The DMZ, for those not familiar with it, is the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. It is anything but demilitarized as it is heavily fortified on both sides. You cannot go there unless you are with an approved tour agency and have a passport. The sides are still technically at war, so there are many restrictions. As with any tour, there are options of what you can sign up to see. I chose to see the Gamaksan bridge, along with the freedom bridge, old railroad, third tunnel and the lookout tower that gives you views of North Korea.

It was more overcast than it was projected to be, so our tour guide had us go to the bridge first. It is actually not inside the DMZ, but it is a beautiful spot.

The waterfalls may have been beyond where we were told we were permitted to go, but I was the first to cross and there was no one to tell me no, so I followed my ears to the spot of the waterfalls. I was the only person there, (another clue that it wasn’t part of the tour perhaps) but I still made it back to the bus on time, so no harm no foul?

We then went to the spot that still showed the tracks of the railroad that once provided travel from the unified Korea all the way to Eastern Europe. A train engine that took thousands of artillery is still there. The bridge that they refer to as the freedom bridge is there as is the memorial of the sitting women.

There was this group with all the toddlers and the attending adults lined the kiddos all up on the train track for a picture. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I couldn’t resist taking a snap for myself as well.

No pics allowed from Tunnel 3 which is one of a series of tunnels that were found after a defector made the claim that North Korea was Tunneling deep underground and would be tunneling past the DM Zone. It was a steep long walk down into the tunnel where the south had dug to meet where the north had progressed to. Three concrete barriers were erected inside the tunnel with cameras and sensors so that should the North try to come through, the South would be alerted. The first pic below is the last of the road checkpoints where cars could once move between the countries.

It had cleared by the time we got to the observation point and could clearly see North Korea. Standing outside of tunnel 3 and at the observation point, you are constantly bombarded by either blaring messages or music over gargantuan speakers at each side. The North plays propaganda messages and the South in response plays K-Pop music. I don’t understand either, but I liked that the South responded to the negative messages coming from the opposing side with light hearted music.

They have stopped allowing any photos to be taken at the observatory as well, but out tour guide shared her photos from when they were allowed in years prior.

It was an interesting day.

Love from Korea

Sally