Tourist Saturday: A Trip to the North..Almost

When one is in South Korea, one of the (many) interesting things to do is take a trip to the border between North and South Korea for a tour of the DeMilitarized Zone or, as most people call it, the DMZ. 


It just so happened that a group of people was heading up north on Saturday- so it was the perfect opportunity to get my butt out of my apartment and see the most heavily militarized border in the world. 

Lunch

 After lunch, the tour began, and we started with a trip into the 3rd tunnel. No photos were allowed inside, but I can tell you- it was interesting and unsettling. So far, the South has found 4 tunnels that the North has built as possible attack routes South. Each tunnel leads straight to Seoul and are large enough for about 100,000 troops to go through in an hour. And, in addition to the 4 tunnels already found, the South thinks there might be as many as 15 tunnels that have not been discovered yet. Like I said, interesting and unsettling.

The best picture of North Korea I could get

After the 3rd tunnel, we watched a documentary, and looked at through a brief museum about the DMZ and the probable construction of the tunnels, and then we headed to the observatory. Just beyond those viewers is North Korea. You can see the North Korean flag flying high (literally, it is very high- the flag pole was purposely built so the flag would fly higher than the South Korean flag that is adjacent) and at the base of the pole is a little town. However, it is not really a town- we were told that the buildings we can see from the south side are all vacant- built to portray the image of a thriving and growing population. Not so.

Anyway, the reason you can't see all this in the picture is because visitors are not allowed to take pictures any closer to the edge than this one is. The southern military is afraid that some defense secrets will get captured on film and all will be lost, so no one can take photos where you can actually see anything. However, I am an American tourist, so naturally, I tried to take a picture where we weren't supposed to. There was only one guard watching us, so I thought it would be easy! I waited until he turned around, snapped my picture, and thought all was well. But, when I turned around, there he was! He took my camera, deleted my picture, and handed it back to me. Rats. I swear the man had eyes in the back of his head. 

I told you- I'm a tourist. It's fine.

Next stop: North Korea

All in all, it was a very interesting trip. Although, there is another tour you can pay for that takes you deeper into the DMZ- to the Joint Security Area, or JSA. This is where the actual border is, and there are buildings used for inter nation talks that are technically on both North and South Korean soil. This tour is more expensive, but it's on the list nonetheless.

Now, I must retire as I have a flight to BANGKOK in the morning. I live a tough life. Don't feel too sorry for me.