I know Krispy Kreme is a silly place to be out first stop but we had to when we walked by it at the airport. Remember when we leave Okinawa, finding American treats is always an awesome treat!
We took a cab to the base hotel. It took over an hour. This was because we just happened to be there at the same time as all the protests against the South Korean president. There was a lot of traffic the whole time because of that.
We meet up with Dana And Guillaume and went to a night market but the area we were was mostly closing down for the night. It was so fun getting to tour around with them and really helpful that Guillaume speaks Korean from his mission.
We did stop at a little hole in the wall restaurant for dinner. It was Thanksgiving day so this was technically our Thanksgiving dinner.
The next morning we got up early for the DMZ tour. They took all of us up on a bus to see the DMZ. On the way up from Seoul there was barbed wire fence and military posts the whole length of this river because it shares a border with North Korea.
Inside the DMZ our first stop was at the freedom bridge. One observation in general was that there were a lot more people living and working in the DMZ than I thought. Apparently there are farmers that live there and they don't have to pay taxes because they live in a dangerous area.
On this fence Koreans have hung signs expressing their feelings and desire for reunification with the North. Before going I had no clue that the South Koreans really wish their country was unified again,
The next stop was where we actually got to walk through one of the secret tunnels North Korea dug long ago as an attempt to invade Seoul but were only found years and years later.
They didn't let us take photos in the tunnels. But we had to wear helmets because the ceiling was low enough I had to bend over. It was easy going down. We went down about 25 stories and then crouched through a tunnel standing about 5 feet tall or so in most places. We went down for about 170 meters. The South blocked off these tunnels with three separate blockades to prevent any access. We made it to the first one. This is officially the closest we got to North Korea. It's estimated that the North could move 30K troops an hour through this tunnel alone. 4 total tunnels have been discovered but it is believed that there are several more. Coming back up 300 meters at about a 45 degree angle was hard!
They provided lunch. I thought it was funny on Guillaume's facebook page he said "lunch break.. love that food!" and I tired it all and it is probably my least favorite ethnic food. haha
Here are photos from the lookout station that views over to North Korea land.
Dora Observatory. I took this through the binoculars and am pretty proud. It was not as easy as it looks. There are two "towns" there each built by each side. The South Koreans built one and put a hug flag tower up and then the North Koreans built a propaganda town to lure people to their side and put one up just a bit taller. No one actually lives here.
South Korea
The last stop was a train station that used to go to the north. We got commemorative passport stamps.
After the DMZ we went to the Korean War memorial. They had just finished some kind of show/presentation
There were groups dressed up in uniforms from all eras and even mascots! They were all really nice and were letting people take pictures with them.
After a short taxi ride we took a gondola to the top of Namsan mountain. It was nothing like the one in Albuquerque. They actually said it took about the same amount of time to walk up the stairs as it did to ride.
Views from the top. There are locks all over the railings. Couples lock them and then throw away the keys.
Underground shopping center.
Myong-Dong was really cool. It was a Friday night and a lot of people were out shopping and eating street food. We found it on accident but we were glad we did! We ended up eating dinner here consisting of a assortment of things including Ho-duck - a sweet pancake like treat.
Fried potato and cotton candy!
This is a famous shop for selling really soft sweet bread. It was good! Very warm and eggy.
Logan got some cheesy clam that they cooked with a torch while I got us some cabbage pancakes that were actually the same as the Japanese Okinomiyaki pancakes.
We got back to soak in the hot tub for about 10 minutes. It was really cold there, especially for me coming from Okinawa. Matching shirts!
Our last morning we went to the city center. It was early but there were already lots of protestors.
This is us in a little shop eating breakfast that was like savory porridge while we watched the protestors.
Their equivalent to the White House is their Blue House. The blue roof in the second photo.
Taxiing back Guillaume talked with our driver the whole way back and even got to give him a Book of Mormon.
As we got back to the hotel to collect our bags and head back it started to snow!
