Well it's almost time for us to leave Korea and go home (4 days to go!). So, I thought I would squeeze one more blog in there.
This month, we made it to three pretty big landmarks in Korea. Our first trip was to the
Korean War Memorial museum. It was something that has been on our list all year. It was a very well done memorial with several monuments outside, including a reflecting pool and life size airplanes and other military equipment. Inside, there were three floors which included Memorial Hall, War History, Korean War, Expeditionary and ROK Forces, Defense Industries, and Large Military Equipment. The first floor was the Memorial Hall. It had some amazing reliefs and a
large memorial with a giant bowl filled with water and above it was a light coming from the top of the ceiling down to the center of the bowl. On the second floor, we got a full history of Korea and what was happening up to the Korean War. They had many antique weapons from every dynasty with full sized warrior clothing and armor. They also showed all of the military wear from other countries such as Spain and England as the years went up. On the second and third floor, they had life sized dioramas that you could walk through. On the third floor, there were some interactive things such as shooting targets with a fake gun at a projection screen, a video about Korea's history and the war, and a simulated combat zone. For the video and combat simulation, the museum workers told us "No English" and waved us away, but we said we didn't care and participated anyway. It wasn't hard to understand what was happening at all. Overall, it was an eyeopening experience. The cost was totally free. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera that day, so I pulled the following pictures from the internet.
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| Entrance |
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| Memorial Hall |
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| Airplanes outdoors |
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| Reflecting Pool |
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| Hallway to the entrance |
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| Life size replica |
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| Life size replica |
The next week, we went to Seoul Tower, or in Korean, Namsan Tower. ("San" means "mountain" and "Nam" is the name of the mountain.) Seoul Tower is in Seoul of course. It's the center of Seoul to be exact. It is a really tall tower that you can go up to the top of to see over the whole city of Seoul. Also, many couples bring a "lock of love" which is a padlock that the write a note an and lock it to the fence outside of the tower. This means that their love will be locked forever at Seoul Tower. Jim and I didn't bring a lock because A)we don't really believe in that stuff and B)we're lazy sometimes, ha ha. It's cute to look at though. To get to the tower, you must take a cable car from the street below, or you can ride a bus up the hill. Once you get there, you still have to walk up a steep hill about 100 yards to get into the entrance. Right outside the entrance, there are performers and restaurants. At the entrance, you have to pay 12,000won ($11) and take an elevator up to the top. The elevator has a video screen you look up at which is supposed to make you feel like your blasting off into space. At the top, the view was beautiful. There were little gift shops and another opportunity to show your affection for your significant other. This time they were little wooden blocks with notes written on them. Once again, we did not participate. It just feels like something that teenagers do. We were tempted to go into the "famous" restaurant there called "Hancook" (Han means Korean), but they only had a buffet and it didn't smell that delicious. So instead, we strolled over to a little cafe and had a waffle sandwich and some Asahi (Japanese beer). Enjoy the pics (we actually brought the camera this time)!
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| Arriving on the bus. |
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| Seoul Tower |
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| Love locks |
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| So many! |
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| We sat down to take a picture here. |
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| I think this picture is better than a love lock. |
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| Outside of Seoul Tower, before going up. |
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| This view is already good from the bottom! |
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| Handsome! |
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| The warrior dancer entertainment setting up behind Jim |
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| I swear he sounded like the Peruvian flute bands from South Park |
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| Speaks for itself |
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| The view of Seoul from the top of the tower |
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| The observatory |
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| The big black building (which is flat in person) is the Hyatt Hotel where Obama stayed during the G 20 Summit in 2010 |
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| That's me! There was a mirror on the ceiling |
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| All the windows had something written about all the major areas of Seoul |
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| There's the waffle sandwich (whipped cream and raspberries) with Asahi! |
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| More locks |
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| Goodbye Seoul Tower! |
Our last major trip of year was to the DMZ. (Don't tell my mom!) She really didn't want us to go, which is understandable. But being here in Korea, we knew the political climate and we knew it was safer to go now because nothing had happened recently other than Kim Jong Il's death. It's hard to understand what it's like when you're so far away in the West instead of being right here in Korea. This was an expensive trip, and it was hosted by the USO. We had to be in Seoul at 9am to catch the bus from Camp Kim. Then a Korean woman, Christina (no, that's not her real name, but it's easier for us Americans to pronounce) took us to the Imjingak (the Imjin river) which is about an hour north of Seoul. We started at the Third Infiltration Tunnel which is one of 4 tunnels dug by the North Korean KPA Soldiers (Korean People's Army) as a means of invading Seoul which were all discovered and blocked off by the South Korean ROK soldiers (Republic of Korea). The first tunnel was discovered in 1974, the second in 1975, the third in 1978, and the fourth in 1990. The third tunnel reaches about 1,500 feet past the MDL (Military Demarcation Line). The tunnel could've moved 30,000 KPA soldiers into Seoul in one hour. The Military Demarcation Line is at the 38th parallel and divides North and South Korea.
There are also boundary lines north and south of the MDL. So, we actually walked down into this tunnel. Let me tell you, it was no treat. It was a steep decline, but there were hand rails. Then it got really narrow and once you got to the bottom it flattened out, but the tunnel continued. You couldn't stand up unless you were small like a 12 year old American or like a Korean woman so we had to walk for a few minutes bent over at about 45 degrees. Then a the very end you can stand up but only four people fit at the end of the tunnel at a time. The end of the tunnel shows a little window where you can see how the tunnel continues into North Korea. Then it was time to go back up the same way...yuck.
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| There were a few military checkpoints along the way. Not to mention a long line of barbed wire along the border. |
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| Checkpoint (bus moving too fast) |
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| Third Tunnel |
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| Entrance |
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| In the Third Tunnel |
After that we went to the Dora Observatory and Dorasan Station. The observatory looks out over into North Korea. You can pay about the equivalent of 50 cents to use the mechanical binoculars to see better. If you want to take pictures, you have to back up way behind that and stand behind the yellow line or else the guards will make sure you delete those pictures. Basically, you can't get a good pic at all from there. You'd have to be about 7 feet tall and have a zoom lens. Dorasan station was so interesting because it was just like all of the other train/subway stations in Korea, except that you can't go North from Dorasan. You can buy a ticket and stand on the platform, but the train only leaves twice a day and it's only for workers. What kind of work you ask? I didn't catch that from tour guide. I think there are farmers and industrial and military people that use it. It was kind of eerie standing there because you knew that if the trains were were working like the other stations, it could take you into North Korea to their station in Pyongyang. The signs were all on and the turnstiles were there. Even the guy selling tickets had his "Korail" jacket on, but there were no people going there to get on the train. Just tourists and three ROK solders who you could get your picture with. The outside of the building had architecture that was curving into itself representing a handshake as a symbol of unification someday. Here are some pics:
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| The entrance of the observatory says "End of separation, beginning of unification" |
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| Outside the observatory |
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| Peeking at North Korea |
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| This is the best pic I could get at the observatory, and it was cloudy. |
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| One of many watch towers. |
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| I tried to get a photo of a checkpoint but the bus was moving too fast. |
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| Dorasan Station |
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| ROK soldier |
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| Dora Station |
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| Old fashioned railroad |
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| Christina, our tour guide |
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| No, that's not Jim |
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| More ROK soldiers |
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| Eerie. Usually I see hundreds of people a the subway. |
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| Could you imagine? |
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| "Not the last station from the South, but the first station toward the North." |
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| Most Korean men are not as big as Jim. Just the military ones. |
After that we had lunch at the station. It was one of two options: Bulgogi (steamed beef and broth with white rice on the side which is hugely famous in Korea) or Bibimbap (the vegetarian option of rice, egg, bean sprouts, mushrooms and other veggies with a cold chili sauce called gochujang). The food cost 10,000 won ($9) and it wasn't bad. It came with a lot of side dishes. And the highlight? North Korean beer, which you can buy for another 10,000 won. It was a big bottle, enough for two. The tour guide said not to drink too much - "maybe one bottle for two people". However, I did see some of the younger tourists drinking one bottle each, ha ha.
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| The name of our restaurant was "Good Restaurant". You can't get anymore transparent than that! |
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| Cafeteria style |
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| North Korean beer. No, I cannot read that :) |
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| Bulgogi, broccoli, bean sprouts, kimchi, rice, sausages and fish cake (?), chili sauce, and some fried donut type desert |
After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Camp Bonifas. This camp was named after Corporal Bonifas who was killed in 1976 during a routine trimming of the poplar tree that blocked the view of one of the watch towers from seeing the North Korean tower. Another American soldier was killed as well. The North Koreans soldiers saw the guys trimming and ordered them to stop. They didn't stop so the North Koreans got a truck with about 30 guys and starting beating the other soldiers with axe handles and the two soldiers mentioned above were killed. This is the result of the infamous Axe Murder Incident. Not long after that they had Operation Paul Bunyan where the South set out to cut down the poplar tree, but they hired martial arts-trained soldiers and had air cover, ground cover, and off the coast they had aircraft carries with planes ready to fight if anything happened this time.
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| The Axe Murder diorama
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| A piece of the poplar tree from the Axe Murder Incident. |
At Camp Bonifas, we got off of our tour bus at the JSA (Joint Security Area) to watch a slide show briefing about JSA, the DMZ and North Korea. It was pretty interesting because the officer recited it by heart. We signed a waiver and then we got on the military bus with an ROK officer driving and a US soldier guiding the tour. Our original tour guide was with us too.
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| Our waiver - if you read closely, you can see just how serious it is |
We saw the Panmunjom first which is the area where both sides meet to talk. We walked into the conference room where two ROK soldiers are stationed and they stand there like statues (think of the guards at Buckingham Palace). They wear sunglasses so that they show no emotion to the North Korean guards. Outside, two more ROK soldiers are stationed facing North Korea. They stand partially hidden by the buildings. We were allowed to take pictures in the room and we can stand by the guards too. They told us if you stand closer than 6 inches, they will stomp their boot so you know you're too close. If you don't move, they will remove you but not violently. On one end of the room, you're in North Korea and on the other end, you're in South Korea. So I'm here to tell you that I was literally in North Korea yesterday and I made it back safe and sound :)
There are two buildings to the front and rear of the conference rooms. On the South Korea side, it is called the Freedom House and you're not allowed to take pictures. In fact, you're only allowed to take pictures on this tour when they say you can. Most of it is restricted. On the North Korea side, it is Panmon Hall where we saw one lone KPA (North Korean) soldier standing facing us. We were allowed to take pictures, but we couldn't point or gesture. After a few minutes, we saw him take out his binoculars and look at us. Next to the conference rooms there is another building where talks take place. Sometimes the North Koreans try to get a rise out of the ROK and US soldiers by making gestures at them, so the US soldiers call it "The Monkey House" because of how they act. What's interesting is that the North Koreans try a lot more to get the South to do something in reaction like dragging soldiers to their side or taking the villagers who farm near the border, but the South can not react because it will be used against them. They may be at a ceasefire, but there really is no peace.
After that, we got on the bus again and saw the Freedom Bridge, The Bridge of No Return the site where the poplar tree was cut down, the tallest flagpole in the world (North Korea), the South Korean flagpole nearby and the fake North Korean "city" that's basically a multi-million dollar movie set because the apartments and houses are all fake. And the tallest flagpole was built in North Korea because they didn't didn't want the South to have one that's bigger than theirs.
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| Beginning of the briefing with Corporal Fridgen |
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| Slide tour |
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| Jim with an ROK soldier in the conference room
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| That's North Korea right outside the window. |
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| The two sides of Korea. They South was nice and put gravel on the north side, but they said the sand was given to them by their dear leader so they had to remove the gravel and find more sand to put ther |
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| Conference table |
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| ROK soldier standing partially hidden. |
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| That room behind the tourists is for the interpreters who no longer need it because they sit right at the tables now. |
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| Facing North Korea |
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| If you look closely, you can see the KPA North Korean soldier staring at us - left of the middle |
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| I wish I had a zoom lens |
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| US soldier giving the tour |
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| The tallest flag pole - North Korea |
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| The fake city is surrounding the flapole |
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| North Korea behind Jim |
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| If you look carefully, you can see that some trees fell over from the North side of the woods onto the South side. The south doesn't know what to do about it yet because they don't want conflict. They can't just remove them. |
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| The site where the poplar tree was cut down. The circle is the width of the tree and in the background is the watch tower that was blocked. |
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| The Bridge of No Return - during the Korean War, POWs had to choose which country they wanted to go to and they could never go back. |
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| A view of the Freedom House - North Korean point of view (Jim took this picture of a photo in the JSA museum) |
The trip to the DMZ was so fascinating and I'm really glad we did it. It was an eerie, yet amazing way to end our time in South Korea.
More later...?
