We met our tour guide, Jenny, in the lobby who we loved right off the bat. She was super energetic and a bubbly personality.  We then headed off to make a couple more stops at various hotels.  Final count was 11 people - a couple even from the US!  One woman from WA, one guy from Michigan, another from DC and the remainder were from Europe - UK, Denmark, and Sweden.  It appeared we might have been the only ones there for pleasure, everyone else was in Korea on business.  

As we were driving, the first thing I noticed was the intense barbed wire and military type posts along the river….literally, right out of Seoul.  I didn’t realize (until I looked at a map later) how close Seoul actually is to the North Korea border.  It became apparent as soon as another guest asked about the barbed wire that it was to secure the border from North Korean invasion. 

A few more minutes on the road, we could actually see North Korea!  One of the easiest ways to spot North Korea territory is to compare the terrain.  South Korea has much more vegetation and trees line most of the hillsides.  North Korea is primarily farm land and almost barren in comparison.  I was so excited we could already see into North Korea and we had not even been on the tour an hour yet! 

Imjingak

Imjingak was our first stop on the tour and is actually called a tourist resort.  It had a small amusement / carnival type area, an observatory, a small food and vendor mart.  We were stopping here to see the Unification Bridge, Korean Peace Bell, and to change buses to head up to the DMZ. 

Imjingak was developed after the South-North Koreas’ Joint Comminique was declared in 1971.  The area is an important and painful reminder of the war that commenced on June 25, 1950.  It is an old battlefield reminds everyone of the antagonism between North and South Korea and you can see those coming to pray for the unification of the Koreas and to finally be reunited with their families and friends.  Imjingak is only 7km south of the Military Demarcation Line.

The first stop we made was to the Korean Peace Bell which contains is representative of the peace and unification desire by the South Korean people. 

There is a pond which was drained (seemed to be our luck of the trip) which was in the shape of North and South Korea.  It is a hopeful reminder of what the two nations could look like again. 

The main attraction in this area is the Freedom Bridge.  This bridge takes it name from the exchange of 12,773 prisoners of war returned from North Korea in 1953.  You cannot actually get close to the bridge as there is a large gate and thick barbed wire keeping you out.  It is eerily quiet with obviously no activity, except for the gentle breeze that clanked the locks on the gate. 

It was that moment that the reality of the situation finally hit me.  I am not standing here on a typical ancient history tour….this is history in the making.  Standing there looking at the messages written on the gate, the flowers and trinkets left behind, a cold chill came over me.  You could almost hear the cries in the breeze, and feel the pain of those who stood around me.  For me, this was just a place to tour, no different than a trip to a museum.  For them, this is real and a painful reminder of their lives, while still clinging to hope and faith they will be reunited with loves ones soon. 

Annually, Imjingak receives 2-3 million visitors, many of which are from South Korea who come to pay their respects and pray for unification. 

3^rd Infiltration Tunnel

We board a bigger bus in Imjingak to head to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and see the 3^rd Infiltration Tunnel which was discovered at the point of just 52km from Seoul (less than an hour's drive) in the administrative section of Paju in 1978.  First, we went into a visitors center and watched a short film on the Korean war which brought most of us to tears.  Next we went down to tour the tunnel itself. 

The tunnel is 1,635m in length, 2m in width, and only 2m in height.  This tunnel was certainly not designed for anyone over 5 feet tall!  You have to wear hard hats on the tour and it's very cramped and crowded with the various tour groups.  This was one of the stops where no photos were allowed.  The tunnel has capacity to get 30,000 North Korean soldiers and their gear through in an hour's time!  This tunnel was definitely dug for a surprise attack on Seoul. 

The North Koreans claim the tunnel was trying to mine for coal but the walls are granite, so they claimed they could not find any coal. They needed to dig under the DMZ and straight towards Seoul to figure that one out?!?!  YEAH RIGHT! Also, we saw parts of the tunnel they painted black to give the appearance of coal.  Rumor has it the tunnel was discovered by a tip from a North Korean defector.  It was eerie to stand in the tunnel, knowing the history and its purpose.  Our guide advised they believe to be many more tunnels, they have just not discovered them yet.  The 4th tunnel was just discovered in 1990. 

Observatory

The next stop was to actually see North Korea villages and another place you can't really take photos.  There are South Korean soldiers stationed all over and North Korean soldiers watch your every move through binoculars.  One guy in our group tried to get a couple photos and the soldiers stopped us on the way out, questioned him about the photos he took and proceeded to delete everything on camera from that location.  They do not play around and any wrong gesture or movement will result in being detained.  Especially with tensions on the rise again, they were not taking any chances. 

Dorasan Station

The Dorasan train station is the northernmost international station from the southern boundary line of the DMZ.  The station drew world attention when President Bush visited here in February 2002.  In the future, this station will play an important role in realizing the Iron Silk Road that will connect through to the rest of Asia and even Europe throgh Gaeseong, Pyeongyang, and Sinuijiu. It took 52 years for the Gyeonguiseon railroad to be built to Dorasan Station in the controlled district for civilian use.   

On December 11, 2007, freight trains began traveling north past Dorasan Station into North Korea, taking materials to the new industrial region and bringing back finished goods.  The current schedule is for the trains to make one 10 mile trip every weekday. 

This was an incredible stop because it really shows South Korea's commitment to the unification of the country again.  The station is heavily guarded and signs are up showing future the future destination of Pyeongyang in North Korea, they are just waiting for the green light to go.  The station is brand new and definitely state of the art.  It was eerily empty except for the few tourists wandering around.  The South Korean soldiers 

Tongilchon (Unification Village)

Tongilchon is in the northern area of the Civilian Control Line and has 133 families and a total of 493 residents.  There is an agricultural marketing center here sells local farm produce.  The market sells some interesting products and is a very popular stop on the tours, especially because you can purchase Ginseng at much more reasonable prices.  Some of the local products sold in the market are uncurdled Jangdan bean curd (sundubu), seasoned mountain herbs, traditional liquors, and maeuntang (hot soup). 

We got to tour the area briefly and checked out the market, some of the products were very interesting.  One thing was basically packaged tree branches.  I didn't quite understand the explanation of what it was used for. I did see all the Ginseng roots - I had no idea how expensive it was elsewhere...I saw it for $600 in one of the duty free stores! YIKES!  It's no wonder some of the South Koreans travel there just to get the Ginseng as it's much cheaper there.