DMZ Tour to Borders of North & South Korea

We were very excited about this day tour as we penned it
deliberately to have 1 day of our itineray to go for the DMZ,
or known as Demilitarized Zone, tapping on the borders of
North and South Korea. Many said it was dangerous but
we figured that since it's not uncommon in a tour package, it
should be quite safe = ) It was (just have to be a little more
careful in your photo-taking that's all)



See the wire barbs there? Just when i snapped this picture secretly the S. Korean
soldier came up the tour bus to check our passports! PHEW luckily i managed to
slip back my phone if not you wont be able to see these pictures (not joking), well
we were on foreign land afterall. Better be safe than sorry.
Btw, we had to hold our passports showing our picture right next to our faces to
faciliate their checks. How then do we head in front of the rest to do the 3rd tunnel?




임진각 ImJingak - the photo didnt managed to capture the full words.
Hahaha i remember Ligna-ssi mumbling to herself, "Aiyah this guy never take the
photo properly" But it's ok, we didnt have enough time at each stop. Good enough!
May i add that there is an amusement park at 임진각 which i forgot to snap.
According to the tour guide, there are tons of people (even S. Koreans themselves)
who want to visit the 3rd tunnel so to better schedule the traffic, they built an
amusement park catered to families to spend an hour or so before they drive in.

 




제3땅굴 (The 3rd Tunnel). We were at one of the 4 known tunnels under the border
between N. & S. Korea, extending south of Panmunjeom. The tunnel is constructed
for a surprise attack on Seoul from N. Korea. There are believed up to 20 more
of such tunnels and till today, soldiers regularly drill in DMZ to search for them.

   

That's me, for a tourist moment, even in a camp of dangerous zone

and Agnes-ssi in her DMZ-moment = ))




Our tour guide, who is a S. Korean (he spoke in perfect English since he furthered
his studies in the US), gave us a history tutorial on what to look out for when
we head to the tunnel and told us death incidents of people who tried to cross
the borders...he told us not to take photos openly. It was my first tour encounter
that cannot take photos so it was annoying yet interesting (trying not to be caught)

 



Our 1st secret snap in the tunnel!
(Looking all fresh and happy before we head down)

 

2nd secret snap of Ligna-ssi. That's her, the one on the right.



As you can tell, the height of the tunnel gets lower and
taller folks (ahemm) like our tour mates and me would have
problems walking down the steep tunnel. I banged my
helmet against the ceiling countless times until i got used
to it. haha. No joke on training thigh muscles = /



The tunnel gets colder as it goes down steeper. The tour
guide did kindly warn us that in any case we think we cant
make it to the end of the tunnel, we can always give up the
challenge and turn back.Honestly, the going down is
managable but the coming back up is real cardio.



Bullet shots?



Finally a picture of the threesome at the end of the tunnel. Secret shot with not
much lighting but turned out quite nice. Ligna-ssi must have been nervous saying
something when it was taken.

Going against gravity was a cry. We were so exhausted by
the morning "exercise" that even decided to take out the
helmets as we near the top. It was the feeling of heat amidst
the cold weather. *Pants*

Perhaps inspired by Chinese? No idea why they these in
Chinese but im guessing male and female soldiers fair equally
in war.

Taking a snack break in the tour bus. Did i forget to mention Agnes-ssi was so
thoughtful and "motherly" that she had prepared a bag of food for us as if we
were going on an excursion, all except that they were not lunchboxes but snacks,
chips, chocolates & peperro hahahaha

We each tried to use the binoculars with our 500원 but to no avail. We saw
landscape of N. Korea but it's too hazy to spot the statue of Kim Il-Sung...



Agnes-ssi decided to take a picture instead. haha



Found a tree covered in beautiful autumn leaves..
그것은 가을이에요!예뻐지요?

Agnes-ssi said "come take picture", snapped and there you
go. Haha we were trying our luck with the soldiers on the
 background. This is fun = )



The exterior of  Dorasan Station, 도라산역. Apparently you can get there by
Gyeongui Line from Seoul Station for visitors but that is as far as you can get
because station is never been opened for actual transportation. It is at the
northernmost part of S. Korea leading to N. Korea but looks like it is not
going to happen.



The design was done like that of an airport so it's little wasted that it remains as a
visitor spot.

A stamp of "we were here!"

Travelled this far and all is worthwhile for this picture = p

The rails looking so new..leading to nowhere

Selfie at the 도라산역





Agnes-ssi spotted a cute soldier on duty to take a picture
with and i was sent to ask for permission.
He is too fair to be a soldier isnt it? haha

  


Agnes-ssi turn for a picture

Ligna-ssi look so small next to him haha. (I think she will
disappear standing behind him. Very safe)

There you go. The sky's blue, the track's new and sunlight in our faces. HOLIDAY!

Pointing out the signboard back to Seoul city

The ticket to enter 도라산역. We had forgot to stamp on our tickets! Only
found out from a friend who also went on this tour to Dorasan that we can
self-stamp on our ticket. Too late but never mind since we had alot of photos
for memories already = )



Taken from tour bus: The Unification Village
Interesting fact: In 2008, the village has 218 people and some are direct
descendents of people who owned the land before the Korean War.



The blue sheets are covering the Korean ginseng! We learnt from the tour guide
that there are 3 grades to Korean red ginseng roots - 1st grade-Chen
("天" means "Heaven), 2nd grade-Ji ("地" "Earth"), 3rd grade-Yang
("良" "Good"). For foreigners to bring ginseng out of Korea, one passport
entitles to only 7 packs and without the receipt, no one can bring it out of
the country!  



Alot of agriculture in the village. Aside from ginseng, the villagers also grow
soybean for living. It's proven that the chocolate coated soybeans are absolutely
yummy (because we tried and bought many home!)



See that house that stands out (of place) in the village? Owned by a tycoon.

The farming village including soybean milk/bean curd making and traditional
soy sauce.

500 grams of ginseng for ~SGD48

Pororo 비스킷! Nom Nom Nom (just to sidetrack)

고기 그릴!

The tour guide brought us to this fantistic homely restaurant near city hall area.

After so many days of stay in Korea, we are so accustomed the dining culture
and very naturally wrapped the grilled meat in these ssam, 쌈

How can any meal go without Kimchi?

The Ahjumma shows us how to grill the pork meat while
we just wait to eat = )

Look, some bits are cooked!

두 사람이 정말 행복해요!



Our new found 친구 at the DMZ tour. I think he said he
came to Seoul for a work trip and had a day off so he
decided to sign up for the DMZ tour.



Took the subway and ended up at 명동 for the night

명동 square where we bumped into our DMZ tour mates, who went to the
Seoul tower and told us it was awesome (we didnt have a chance to go!)



Hotel Prince at 명동. This was where the 2 girls wanted to
stay at.



차없는 거리 it says..i had a hard time figuring out when
we were there. Now turn the photo upside down and you
will be able to see it! It means "car-free street."

We were amazed at street food as much as we were amazed at how the hawkers
can also look so cute, hahahahaah i know right.

He is making Korean-styled 馅饼

명동 Shopping street by night

Kpop stars socks..cute to the max! They have Bing Bang, Exo & Shinee.
I remember i had some challenge while buying socks. Had wanted to ask socks
for male and female which i went...erm 이거 남자?여자? HAHA



I wanted to take a picture of all the beauty houses at this
street but there were just toooo many!!



Too cool for School - a brand that had many cute stuff &
that's where i bought my sunblock (smells very nice!)

The reason for this picture is not only to show the buzzling
street at night but also the fashion style of streetwear of
young Koreans.

Finally found a 식당 that serves our favourtite Army Stew!

The instant noodles crave!

How can we not be amazed by the HUGE pot of Army Stew?!

I look like an Army Stew Chef

Woooooowwwwwww. It was topped with cheeeese!



Another quaint cafe. They are everywhere in Myeongdong.
We were too full for coffee.



It was a tiring day for us so we have decided to hop into a
cab that can bring us back to hotel. Only a 2nd cab brought
us back because we've decided to hop out of the 1st one
as the young chap was obviously overcharging us without
the meter ^^



I wanted to buy the socks of San Dara or CL from 2ne1
but they were sold out! Never mind, next time!