Visiting Seoul and the DMZ!

On our second day in Seoul we visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace (there are 5 dinastic palaces in Seoul alone - it has been the capital for the last 600 years). It is the Palace of Shining Happiness and was built by the founder of the Joseon dynasty (Korea's last dynasty) but it burnt down in 1592 during the Japanese invasions and was not rebuilt until 250 years after. It is still undergoing reconstruction but it was still very nice to visit. Afterwards we visited the centre and the Cheonggye stream. This stream is quite unique because it was actually covered by an expressway until very recently in 2003 when the citizens demanded that the government re-open it! Seoul was becoming a very ugly concrete city at the time and in a way to re-beautify it quite a few parks have been restored along with this stream. It was a really nice experience as you feel like you are in the forest right in the middle of the city...you could take your shoes off and put your feet in the water while just taking your time "people-gazing" :)



Afterwards we continue down towards City Hall and we visited the Namdaemun Market, which is both a day and night market, but it was nice to visit it at night with all the neon lights and restaurant lights all aroudn you. We had a Korean meal there before we made it back to our hotel as the next day we had to get up early to visit the DMZ (demilitarized zone)!!



Visiting the DMZ:

There were a few rules we had to follow if we wanted to go visit the DMZ - by the way, Korea is still considered one of the most dangerous countries since they are still at war, technically, given a peace treaty has never been signed, only a ceasefire. We needed to carry our passport with us and Koreans were not allowed - conflict of interest I guess. Also, there was a dress code we had to follow, however, Im not sure how strict this was...I mean, Jo and I followed the rules (and were therefore left extremely uncomfortable for the morning because we had to wear trousers and t-shirts were not allowed) but most of the other tourists didnt seem to have read the rules as they showed up with shorts, spaghetti tops, etc.
Anyways, we started bright and early and took a tour bus to the DMZ zone and the JSA (Joint Security Area) zone (although we did not visit the JSA as that was an all day tour and more expensive still)...We were taken 55km north of Seoul to the truce village of Panmunjeom. The DMZ is 4km wide and its the most heavily fortified border in the world...when we were getting on the bridge that connects the two sides our guide was explaining to us how there was a gate taht was fortified with dynamite so taht if North Korea was to invade they could blow up the gate so that they would be blocked!
We visited the Peace Bell where South Koreans come to show respect to and honour their ancestors whose graves are on the other side of the border. Afterwards we went to visit the 3rd infiltration tunnel which was discovered in 1978 and had been dug by the North Korean army to infiltrate into Seoul. We walked down 350m and actually walked the length of the tunnel up to the actual DMZ line...
However, before doing this we were shown a propaganda movie (made by the US) about the "future reunification" of Korea...even our South Korean guide thought it was propaganda so you can have an idea. We also passed by the unification village...there are two villages inside the DMZ, surprisingly enough...however, the south village is called Freedom Village as opposed to the north village that is called Propaganda Village, as up to quite recently it was not occupied, it was mostly a ghost town to show how the north was so developed!! (Not sure how much of this is actually true since we were only getting one side of the story....but it is true that while North Korea is more worried about the size of their flag than their citizens food supply the South is prospering at real growth...the flag story is quite funny...on either side of the DMZ there is a North Korean flag and a South Korean one...at the beginning they were at the same height, but one day the South noticed that the North had raised their glaf so they raised theirs in return and so on until it got to the point that the North now holds the Guinness World Record for the highest flag pole in the world and they have to replace their flag every 3 months due to weather disturbances which costs them 3000 dollars each time given the imensity of their flag!!!
Afterwards we were taken to the Dora Observatory from where we can actually see (but not photo) the DMZ line and see the amazing flag poles :) We were able to "steal" a couple of photos while the soldiers werent looking :)
We also visited the Dorasan Railroad station which will link the South with the North...its a big thing for the South and merited a visit from President Bush when it was opened...US presence here is still strong but has dwindled, especially since the war in Iraq.

The whole trip was quite interesting considering it is the only place in the world where we can see an actual DMZ, however, it is becoming more of a tourist attraction than anything else to be honest.

We took it easy when we got back to Seoul and then went out to meet one of Jo's future classmates at BSIS who is at the moment teaching English here in Seoul (it seems South Korea is a very popular place to teach english as they pay extremely well, including your flight over and your apartment!) Brooke took us for a traditional Korean meal where you take off your shoes, sit on the floor (she did warns us it would be uncomfortable but we thought we would give it a try) and eat Kimchi :) Very entertaining!

On our last day we got up a bit late (the night before had been a bit long :) and went to visit the Changdeokgung Palace (also known as the Palace of Illustrious Virtue). This palace was named UNESCO World Heritage in 1997 and therefore we could only visit it with a tour. It was much more opuent than the official palace which we had visited before. This palace took over the official palae when the latter had been destroyed by fire and remained the main palace ever since. Also we were told that one ofthe reasons why the Emperor never returned to the other palace was due to the fact his mother had been assassinated there and he therefore thought the palace was filled with bad omen. Fair enough! It is a huge palace and there are actually separate tours you take if you want to visit the entire thing. It also contains a forest nad lotus ponds inside so it was very nice to visit.

Afterwards we made our way to the Namsangol Hanok Village which is in the centre of Seoul and consists of 5 different yangban (aristocratic) stone, wood and tile houses from the Josean era (the last dynasty era) that have been moved here from different parts of Seoul. When we arrived there was a show with traditional Korean drummers and dancers so we wtched that for a while and then visited the village. It was very well done as the furniture was still intact (might have been copies though :) and it showed how the house formation and life was organized. We also spotted a caligrapher showing his art to some tourists and a musician playing a traditional Korean guitar.

We walked back to our hotel but stopped at the stream first. It was friday night so it was filled with Koreans just taking it easy and enjoying the nature around the stream. They were also showing a Korean film festival that had english subtitles!! So while Jo was busy taking his night photos (his new passion at the moment) I enjoyed watching the people enjoy their friday night and I also got a taste of Korean amateur films :)

We had a nice Korean meal composed of a kind of omellete on top of rice before we headed back home to pack. Although the metro and bus system is really good and organized we found that you could walk quite easily in Seoul as the distance between most places is not that great. We have enjoyed ourselves although we're sure there is a lot more to see and visit in this country, maybe a next trip :)

Thanks for travelling with us and until next time, Anneyong.hi gaseyo!!!

Lots of love,
Jo and Fil