DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone)

We were picked up from our motel at 7:50 am and dropped off at our tour bus. We chose to go with the COSMO tour group because we had heard good things about them. Our tour guide was hilarious and he seemed to know all the answers to every question. 

Our first stop (35 minutes) was the third infiltration tunnel. North Korea dug tunnels through the DMZ in the 1960's and 70's with the intent to invade South Korea. Only four tunnels have been found and they believe there is more undiscovered.

The hike down to the tunnel wasn't so bad but we dreaded the climb up. They wouldn't allow pictures here but there wasn't much to capture. We put on yellow hard hats and headed down the hill. When we reached the bottom we walked into the tunnel. My mom and I were the perfect height so we didn't hit the top at any point. Don however walked down the tunnel in a squatting position and still hit the top a several times. Right behind us was a boys Volleyball team with all of the members over 6" ... laugh laugh!

Making the climb up was the hardest part but we made it!! We were all sore the next day!

Second stop (20 minutes) we went to the observatory. The picture below is of North Korea!

Third stop (20 minutes) we went to a  special train station. This is the last stop before you get to North Korea. The train doesn't run pass this point.  It was built in the early '00s with the intention of allowing some trade and travel by train to occur between the two Koreas but it has only seen four freight trains pass by as the North closed their boarders to the trains a year after the railway's completion blaming the south of doing something unsavory.

 Going to North Korea!! LOL

I forgot that we had one last stop. We thought it was a Ginseng factory and we were going to learn how things were done but in reality is was a living infomercial for Korean Ginseng. They put all of us in a small room with a bunch of sales men and then explained to us what the product was that they were selling. As soon as they finished we walked out and went back to the bus disgusted at their misuse of our time. We were there for a total of 45 minutes. Longer than we spent at the any other stop. Our displeasure with this last stop will be reflected in our review for the tour company.

On the plus side they dropped us off in Itaewon, Non-Asian-Foreigner central, for lunch. Where we enjoyed some fantastic hamburgers, although these also turned out to be too spicy for Mom's liking.  Oh Korea, what are we going to do with you?  The day turned out to be really fun and eye-opening, although I feel like we missed something out of our trip there.  The DMZ just seemed like it wasn't as big of a deal as it really is.  We only did the half day tour; the longer tour takes you to the actual boarder of North Korea and lets you cross the line.  If we were to do it over again we would have gone with that tour and skipped the ginseng place.  Oh well, we'll keep that in mind for future reference.