And now for the main event!
No trip to Korea is complete without a day at the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. This area has long been on my bucket list as it is just suck a strange concept to me. How has a military border become such a contested and politically important area? And now that I have been there, I can safely say that I still do not understand but I found it fascinating.
The only way to visit this area is as part of an organised tour from Seoul. I don't love taking these kind of trips but it actually wasn't that bad. The guide was very knowledgable and full of weird and wonderful stories and we really didn't have to wait about too long for anyone.
The journey from the city was a little over an hour but quite comfortable and smooth. When we got to within 20km of the border, we stopped for our first passport check. Several military guys came on the bus with a list of all of our names and checked us off their long list. From there we drove into "the DMZ" which it turns out is a 20km wide stripe of land and not just a border as I was imagining. Our passports
were checked twice more before we got to a car park reception area to wait for our allowed time in the 'museum' zone.
Within the 'museum zone' is a large area depicting the changes of the DMZ over the years, a few discovered tunnels into which you can walk and several commemorative gardens. The tunnels itself is small to the point that I was walking hunched over and it descends as a seriously alarming rate. It is slippery, dark, cramped and very tough to climb back out. Thoughtfully there is a seating area at the entrance to the tunnel so you can sit and relax after the ordeal.
Around the back of the museums are several small gardens and sculpture areas. In one I found a point
from the political map of the area in which you can stand with one foot in South Korea and one foot in North Korea, so I had fun jumping from one to the other and sending the shark to the North. Easily entertained.
From the museums, we went to the observation deck. which is literally a building facing the North with binoculars and viewing windows. According to our guide, the town on the other side of the border is completely fake and uninhabited. Completely for show and to try to confuse the South. He told us of a 'loud speaker war' in which the North played propaganda to the South and the South played kPop in return. If I didn't know it was between politically delicate countries that have fought wars against each other, I would have thought it was a childish neighbour spat. A truly weird but fascinating place.
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