DMZ
Tue, 01 Jul 2008.
Freedom Bridge at Imjingak
It took a little bit of cajoling to get Diana to agree to take me on the South Korean DMZ tour. I couldn’t understand why, I expected the tour to be this huge insight into the tensions that exist between North and South. I expected to find something there. Really, when you hear the phrase “DMZ Tour” you should not be so impressed by the word “DMZ” but rather you should be fearful of the word “tour”.
We were part of a group of ten. We would drive in a van out of Seoul with our tour guide all the way to Imjingak before we would join other tour groups on a large coach that would take us around the area. The other people in our tour group? Australians. I even recognized one of them as football player and coach, Ron Barassi. He is a footballer who, as Lachlan tells me, “used to king the shit out of everyone.” And no, that’s not a reference to checkers. But it was actually fun to be in the thick of all the Australian accents again and see Australia’s unique version of the crotchety old man stereotype.
Ron and his boys; lovely fellows if a bit noisy
“Lu”, our lovely tour guide.
The guys sure loved to ask Lu a lot of questions. They were like schoolchildren and sometimes they would get caught up in chatting amongst themselves that Lu would have a hard time talking over them. It was at these moments she would look pleadingly to Diana and the sadness in her eyes would say, “You are the only other Korean in this van and hence you are the only one that understands my pain right now.” My memory of Lu will be when she told us that we should not defect to the North because she will be the one that is blamed.
But yes, we first arrived at Imjingak. It’s a group of buildings that stand as a monument to how much Koreas wish for peace and reunification. There is also a carnival with one of those big ships that swing back and forth. Oh, and there are corn dogs. Later we were taken to Dorasan station, a place where they can ship goods into North Korea by train. It’s set up to take regular passengers should that ever be agreed upon.
A monument to the people that donated to North Korea so that this railroad could be built.
Subsequent stops included the third invasion tunnel discovered by the South. This involved a steep ramp of about 800m (~2600ft) long. This was when the tour got a little less comfortable and I actually enjoyed it. Although, it was kind of cruel because a lot of people on this tour where quite old (including little old Korean ladies that are permanently hunched over) and it was kinda crazy to see them trying to climb back up to the surface. I’m surprised they don’t have more warnings about exactly how physically demanding it is.
What next? Umm, some gift shops. The Udasan observatory that was about the closest we got to the DMZ. And, strangely enough, an amethyst factory outlet which had nothing to do with the DMZ and everything to do with nice kickbacks to the tour company.
If I had done my research, I would have realised that this tour takes us nowhere near the actual demarcation line where the DMZ begins. I really wanted to see things like the conference rooms that straddle the border and some of the facades that North Korea has put up. Maybe next time, I guess.
Tonight, I fly out to Hong Kong and we get to see our friend Amy. What crazy adventures are in store? Will I get pickpocketed? Find out!
Hey I have been there too!! ha ha ha But what you’re referencing about the conference rooms is called the JSA or the Joint Security Area. That’s where there’s not a fence between the north and south, but a literal line dividing the two. It’s a really tense place to be, but it’s so interesting to actually see North Korean and South Korean soldiers in very close proximity. I wish I was in Korea now. SIGHS! I hope you had fun. :)
I wonder how safe it is the closer you get to the line.. I know that the whole East/West Germany thing was HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUGE and getting anywhere near the border was Not Wise.
Wow. . . Lu’s got some strong ankles to be giving tours in those kinda shoes.
Long live the South!
. . .Um. . . what?
well you wouldn’t want to walk along the DMZ on your own, it’s the most heavily land mined place in the world.
North Korea vs South Korea
East Coast vs West Coast Hip-Hop Beef
Steven Segal vs Chuck Norris
Can’t we all just get along?!?
That is such an odd concept for a tour, really… and how odd that they didn’t even really do it??
dater x: Ahh yeah, the JSA. So that’s what it’s called. I saw references to that and I did not understand.
Deutlich: Not the safest place in the world, no. I kind of wonder too about how dangerous it would be.
poodlegoose: Korean girls are all about appearances, it’s insane. I’m sure Lu could kick some serious ass if she wanted to.
Michael: Yes. But at the same time, don’t you think a DMZ tour should take you to within throwing’s distance of the border?
Aaron: I keep reading that as “East Coast vs West Coast Beef” and I think, “what’s wrong with the beef?” Anyway, the answer to all of those is that we are working towards long term unification but its not an easy process and so much time as passed, it’s hard to even know what we were fighting about in the first place.
Princess Pointful: Exactly. Totally odd. Funny how they can turn the brink of war into a tourist attraction.