DMZ

This past Thursday, our CIEE group went to the DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.)

It was an all day trip, and we had a dress code (long pants, tennis shoes, shirts with sleeves, etc...in case of emergency, we should be able to run quickly) and the weather was hot, but it was worth it in the end >.<

We started out at the war museum in Seoul.

Look at my wonderful photography skills~

This is a model of the DMZ.

I bought my first canned coffee drink (above) from the cute little vending machine (below.)

Below are some pictures of a life-size replica of Korean refugee camps.

This (below) is made all of military tags.

 After the museum tour, we had an hour "briefing." To be perfectly honest, the information was very interesting, and the speaker was pretty funny, but I fell asleep for the first half of the thing. I wasn't the only one, and the speaker joked about how we all drank and clubbed too much the night before (true, I did do a bit too much drinking), but I still felt really bad.

We left the museum and briefing, and went straight to lunch. We ate in a government building; there were military men and uniformed, important looking men everywhere. In the back of my mind, I thought it was weird we didn't see a lot of women, but we soon found them in the kitchen. It was cafeteria, serve-yourself style, but the women were there to quickly fill up the containers we emptied.

The lunch was actually REALLY yummy! After lunch, we left and went to another briefing. The guy talking to us went to school in the states before going into the (Korean) army. He explained to us the view from where we were (he said how at that moment we were looking into North Korea), and he told us what we'd see later in the day. 

We couldn't take a lot of pictures at the DMZ, though there were certain areas we could. I'll show you some of the spots where we were allowed to take pics~

There was a line that we had to stand behind if we wanted to shoot a picture. I understand why, but it still kinda sucked that we couldn't get anything good. ANYWAY, whatever you see beyond the wall and people is, indeed, North Korea.

 After the first stop, we went to the 3rd Tunnel. We actually got to walk down there and to the first wall and back. Of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures. The tunnel was fun, a lot more intense than I was expecting; it's no short distance and the incline to get back to the surface was insane x___x

After the tunnel, we had to go watch a short movie and were able to tour their small museum there. Next stop, the JSA (joint security area).

When we first arrived, we had a short briefing. The speaker recited a 15-page speech/presentation. I swear, he barely breathed during the whole thing! He was so fast and so good :o

We had to wear our guest pass (below) during the whole JSA tour~

After the briefing, we were taken by an army bus to the actual JSA. Below are a bunch of crappy pictures >.< we only had a limited amount of time to hurry and snap photos x__x

There are a few blue buildings in the center, and in the middle of them (and the rest of the buildings for that matter) is the line separating North Korea's side and South Korea's side. So, technically, when were in one of the blue buildings, and in the back half, we were in North Korean territory~

Our group entering one of the blue buildings~

Okay, so in this building were two guards. They can't show emotion, ever, when on duty. They also could not communicate to us in any way. They are South Korean, but are trained to never react to anyone, especially North Koreans. Everything is - understandably - so sensitive at the JSA.

 Us standing in North Korea ~_~

We had a few minutes to take some more pics outside. We could ONLY take pics of the North Korean side, not any of the UN side. So whatever you see in these pics is of the JSA neutral buildings or the North Korean buildings/scenery~

North Korean guard below.

Main North Korean building at the JSA, with guard.

By the way, if you haven't watched the movie, JSA, I highly recommend it.

 This is a monument in the garden where some incidents occurred many years ago. The big one happened in this actual spot, the "Soviet Defector Incident" in November of 1984, and not far from here is where the "Axe Murder Incident" in August of 1976 happened. And the statue thing is supposed to artfully symbolize North Korea and South Korea shaking hands~

 Before we left, we were able to visit one more checkpoint that we, as civilians, were allowed to see. Again, we didn't have long for pictures, so here are some random things I could get. Whatever you see is North Korea.

There are some pictures of a village. We were told that most buildings are empty, used to make the village look nicer, I guess, but the people don't really live in buildings as nice as these.

It's kinda pretty....if it just wasn't so sad.

 The Bridge of No Return.

 And after our tour we stopped at the souvenir shop :l most of us bought ice cream (below) highly recommended by our military tour guide.

AND, I bought some blueberry wine made by North Koreans. I realized afterwards that this was my first legal purchase of a bottle of an alcoholic beverage. Woot~

 And random pictures of South Koreans on our ride out~

Yep.