For the weekend of May 15/16, I booked a trip with a friend of mine to do two separate adventures. On Saturday we went to a national park and saw some incredible scenery. The only problem was that it was raining literally the entire day. We headed up to Seoul the night before and stayed at another friends apartment. We met the bus the next morning at 7am. We nearly missed it, since neither of us printed off directions, or knew exactly where in the terminal we were supposed to meet the tour. It was only after somehow stumbling upon a computer and finding the number, at 7:05, did we talk to them and find out where to go. After a nice 2 hour bus ride, we arrived at the ferry dock. We were to take a nice scenic ride down a river lined with gorgoues mountains. Everything was nice, except for the rain. I would have stayed up on top of the boat the whole time had the weather been nice, but I spent 95% of it inside glancing out the windows in between card games. Nobody to blame for that except nature I guess. Still, nice scenery. After that we headed to the Gosu Cave. This is just like any cave, discovered accidentally in the mountains, and all kinds of nifty rock formations. It was a very long pathway inside, and it was self guided. Some points were very skinny and very low, hard for people over 5 foot to get through. This was the main reason I booked this tour, and it was very cool to see all the different rock formations and natural spring lakes inside. There was a crazy climb down a spiral staircase that went around abiout 13 times, very dizzying. After this adventure we headed to a natural rock formation in the river somewhere. At this point, I was drenched, so I didnt really care about being wet. After parking, we got off the bus and checked out eh rock formation, then started to head up the staird to the top of the mountain for a better view. At the base of the stairs I pass a Korean man who looks at me, soaking wet, and he hands me his umbrella. Astonished, he gave me a thmbus up, and walked away. Korean people love to take care of the foreigners, thats for sure. After trekking through the mud and seeing the stone gate at the top of the mountain, we headed home. All this adventure, bus rides to/from Seoul included, took 13 hours. We were exhauseted when we finally made it back, but a nice trip nonetheless.
Sunday's trip was the the DMZ, the heavily guarded 4km wide strip of land that separates North and South Korea. There were 4 stops on this tour. First was the farthest north point in Korea before actually entering the DMZ, Immingjak. This is also where we had to hand over our passports to register for access for the DMZ. There was an observatory with binoculars to see into the DMZ, and we could even see a few people in there. The freedom bridge is here, a bridge that no one crosses. At the fence there are many signs, flowers, and other things hoping for re-unification one day. A very eeries feeling, and one-of-a-kind in the world. There was a wall of rocks in which they had collected a peice of earth from 86 battles, from 64 countries, around the world. All dedicated to peace, which is a tad ironic. On the other side of Immingjak is a little museum and memorial to the Korean war. Among the artifacts outside were a line of tanks ang a flag circle with all the countires who helped Korea in the war effort. Yet, in the middle is a plaque which only thanks the USA for their contributions. I found that interesting. After seeing all the sights here, we moved into a little village inside the DMZ. There are a couple villages in which people actually live in the DMZ. They were allowed to go back to their native towns a few years back, but there are restirctions. They havea strick curfew of 11pm, and soldiers watch them constantly as they farm their 7 hectacres of land. But, for all this trouble, they live tax free and get free high-speed internet. In this village is where we had lunch. After checking out the gift shop and seeing the farmers in action (with soldiers watching their every move) we headed to the 3rd infiltration tunnel.
The North Koreans built a series of tunnels underneath the border in order to invade the South. There are rumored to be around 20 of them, so far only 4 have been discvored. The 3rd was the largest and is the closest to Seoul. it would have had the capability of sending 10,000 soldiers an hour through the tunnel. It is over 1500 meters long, and we were allowed in 265 of them. They dug an access ramp 350m long to get into the tunnel about 10 years back, which in itself is a bit tiring. The tunnel is 76m below ground, so the angle of the access ramp is quite steep. Inside the tunnel, we got a very chilling feeling. Knowing that the purpose of it was to conquer, and was hidden for so many years is quite eerie. We were able to walk in the tunnel, and were luckily given helmets. The walls are very low, not more than 4 1/2 feet in some places, and was walking crounched over 90% of the time. I must have hit my head about 30 times. They did not allow pictures in the tunnel, which is quite a shame. The north painted the walls black after the war was over. They did this to cover up the fact that it was an infiltration tunnel. If they were ever discovered, they would say that they were just old coal mines. But, seeing as how the nearest coal is hundreds of miles away, that plan didnt work out too well. After making the tiring trek back to the top of the access ramp, we checked out the grounds of the area. There were several fences with sings marking landmines, still active. They don't know how many are out there, but they don't want to discover them either.
From here we headed to the Dora ebservatory. This is the highest point in the DMZ. From here we could see into Kaesong City, the 2nd largest city in the North. We also could the the "propganda village" right on the border. This is a "town" built by the north to serve one purpose; propoganda. Nobody lives there, despite the hundred or so houses. 6-12 hours a day a loudspeaker plays all kinds of northern propoganda for whoever wants to listen. In the middle is a 165m tall Eiffel Tower look-a-like with a massive North Korean flag on top. Opposing this on the other side is a slightly smaller tower and flag for South Korea. The sheer braiwashing that the North conducts is incredible. Seeing the proximity of the two villages brings a whole new reality to the North/South conflict.
The last stop on our tour was the Dorason train station. This station actually connects the North and South. However, nobody goes there. This was built in 2003 as a main station for the Trans Eurasion railrod they hope will one day come to Korea. It was a huge deal, and President Bush was even there for the groundbreaking. The only trains that go to the north are 2 per week, with only supplies for the Kaesong City factory. The hope is that one day, Korea will be unified, and the tracks will connect Seoul to the Trans Siberian and Trans China railways, making rail travel possible from the edge of portugal all the way to the edge of Korean penninsula. But, until that happens, this incrediby untlra-modern, massive station sits dormant, with the only people being tourists and visitors. A sad state of affairs, yet a sign of just how optimistic the South is of being unified again one day.
All this makes me severly wish for unification, but also brought to my attention just how far away that is from happening. It was a great experience, and one that will not be around forever. A true once-in-a lifetime experience.
