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Hi again from South Korea.
Our day today has been all about the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ) which is the physical divide between North and South Korea that has stood since 1953.
The DMZ is only 52km from Seoul and on the way there we made a couple of stops, the first of these was Imjingak Park where we visited "The Peace Bell" which honours the 21 UN nations that helped out South Korea during the war between 1950 and 1953, it has 21 steps leading up to it. Just around the corner is "Freedom Bridge" but is incomplete at one end so it cannot be crossed and at the South end is a memorial to family members that are stuck in North Korea and cannot return to the South.
We had to take our passports with us for ID at the Army checkpoint, the place is full of soldiers and there is barbed wire everywhere. At the checkpoint 2 officers with semi automatic weapons boarded and checked everyones ID, the guns were nearly as big as Mel!!! Once through the checkpoint we headed up to "Dora Observatory" this is the closest viewing point in the DMZ where you can see North Korea in the distance.There is a demarkation line and 2km each side which you can clearly see by the giant flagpoles flying each nations flag.There was a rule that no photos could be taken in front of the yellow line they had there (see photos.)
After the observatory we got to watch a short movie on how the DMZ came about and how it was administered which was really interesting, on the way here we passed Unification Village where around 500 people live.The highlight of trip for us was the trip down Tunnel 3 this tunnel was dug by the North Koreans (they deny this) and is 1.6km in length although only 435m belongs to the South!!!
To get into the tunnel you descend a steep 350m tunnel to get 73m underground, there is not much room to move as it is only 2m x 2m but of the 4 tunnels it was considered the most dangerous as they estimate that 30,000 fully armed troops could move through here in 1 hour!!! We got to walk 270m to where the tunnel has been sealed and booby trapped on the other side but it meant we were actually right under the DMZ which was pretty cool and damp!!!
We finished off our tour at Dorosan Station which is the last station in South Korea but the first heading North, eventually this railroad will link up with the Trans Siberian from Beijing to Moscow which means you will be able to travel by rail from South Korea all the way to Lisbon in Portugal!!!
Once back in the city we took a look around the Itaewon District before heading back to the hostel. Another great day in Seoul, this country has been a real surprise for us and good fun.
Happy Lunar New Year to everyone.
Lots of Love
M & M
xx
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