Mom & Dad's visit -- Part 3

Well, Wednesday morning with mom and dad we went to visit the War Memorial Museum. It had lots of equipment and machines from the Korean War, as well as lots of interesting displays inside from the same war, wars with the Japanese, and even ancient weapons. We all really enjoyed the museum, but had to rush through it a bit at the end as we were all hungry for lunch! We spent about 3 hours there, but could have probably spent a whole day. Anyhoo, for lunch we headed to Myeongdong shopping area and I found the really delicious bokgumbap (fried rice) restaurant where Matt and Anne and I had eaten just a few days earlier. Luckily, mom and dad both really liked it, even though it was a bit spicey. After lunch, we walked around the crazy shopping district for awhile, got some Baskin Robbins ice cream, then made a brief stop at the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral. Next we decided to go to Seoul Tower. The relatively short walk uphill was pretty intense and a good cardio for all of us :-) Anyway, we found the cable car station and took it up. There was no wait like when I went last summer on a weekend evening. Unfortunately it was very smoggy and we couldn't see much of the city. We decided to stay up there as it was nearing sunset, and watched the sun set behind the smog (yuck) and then when the city's lights came on it was a much better view. We enjoyed the view for a bit then headed back down and back to the hotel. We stopped at a street vendor and got some delicious chicken kebabs... yummy street food! :-)
War Memorial Museum -- 2 brothers embrace, the one on the left is a soldier for the South and the one on the right is a soldier for the North. I watched a really good movie about this story when I was at orientation this summer.
War Memorial Museum -- the UN countries' flags who helped with the Korean War.
War Memorial Museum -- these soldiers wanted to be in pictures with us. All males in Korea have a mandatory 2 year service commitment.
War Memorial Museum -- a tear drop made from dog tags of soldiers who gave their lives in the Korean War.
Mom & Dad in Myeongdong -- the crazy shopping district. Dad said that it wasn't at all obvious in this area that Korea was suffering from an economic slow down. True.
Hungrily awaiting for the chicken fried rice to be ready to eat! Yummy!
Seoul Tower.
Seoul Tower -- smoggy day.
Seoul Tower -- a better view in the dark.

Thursday was a big day for us. We did a guided tour of the DMZ and the 3rd tunnel. I'll spare the history lesson, but it was really interesting! Our first stop was Doransan Train Station, which was built in 2001 as a good will gesture towards the North. The South wants to show they are ready to re-unify and have a train station ready to connect to the North as soon as the 2 countries again become 1. It was a little erie walking into this brand new train station that has never been used. I particularly enjoyed the sign that said "Tickets to Pyeongyang" (capital of NK). They showed a map of all of Eur-Asia and they said that once NK and SK are united (not if, but once) then you could travel all the way from Portugal to SK. Who would want to do that? It'd have to be at least a 2 week journey on train. Yuck! Anyway, it was interesting to hear how the guide talked about the North-South re-unification -- she made it seem as if it could happen any day now.

Our next stop on the tour was an observation point where we could see over to NK and see Propaganda Village. I'm not sure what the current info is about this village, as our 2 guides of the day told us opposite stories. Anyway, this village was built right along the border on the NK side and was completely fake. The buildings had no windows and no smoke coming from the "factories". And they used to blast propaganda about how great the North was, that their leaders were like gods, etc etc from loudspeakers, but that they stopped a few years ago. Our first guide told us that a few years ago some people actually started living here, but then our second guide told us no one lives there, so I'm not sure if people actually live there or not. Anyway, it was interesting to hear about.

Next we went to see the 3rd tunnel. There have been 4 tunnels discovered by the South that the North dug in order to secretly invade South Korea and kill the President and the US Embassy officials. The 3rd tunnel, I believe, is the closest to Seoul. Anyway, we got to see a brief (and propaganda filled) movie about the tunnels and the DMZ and then glance through a museum there and then go down into the tunnel! It was pretty cool, but we couldn't take any pictures down there. Once the NK soldiers who were digging the tunnel were discovered and retreating, they sprayed the inside of the tunnel with coal dust to make it look like they were mining for coal. However, the entire mountain is solid granite, so the SK soldiers didn't fall for that ploy.

After lunch, we joined with another tour to go to the JSA -- Joint Security Area, or Panmunjom (sp?), located at US Camp Bonifas. These are the little blue negotiation buildings that sit half on North soil and half on South soil. After much pomp and circumstance about what we could and couldn't do, emphasis of just how dangerous and risky this part of the tour was, examining our passports 2 times, and switching to a military bus, we got to go inside! We actually went a couple meters onto North Korean territory! It was pretty interesting but unfortunately the tourists we were with just cared about getting pictures, so it was pretty chaotic inside the small building. There were 2 soldiers inside -- one to protect the UN flag on the main table (which is set exactly half on the North and half on the South) and one standing with his back to the door leading to the North. We were told not to go behind him in case a NK soldier opened the door and reached in and pulled us to their side, from which we'd never be able to escape. We also got to see the Bridge of No Return -- where after the ceasefire was signed between the two sides, the POW's were given a chance to cross over the bridge to the other side of the country, but that they could never reverse their decision. Pretty powerful to try to imagine the things going through their head at the time.

It was a long day, but it was pretty interesting. We were all exhausted when we got back from the tour. We stopped and got Krispy Kream donuts and Lotteria (Korean version of McD's) and then headed back to the hotel. It was our last night in Seoul!


Inside Dorasan Station. Let's go!
Dad on the tracks heading north. They use concrete railroad ties! Mom at the observation point. Those mountains you can see behind her are in North Korea! Dad with Kim Jong Il (hah).
Getting ready to take the small train down into the 3rd tunnel!
Silk worms. Delicous looking snack, right? No thanks, I'll pass.
Freedom Bridge. People have put prayers and wishes and pictures on this fence for their family in the North.
Inside the negotiation building of the JSA. That cement line actually divides North from South. The South side has the gravel. Mom and Dad with the soldier blocking the door to the North. Watch out!
The visitor's center on the North.