Anywho, the tour began, as always, on a bus. We started with a forty-five minute ride to the border to get a look at the typical border (fences with a long unoccupied area, aside from farms, in the middle). The first area had a good lookout area with free telescopes as well as some memorials from the war/armistice such as the bullet-ridden train and the freedom bridge (where prisoners walked across after they were exchanged).
Next we headed to the underground tunnels. In the 1970’s North Korea attempted to dig tunnels across the border toward Seoul. A number of attempts were made and at least four tunnels were discovered by the South Koreans. We visited the third tunnel which was the tunnel closest to Seoul. The tunnels were interesting to see and there were some shenanigans going on with the tunnels. The North Koreans deny(ied?) that dug the tunnels so the South Korean tour goes out of the way to prove that it was dug by the North. They have spray painted all of the dynamite holes (which are pointing inward for someone digging from the north). Next, the tunnel also shows how it slopes toward North Korea, which allows any water buildup to be removed from the North Korean side. Finally, the walls of some of the tunnel are covered in a thin layer of charcoal and the North uses this to claim that maybe the tunnel is naturally forming so the South points out that the mountain is made up almost entirely of quartz…so yeah. It is funny.
Next we headed to a fake train station. The train station was built so that South Korea could connect to a railroad (trans-Siberian railroad) that will stretch across Asia and Europe all the way to Spain. Naturally the track in the north is not complete, but the South is ready. They also had fake passport stamps here so you could imagine that you would use the train station to go into North Korea. It was all sort of weird.
- Top left: A train station with no trains.
- Top middle: You could not cross the yellow line and take a picture across the border.
- Bottom left: Anuj and Avni ready to go into the tunnel.
- Bottom middle: A ledge to a lake allowed me to be the fifth stone statue.
- Top right: Human MIT!
- Middle right: Joonhaeng had to leave so we were sad (we’re in the missing-man-hug-formation).
At this point we had to split off from Joonhaeng because we were going up to the border and he was not allowed there. I don’t know how to describe the border other than to say that you could feel the tension in the air. All the way up the mountain (where the armistice building is) we were instructed about how we could not stand, point, take pictures, etc. while on the bus or once we got off the bus. We were escorted by an armed guard on our bus and our bus was escorted by armed guards in a jeep. Once we go to the border we had to wait for them to change the flag in the building that is on either side of the border because the North Korean tour had just left.
- Top right: South Koreans watching the border 25 feet away. The stand at an angle to minimize the exposure of their bodies.
- Bottom left: The microphones show the line that is the border between the two countries while we stood inside building that is a shared space between the two countries.
- Top middle: Me standing as far into North Korea (yes, I am technically in North Korea at that moment) as I am allowed to go.
- Bottom middle: A North Korean standing guard.
After the DMZ it was time for our final dinner in Korea followed by some hard-core Karaoke. Joonhaeng took us to an amazing 5-star restaurant with traditional performances (see video). Next we went to a very classy Karaoke room (Korean’s prefer personal rooms to open bars) with an amazing view of Seoul. This went well into the night to top off an amazing week in Korea. Great thanks to Joonhaeng for hosting all of us.
 |
| From 3-18-10 DMZ |
 |
| From 3-18-10 DMZ |
 |
| From 3-18-10 DMZ |
 |
| From 3-18-10 DMZ |
No comments:
Post a Comment