through a security check point and then once we did there was a lot of barbed wire up. But I found out what I thought was North Korea was actually still South Korea. They don't let us go really close to North Korea, at least not on this tour, which was maybe ok with me. Although I would love to go there, just to say I've been to North Korea!

display of the NK's digging for 'coal'.

We then got to take a tour of the 3rd Tunnel. They believe there are maybe around 20 tunnels but they have only found 4 so far. (scary). Someone ahead of us told us the reason some rocks were black was because the NK's painted them black so they could say they were digging for 'coal'. Yes, because we are dumb enough to believe that. That you happen to be looking for 'coal' as you go directly towards Seoul. Good try guys. We hiked all the way down this long ramp, which was easy, and walked to the end of this long, short (in height), dark, damp tunnel only to see a wall at the end. There was no light at the end of this tunnel. So we turned around and headed back attempting not to kill ourselves on the low ceilings. One of the many times I wish I was not so tall. My helmet only got knocked off once, thankfully I was wearing it! We all made it out alive with all our body parts and heads still attached. The only thing I lost was all the calories from the lunch they fed us, walking back up the steep incline to get out of the tunnel area. I am really not good at climbing up hills, probably because Iowa doesn’t have hills! Gotta say that's one thing I won't have to do again. Hike down to see some damp rocks. Done. Probably won't do that again. It's like watching the ball drop on New Year's - you do it - cross it off your list - but it's just something you have to do.




The last place we stopped (Dora Observatory) we were told, 'DO NOT take pictures in front of the yellow line. To prevent the position of the South Korean Army from being leaked (or something like that). Basically, the North Korean's will win and take over the South if you take pictures in front of the line.' (ok maybe not THAT dramatic).. Of course this became a challenge. So I did it! Yup, I'm a rebel. I did it really sneakily and had some people block me because they had South Korean soldiers walking around (who knew English super super well) and telling people, 'No photos.' Of course I started talking to one of the soldiers, who English was spectacular - like no weird accent. Turns out he lived in the states for 11 years and went to high school in California (he moved there and lived alone!-- crazy!) Then he went to college in NY. A group started to form and we were all talking with him. Then, someone pointed out to watch out for me trying to take pictures 'illegally.' He said, 'I'm going to turn around and I won't see anything!' At first I thought maybe he was joking, but no he seriously turned around and I took a few pictures. I still felt like I was going to get yelled at so I did it quick. I was done and he was still turned around. So I said, ok you can look now. haha. I got a picture with him as well, of course.

After making a new friend, we headed to the Dorasan Train Station, which is the last station to the North in South Korea. We got to purchase a train ticket for 500 won and go out to the platform. Of course us foreigners decided to play on the train tracks. I could see the headlines now, ‘50 crazy foreigners killed by train because they didn’t think anyone would actually want to go to North Korea’. We were slightly confused about what this station was for. I guess it was actually used and we got yelled at by one of the workers, not for sure what was said but a few minutes later everyone was off the tracks.

Boy band photos. (they could totally be One Direction

That night Leah and I met up with the boys and we went out to eat. We went to Craftworks, a place in Itaewon with home-brewed beers and ALSO hamburgers and other 'foreign' food. It's one of the only places in Korea that actually brews their own beer. They had a ton of different kinds.. even a pumpkin one (which I tried and it tasted like a piece of pumpkin pie dipped in beer... wasn't too bad actually -- I mean for beer!) The food was also DELICIOUS!! It was nice to eat a legit burger and a side salad! It was a perfect ending to a great day. Glad I got to see so many of my TaLK friends!